diff --git a/src/main/java/com/blck/MusicReleaseTracker/JsonSettings/SettingsIO.java b/src/main/java/com/blck/MusicReleaseTracker/JsonSettings/SettingsIO.java
index 10c832b..a0040ec 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/blck/MusicReleaseTracker/JsonSettings/SettingsIO.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/blck/MusicReleaseTracker/JsonSettings/SettingsIO.java
@@ -76,6 +76,8 @@ public void defaultSettings() {
     }
 
     public void migrateDataToReference(JsonNode reference, JsonNode current) {
+        if (current == null)
+            return;
         current.fieldNames().forEachRemaining(fieldName -> {
             if (reference.has(fieldName))
                 ((ObjectNode) reference).set(fieldName, current.get(fieldName));
@@ -97,7 +99,8 @@ public JsonNode readJsonFile(File file) {
         try {
             return objectMapper.readTree(file);
         } catch (IOException e) {
-            log.error(e, ErrorLogging.Severity.SEVERE, "settings file could not be read");
+            log.error(e, ErrorLogging.Severity.WARNING, "error reading settings file - defaulting");
+            defaultSettings();
         }
         return null;
     }
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/blck/MusicReleaseTracker/JsonSettings/SettingsIOTest.java b/src/test/java/com/blck/MusicReleaseTracker/JsonSettings/SettingsIOTest.java
index 7ef6bda..4a95302 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/blck/MusicReleaseTracker/JsonSettings/SettingsIOTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/blck/MusicReleaseTracker/JsonSettings/SettingsIOTest.java
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.nio.file.Paths;
 
-import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.*;
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.*;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.*;
 
@@ -63,6 +63,24 @@ void setUp() {
         lenient().when(valueStore.getConfigPath()).thenReturn(testSettingsPath);
     }
 
+    @Test
+    void readJsonFile() {
+        assertTrue(settingsIO.readJsonFile(settingsFile).size() > 1);
+    }
+
+
+    @Test
+    void readJsonFileParseExceptionTriggersReset() throws IOException {
+        try (FileWriter writer = new FileWriter(settingsFile)) {
+            writer.write("broken json ^%gb#%.#*-*");
+        }
+
+        var json = settingsIO.readJsonFile(settingsFile);
+
+		assertNull(json);
+        verify(log, times(1)).error(any(), eq(ErrorLogging.Severity.WARNING), contains("error reading"));
+    }
+
     @Test
     void readSetting() {
         assertEquals("false", settingsIO.readSetting("filterRemix"));
diff --git a/vue/electron-main.js b/vue/electron-main.js
index 324686b..ba40d50 100644
--- a/vue/electron-main.js
+++ b/vue/electron-main.js
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ async function checkBackendReady() {
 }
 
 app.whenReady().then(async () => {
+  // needs open backend in dev to run
   if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== "development") {
     externalEXE = spawn("buildResources/MusicReleaseTracker", { detached: true, stdio: "ignore" });
   }