In theory downloading the 3.4 version should preserve all your previous settings. But for me for example it never has, I always have to re-enable my preferences and addons. I’ve never mind though, I like the fresh start. And yet for almost everyone I believe Blender starts with their settings carried over, I don’t know why it’s never worked for me. But remember, you can download 3.4 and you can also keep previous versions of Blender in your computer, just in case you want to go back.
Your work is not linked to whichever Blender you have installed, you wont loose your work since that has to do with the .blend files themselves. The problem is when you want to go back to a previous Blender version, since in newer Blender versions there are features that older Blender’s don’t have.
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