diff --git a/cmd/web_https.go b/cmd/web_https.go
index b939dcab8a..b0910ca040 100644
--- a/cmd/web_https.go
+++ b/cmd/web_https.go
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/graceful"
 	"code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/log"
 	"code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/setting"
+
 	"github.com/klauspost/cpuid/v2"
 )
 
diff --git a/models/migrations/migrations.go b/models/migrations/migrations.go
index c0d8f111d3..6b7caba897 100644
--- a/models/migrations/migrations.go
+++ b/models/migrations/migrations.go
@@ -357,6 +357,8 @@ var migrations = []Migration{
 	NewMigration("Add table app_state", addTableAppState),
 	// v201 -> v202
 	NewMigration("Drop table remote_version (if exists)", dropTableRemoteVersion),
+	// v202 -> v203
+	NewMigration("Create key/value table for user settings", createUserSettingsTable),
 }
 
 // GetCurrentDBVersion returns the current db version
diff --git a/models/migrations/v202.go b/models/migrations/v202.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3e023543e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/models/migrations/v202.go
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+// Copyright 2021 The Gitea Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a MIT-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+package migrations
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+
+	"xorm.io/xorm"
+)
+
+func createUserSettingsTable(x *xorm.Engine) error {
+	type UserSetting struct {
+		ID           int64  `xorm:"pk autoincr"`
+		UserID       int64  `xorm:"index unique(key_userid)"`              // to load all of someone's settings
+		SettingKey   string `xorm:"varchar(255) index unique(key_userid)"` // ensure key is always lowercase
+		SettingValue string `xorm:"text"`
+	}
+	if err := x.Sync2(new(UserSetting)); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("sync2: %v", err)
+	}
+	return nil
+
+}
diff --git a/models/user.go b/models/user.go
index 4231597d42..5e3ee3f601 100644
--- a/models/user.go
+++ b/models/user.go
@@ -1192,6 +1192,7 @@ func DeleteUser(ctx context.Context, u *User) (err error) {
 		&TeamUser{UID: u.ID},
 		&Collaboration{UserID: u.ID},
 		&Stopwatch{UserID: u.ID},
+		&user_model.Setting{UserID: u.ID},
 	); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("deleteBeans: %v", err)
 	}
diff --git a/models/user/main_test.go b/models/user/main_test.go
index 7862556a03..925af0e8b2 100644
--- a/models/user/main_test.go
+++ b/models/user/main_test.go
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-// Copyright 2020 The Gitea Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Copyright 2021 The Gitea Authors. All rights reserved.
 // Use of this source code is governed by a MIT-style
 // license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
 
diff --git a/models/user/setting.go b/models/user/setting.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c5a3d482b5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/models/user/setting.go
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+// Copyright 2021 The Gitea Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a MIT-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+package user
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+
+	"code.gitea.io/gitea/models/db"
+
+	"xorm.io/builder"
+)
+
+// Setting is a key value store of user settings
+type Setting struct {
+	ID           int64  `xorm:"pk autoincr"`
+	UserID       int64  `xorm:"index unique(key_userid)"`              // to load all of someone's settings
+	SettingKey   string `xorm:"varchar(255) index unique(key_userid)"` // ensure key is always lowercase
+	SettingValue string `xorm:"text"`
+}
+
+// TableName sets the table name for the settings struct
+func (s *Setting) TableName() string {
+	return "user_setting"
+}
+
+func init() {
+	db.RegisterModel(new(Setting))
+}
+
+// GetSettings returns specific settings from user
+func GetSettings(uid int64, keys []string) (map[string]*Setting, error) {
+	settings := make([]*Setting, 0, len(keys))
+	if err := db.GetEngine(db.DefaultContext).
+		Where("user_id=?", uid).
+		And(builder.In("setting_key", keys)).
+		Find(&settings); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	settingsMap := make(map[string]*Setting)
+	for _, s := range settings {
+		settingsMap[s.SettingKey] = s
+	}
+	return settingsMap, nil
+}
+
+// GetUserAllSettings returns all settings from user
+func GetUserAllSettings(uid int64) (map[string]*Setting, error) {
+	settings := make([]*Setting, 0, 5)
+	if err := db.GetEngine(db.DefaultContext).
+		Where("user_id=?", uid).
+		Find(&settings); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	settingsMap := make(map[string]*Setting)
+	for _, s := range settings {
+		settingsMap[s.SettingKey] = s
+	}
+	return settingsMap, nil
+}
+
+// DeleteSetting deletes a specific setting for a user
+func DeleteSetting(setting *Setting) error {
+	_, err := db.GetEngine(db.DefaultContext).Delete(setting)
+	return err
+}
+
+// SetSetting updates a users' setting for a specific key
+func SetSetting(setting *Setting) error {
+	if strings.ToLower(setting.SettingKey) != setting.SettingKey {
+		return fmt.Errorf("setting key should be lowercase")
+	}
+	return upsertSettingValue(setting.UserID, setting.SettingKey, setting.SettingValue)
+}
+
+func upsertSettingValue(userID int64, key string, value string) error {
+	return db.WithTx(func(ctx context.Context) error {
+		e := db.GetEngine(ctx)
+
+		// here we use a general method to do a safe upsert for different databases (and most transaction levels)
+		// 1. try to UPDATE the record and acquire the transaction write lock
+		//    if UPDATE returns non-zero rows are changed, OK, the setting is saved correctly
+		//    if UPDATE returns "0 rows changed", two possibilities: (a) record doesn't exist  (b) value is not changed
+		// 2. do a SELECT to check if the row exists or not (we already have the transaction lock)
+		// 3. if the row doesn't exist, do an INSERT (we are still protected by the transaction lock, so it's safe)
+		//
+		// to optimize the SELECT in step 2, we can use an extra column like `revision=revision+1`
+		//    to make sure the UPDATE always returns a non-zero value for existing (unchanged) records.
+
+		res, err := e.Exec("UPDATE user_setting SET setting_value=? WHERE setting_key=? AND user_id=?", value, key, userID)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		rows, _ := res.RowsAffected()
+		if rows > 0 {
+			// the existing row is updated, so we can return
+			return nil
+		}
+
+		// in case the value isn't changed, update would return 0 rows changed, so we need this check
+		has, err := e.Exist(&Setting{UserID: userID, SettingKey: key})
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		if has {
+			return nil
+		}
+
+		// if no existing row, insert a new row
+		_, err = e.Insert(&Setting{UserID: userID, SettingKey: key, SettingValue: value})
+		return err
+	})
+}
diff --git a/models/user/setting_test.go b/models/user/setting_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..81445a9f6f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/models/user/setting_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+// Copyright 2021 The Gitea Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a MIT-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+package user
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"code.gitea.io/gitea/models/unittest"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+func TestSettings(t *testing.T) {
+	keyName := "test_user_setting"
+	assert.NoError(t, unittest.PrepareTestDatabase())
+
+	newSetting := &Setting{UserID: 99, SettingKey: keyName, SettingValue: "Gitea User Setting Test"}
+
+	// create setting
+	err := SetSetting(newSetting)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	// test about saving unchanged values
+	err = SetSetting(newSetting)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// get specific setting
+	settings, err := GetSettings(99, []string{keyName})
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Len(t, settings, 1)
+	assert.EqualValues(t, newSetting.SettingValue, settings[keyName].SettingValue)
+
+	// updated setting
+	updatedSetting := &Setting{UserID: 99, SettingKey: keyName, SettingValue: "Updated"}
+	err = SetSetting(updatedSetting)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// get all settings
+	settings, err = GetUserAllSettings(99)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Len(t, settings, 1)
+	assert.EqualValues(t, updatedSetting.SettingValue, settings[updatedSetting.SettingKey].SettingValue)
+
+	// delete setting
+	err = DeleteSetting(&Setting{UserID: 99, SettingKey: keyName})
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	settings, err = GetUserAllSettings(99)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Len(t, settings, 0)
+}
diff --git a/modules/avatar/identicon/identicon_test.go b/modules/avatar/identicon/identicon_test.go
index ab54183a46..ee44c95139 100644
--- a/modules/avatar/identicon/identicon_test.go
+++ b/modules/avatar/identicon/identicon_test.go
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 // license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
 
 //go:build test_avatar_identicon
-//  +build test_avatar_identicon
+// +build test_avatar_identicon
 
 package identicon