diff --git a/doc/toxic.conf.5 b/doc/toxic.conf.5
index edf88ac75..b07676bd9 100644
--- a/doc/toxic.conf.5
+++ b/doc/toxic.conf.5
@@ -465,10 +465,17 @@ Toggle the peer list on and off\&.
 .RS 4
 Toggle treating linebreaks as enter key press\&.
 .RE
+.PP
+\fBreload_config\fR
+.RS 4
+Reload the Toxic config file\&.
+.RE
 .RE
 .SH "BUGS"
 .sp
-Non\-default colours (gray, brown, orange, and pink) will not work on terminal emulators that don\(cqt support 256\-colors\&. Konsole, qterminal and possibly others are also known to have issues with them\&. If you\(cqre using screen or tmux, try to configure it to use the xterm\-256color TERM environment variable\&.
+\-Non\-default colours (gray, brown, orange, and pink) will not work on terminal emulators that don\(cqt support 256\-colors\&. Konsole, qterminal and possibly others are also known to have issues with them\&. If you\(cqre using screen or tmux, try to configure it to use the xterm\-256color TERM environment variable\&.
+.sp
+\-When reloading the config file during a live session, some UI changes may be buggy and require a full client restart\&.
 .SH "FILES"
 .PP
 ~/\&.config/tox/toxic\&.conf
diff --git a/doc/toxic.conf.5.asc b/doc/toxic.conf.5.asc
index 7c2a4d618..971cd6c23 100644
--- a/doc/toxic.conf.5.asc
+++ b/doc/toxic.conf.5.asc
@@ -290,14 +290,20 @@ OPTIONS
     *toggle_paste_mode*;;
         Toggle treating linebreaks as enter key press.
 
+    *reload_config*;;
+        Reload the Toxic config file.
+
 
 BUGS
 ----
-Non-default colours (gray, brown, orange, and pink) will not work on terminal emulators that
+-Non-default colours (gray, brown, orange, and pink) will not work on terminal emulators that
 don't support 256-colors. Konsole, qterminal and possibly others are also known to have issues
 with them. If you're using screen or tmux, try to configure it to use the xterm-256color TERM
 environment variable.
 
+-When reloading the config file during a live session, some UI changes may be buggy and require
+a full client restart.
+
 FILES
 -----
 ~/.config/tox/toxic.conf::
diff --git a/misc/toxic.conf.example b/misc/toxic.conf.example
index c1913b744..7014f32fb 100644
--- a/misc/toxic.conf.example
+++ b/misc/toxic.conf.example
@@ -219,4 +219,5 @@ keys = {
   page_bottom="Ctrl+H";
   toggle_peerlist="Ctrl+B";
   toggle_paste_mode="Ctrl+T";
+  reload_config="Ctrl+R";
 };
diff --git a/src/help.c b/src/help.c
index f7dc1eac5..dee648a8e 100644
--- a/src/help.c
+++ b/src/help.c
@@ -347,6 +347,7 @@ static void help_draw_keys(ToxWindow *self)
     wprintw(win, "  Ctrl+B                    : Toggle groupchat/conference peer list\n");
     wprintw(win, "  Ctrl+J                    : Insert new line\n");
     wprintw(win, "  Ctrl+T                    : Toggle paste mode\n\n");
+    wprintw(win, "  Ctrl+R                    : Reload the Toxic config file\n\n");
     wprintw(win, "  (Note: Custom keybindings override these defaults.)\n\n");
 
     help_draw_bottom_menu(win);
diff --git a/src/input.c b/src/input.c
index abe1a7dbf..9e3c7f48d 100644
--- a/src/input.c
+++ b/src/input.c
@@ -336,7 +336,10 @@ bool input_handle(ToxWindow *self, const Toxic *toxic, wint_t key, int x, int mx
     /* TODO: this special case is ugly.
        maybe convert entire function to if/else and make them all customizable keys? */
     if (!match) {
-        if (key == c_config->key_toggle_peerlist) {
+        if (key == c_config->key_reload_config) {
+            settings_reload(toxic->c_config, toxic->run_opts);
+            match = true;
+        } else if (key == c_config->key_toggle_peerlist) {
             if (self->type == WINDOW_TYPE_CONFERENCE) {
                 self->show_peerlist ^= 1;
                 redraw_conference_win(self);
diff --git a/src/settings.c b/src/settings.c
index 1560db2df..a46f0ee60 100644
--- a/src/settings.c
+++ b/src/settings.c
@@ -177,6 +177,7 @@ static const struct keys_strings {
     const char *page_bottom;
     const char *toggle_peerlist;
     const char *toggle_pastemode;
+    const char *reload_config;
 } key_strings = {
     "keys",
     "next_tab",
@@ -188,6 +189,7 @@ static const struct keys_strings {
     "page_bottom",
     "toggle_peerlist",
     "toggle_paste_mode",
+    "reload_config",
 };
 
 /* defines from toxic.h */
@@ -202,6 +204,7 @@ static void key_defaults(Client_Config *settings)
     settings->key_page_bottom = T_KEY_C_H;
     settings->key_toggle_peerlist = T_KEY_C_B;
     settings->key_toggle_pastemode = T_KEY_C_T;
+    settings->key_reload_config = T_KEY_C_R;
 }
 
 static const struct tox_strings {
@@ -848,6 +851,10 @@ int settings_load_main(Client_Config *s, const Run_Options *run_opts)
         if (config_setting_lookup_string(setting, key_strings.toggle_pastemode, &tmp)) {
             set_key_binding(&s->key_toggle_pastemode, &tmp);
         }
+
+        if (config_setting_lookup_string(setting, key_strings.reload_config, &tmp)) {
+            set_key_binding(&s->key_reload_config, &tmp);
+        }
     }
 
 #ifdef AUDIO
@@ -949,3 +956,33 @@ int settings_load_main(Client_Config *s, const Run_Options *run_opts)
     config_destroy(cfg);
     return 0;
 }
+
+void settings_reload(Client_Config *c_config, const Run_Options *run_opts)
+{
+    int ret = settings_load_main(c_config, run_opts);
+
+    if (ret < 0) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "Failed to reload global settings (error %d)\n", ret);
+    }
+
+    ret = settings_load_friends(run_opts);
+
+    if (ret < 0) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "Failed to reload friend settings (error %d)\n", ret);
+    }
+
+    ret = settings_load_conferences(run_opts);
+
+    if (ret < 0) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "Failed to reload conference settings (error %d)\n", ret);
+    }
+
+    ret = settings_load_groups(run_opts);
+
+    if (ret < 0) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "Failed to reload group settings (error %d)\n", ret);
+    }
+
+    endwin();
+    init_term(c_config, run_opts->default_locale);
+}
diff --git a/src/settings.h b/src/settings.h
index ceeb5633b..1318a7b10 100644
--- a/src/settings.h
+++ b/src/settings.h
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ typedef struct Client_Config {
     int key_page_bottom;
     int key_toggle_peerlist;
     int key_toggle_pastemode;
+    int key_reload_config;
 
     int mplex_away; /* boolean (1 for reaction to terminal attach/detach) */
     char mplex_away_note [TOX_MAX_STATUS_MESSAGE_LENGTH];
@@ -209,4 +210,9 @@ int settings_load_groups(const Run_Options *run_opts);
  */
 int settings_load_conferences(const Run_Options *run_opts);
 
+/*
+ * Reloads config settings.
+ */
+void settings_reload(Client_Config *c_config, const Run_Options *run_opts);
+
 #endif /* SETTINGS_H */
diff --git a/src/toxic.c b/src/toxic.c
index 864c6e4ce..164cea389 100644
--- a/src/toxic.c
+++ b/src/toxic.c
@@ -156,12 +156,16 @@ static void kill_toxic(Toxic *toxic)
     free(toxic);
 }
 
+static void cleanup_init_messages(void);
+
 void exit_toxic_success(Toxic *toxic)
 {
     if (toxic == NULL) {
         exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
     }
 
+    cleanup_init_messages();
+
     store_data(toxic);
 
     terminate_notify();
@@ -384,7 +388,7 @@ static void get_custom_toxic_colours(const Client_Config *c_config, short *bar_b
     }
 }
 
-static void init_term(const Client_Config *c_config, bool use_default_locale)
+void init_term(const Client_Config *c_config, bool use_default_locale)
 {
 #if HAVE_WIDECHAR
 
@@ -493,7 +497,7 @@ static void queue_init_message(const char *msg, ...)
     vsnprintf(frmt_msg, sizeof(frmt_msg), msg, args);
     va_end(args);
 
-    int i = init_messages.num;
+    const int i = init_messages.num;
     ++init_messages.num;
 
     char **new_msgs = realloc(init_messages.msgs, sizeof(char *) * init_messages.num);
@@ -512,7 +516,7 @@ static void queue_init_message(const char *msg, ...)
     init_messages.msgs = new_msgs;
 }
 
-/* called after messages have been printed to prompt and are no longer needed */
+/* called on exit */
 static void cleanup_init_messages(void)
 {
     if (init_messages.num <= 0) {
@@ -524,6 +528,8 @@ static void cleanup_init_messages(void)
     }
 
     free(init_messages.msgs);
+    init_messages.msgs = NULL;
+    init_messages.num = 0;
 }
 
 static void print_init_messages(ToxWindow *home_window, const Client_Config *c_config)
@@ -1851,8 +1857,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     flag_interface_refresh();
     pthread_mutex_unlock(&Winthread.lock);
 
-    cleanup_init_messages();
-
     /* set user avatar from config file. if no path is supplied tox_unset_avatar is called */
     char avatarstr[PATH_MAX + 11];
     snprintf(avatarstr, sizeof(avatarstr), "/avatar %s", c_config->avatar_path);
diff --git a/src/toxic.h b/src/toxic.h
index d3663c4e9..85818e62e 100644
--- a/src/toxic.h
+++ b/src/toxic.h
@@ -97,6 +97,8 @@ void exit_toxic_err(const char *errmsg, int errcode) __attribute__((__noreturn__
 
 int store_data(const Toxic *toxic);
 
+void init_term(const Client_Config *c_config, bool use_default_locale);
+
 /* callbacks */
 void on_friend_request(Tox *tox, const uint8_t *public_key, const uint8_t *data, size_t length, void *userdata);
 void on_friend_connection_status(Tox *tox, uint32_t friendnumber, Tox_Connection status, void *userdata);
diff --git a/src/toxic_constants.h b/src/toxic_constants.h
index 16deb8b89..f29179312 100644
--- a/src/toxic_constants.h
+++ b/src/toxic_constants.h
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@
 #define T_KEY_C_L        0x0C     /* ctrl-l */
 #define T_KEY_C_W        0x17     /* ctrl-w */
 #define T_KEY_C_B        0x02     /* ctrl-b */
+#define T_KEY_C_R        0x12     /* ctrl-r */
 #define T_KEY_C_T        0x14     /* ctrl-t */
 #define T_KEY_C_LEFT     0x221    /* ctrl-left arrow */
 #define T_KEY_C_RIGHT    0x230    /* ctrl-right arrow */