diff --git a/Project.toml b/Project.toml
index b73284b1d..d682b7d18 100644
--- a/Project.toml
+++ b/Project.toml
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ Pkg = "44cfe95a-1eb2-52ea-b672-e2afdf69b78f"
 PlotThemes = "ccf2f8ad-2431-5c83-bf29-c5338b663b6a"
 PlotUtils = "995b91a9-d308-5afd-9ec6-746e21dbc043"
 PrecompileTools = "aea7be01-6a6a-4083-8856-8a6e6704d82a"
-Preferences = "21216c6a-2e73-6563-6e65-726566657250"
 Printf = "de0858da-6303-5e67-8744-51eddeeeb8d7"
 REPL = "3fa0cd96-eef1-5676-8a61-b3b8758bbffb"
 Random = "9a3f8284-a2c9-5f02-9a11-845980a1fd5c"
@@ -64,7 +63,7 @@ FixedPointNumbers = "0.6 - 0.8"
 GR = "0.69.5 - 0.73"
 Gaston = "1"
 HDF5 = "0.16"
-InspectDR = "0.4"
+InspectDR = "0.5"
 JLFzf = "0.1"
 JSON = "0.21, 1"
 LaTeXStrings = "1"
@@ -79,7 +78,6 @@ PlotlyBase = "0.7 - 0.8"
 PlotlyJS = "0.18"
 PlotlyKaleido = "1"
 PrecompileTools = "1"
-Preferences = "1"
 PyPlot = "2"
 PythonPlot = "1 - 1.0.2"
 RecipesBase = "1.3.1"
@@ -95,7 +93,7 @@ UnicodeFun = "0.4"
 UnicodePlots = "3.4"
 UnitfulLatexify = "1"
 Unzip = "0.1 - 0.2"
-julia = "1.6"
+julia = "1.10"
 
 [extras]
 Aqua = "4c88cf16-eb10-579e-8560-4a9242c79595"
@@ -132,4 +130,4 @@ Unitful = "1986cc42-f94f-5a68-af5c-568840ba703d"
 VisualRegressionTests = "34922c18-7c2a-561c-bac1-01e79b2c4c92"
 
 [targets]
-test = ["Aqua", "Colors", "Distributions", "FileIO", "FilePathsBase", "FreeType", "Gaston", "GeometryBasics", "Gtk", "ImageMagick", "Images", "InspectDR", "LibGit2", "OffsetArrays", "PGFPlotsX", "PlotlyJS", "PlotlyBase", "PyPlot", "PythonPlot", "PlotlyKaleido", "HDF5", "RDatasets", "SentinelArrays", "StableRNGs", "StaticArrays", "StatsPlots", "Test", "TestImages", "UnicodePlots", "Unitful", "VisualRegressionTests"]
+test = ["Aqua", "Colors", "Distributions", "FileIO", "FilePathsBase", "FreeType", "Gaston", "GeometryBasics", "Gtk", "ImageMagick", "Images", "LibGit2", "OffsetArrays", "PGFPlotsX", "PlotlyJS", "PlotlyBase", "PyPlot", "PythonPlot", "PlotlyKaleido", "HDF5", "RDatasets", "SentinelArrays", "StableRNGs", "StaticArrays", "StatsPlots", "Test", "TestImages", "UnicodePlots", "Unitful", "VisualRegressionTests"]
diff --git a/src/Plots.jl b/src/Plots.jl
index 3c8e6b942..e3610d9bd 100644
--- a/src/Plots.jl
+++ b/src/Plots.jl
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ if isdefined(Base, :Experimental) && isdefined(Base.Experimental, Symbol("@max_m
 end
 
 using Pkg, Dates, Printf, Statistics, Base64, LinearAlgebra, SparseArrays, Random
-using PrecompileTools, Preferences, Reexport, RelocatableFolders
+using PrecompileTools, Reexport, RelocatableFolders
 using Base.Meta
 @reexport using RecipesBase
 @reexport using PlotThemes
diff --git a/src/backends.jl b/src/backends.jl
index 6b803858b..faa104efe 100644
--- a/src/backends.jl
+++ b/src/backends.jl
@@ -194,35 +194,13 @@ end
 CurrentBackend(sym::Symbol) = CurrentBackend(sym, _backend_instance(sym))
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------
-# from github.com/JuliaPackaging/Preferences.jl/blob/master/README.md:
-# "Preferences that are accessed during compilation are automatically marked as compile-time preferences"
-# ==> this must always be done during precompilation, otherwise
-# the cache will not invalidate when preferences change
-const PLOTS_DEFAULT_BACKEND = lowercase(load_preference(Plots, "default_backend", "gr"))
+const PLOTS_DEFAULT_BACKEND = "gr"
 
 function load_default_backend()
-    # environment variable preempts the `Preferences` based mechanism
-    CURRENT_BACKEND.sym =
-        get(ENV, "PLOTS_DEFAULT_BACKEND", PLOTS_DEFAULT_BACKEND) |> lowercase |> Symbol
+    CURRENT_BACKEND.sym = :gr
     backend(CURRENT_BACKEND.sym)
 end
 
-function set_default_backend!(
-    backend::Union{Nothing,AbstractString,Symbol} = nothing;
-    force = true,
-    kw...,
-)
-    if backend === nothing
-        delete_preferences!(Plots, "default_backend"; force, kw...)
-    else
-        # NOTE: `_check_installed` already throws a warning
-        if (value = lowercase(string(backend))) |> _check_installed !== nothing
-            set_preferences!(Plots, "default_backend" => value; force, kw...)
-        end
-    end
-    nothing
-end
-
 function diagnostics(io::IO = stdout)
     origin = if has_preference(Plots, "default_backend")
         "`Preferences`"
diff --git a/src/examples.jl b/src/examples.jl
index 230368392..2fe65b1d6 100644
--- a/src/examples.jl
+++ b/src/examples.jl
@@ -937,7 +937,7 @@ const _examples = PlotExample[
         "3D axis flip / mirror",
         :(using LinearAlgebra),
         quote
-            with(scalefonts = 0.5) do
+            Plots.with(scalefonts = 0.5) do
                 x, y = collect(-6:0.5:10), collect(-8:0.5:8)
 
                 args = x, y, (x, y) -> sinc(norm([x, y]) / π)
@@ -1198,7 +1198,7 @@ const _examples = PlotExample[
                 legs,
             )
             w, h = Plots._plot_defaults[:size]
-            with(scalefonts = 0.5, size = (2w, 2h)) do
+            Plots.with(scalefonts = 0.5, size = (2w, 2h)) do
                 plot(leg_plots()..., leg_plots(legend_column = -1)...; layout = (6, 3))
             end
         end,
@@ -1230,7 +1230,7 @@ const _examples = PlotExample[
                 legs,
             )
             w, h = Plots._plot_defaults[:size]
-            with(scalefonts = 0.5, size = (2w, 2h)) do
+            Plots.with(scalefonts = 0.5, size = (2w, 2h)) do
                 plot(leg_plots()..., leg_plots(legend_column = -1)...; layout = (6, 3))
             end
         end,
diff --git a/src/init.jl b/src/init.jl
index aa58c2bb9..b962a843f 100644
--- a/src/init.jl
+++ b/src/init.jl
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ include(_path(backend_name()))
     n = length(_examples)
     imports = sizehint!(Expr[], n)
     examples = sizehint!(Expr[], 10n)
+    scratch_dir = mktempdir()
     for i in setdiff(1:n, _backend_skips[backend_name()], _animation_examples)
         _examples[i].external && continue
         (imp = _examples[i].imports) === nothing || push!(imports, imp)
@@ -99,15 +100,9 @@ include(_path(backend_name()))
                 $func() = begin  # evaluate each example in a local scope
                     $(_examples[i].exprs)
                     $i == 1 || return  # only for one example
-                    fn = tempname()
+                    fn = joinpath(scratch_dir, tempname())
                     pl = current()
                     show(devnull, pl)
-                    # FIXME: pgfplotsx requires bug
-                    backend_name() === :pgfplotsx && return
-                    if backend_name() === :unicodeplots
-                        savefig(pl, "$fn.txt")
-                        return
-                    end
                     showable(MIME"image/png"(), pl) && savefig(pl, "$fn.png")
                     showable(MIME"application/pdf"(), pl) && savefig(pl, "$fn.pdf")
                     if showable(MIME"image/svg+xml"(), pl)
diff --git a/src/utils.jl b/src/utils.jl
index 74878824f..faf7b1880 100644
--- a/src/utils.jl
+++ b/src/utils.jl
@@ -634,7 +634,7 @@ allFunctions(arg) = trueOrAllTrue(a -> isa(a, Function), arg)
 """
 Allows temporary setting of backend and defaults for Plots. Settings apply only for the `do` block.  Example:
 ```
-with(:gr, size=(400,400), type=:histogram) do
+Plots.with(:gr, size=(400,400), type=:histogram) do
   plot(rand(10))
   plot(rand(10))
 end
diff --git a/test/runtests.jl b/test/runtests.jl
index f568f6d5e..cb98dbfa1 100644
--- a/test/runtests.jl
+++ b/test/runtests.jl
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ using VisualRegressionTests
 using RecipesPipeline
 using FilePathsBase
 using LaTeXStrings
-using Preferences
 using RecipesBase
 using TestImages
 using Unitful
@@ -23,12 +22,8 @@ using Dates
 using Test
 using Gtk  # see JuliaPlots/VisualRegressionTests.jl/issues/30
 
-# get `Preferences` set backend, if any
-const PREVIOUS_DEFAULT_BACKEND = load_preference(Plots, "default_backend")
-
 # NOTE: don't use `plotly` (test hang, not surprised), test only the backends used in the docs
-const TEST_BACKENDS =
-    :gr, :unicodeplots, :pythonplot, :pgfplotsx, :plotlyjs, :gaston, :inspectdr
+const TEST_BACKENDS = :gr, :unicodeplots, :pythonplot, :pgfplotsx, :plotlyjs, :gaston
 
 # initial load - required for `should_warn_on_unsupported`
 unicodeplots()
@@ -61,7 +56,6 @@ for name in (
     "plotly",
     "animations",
     "output",
-    "preferences",
     "backends",
 )
     @testset "$name" begin
@@ -73,9 +67,3 @@ for name in (
         include("test_$name.jl")
     end
 end
-
-if PREVIOUS_DEFAULT_BACKEND === nothing
-    delete_preferences!(Plots, "default_backend")  # restore the absence of a preference
-else
-    Plots.set_default_backend!(PREVIOUS_DEFAULT_BACKEND)  # reset to previous state
-end
diff --git a/test/test_axes.jl b/test/test_axes.jl
index 62092ac5b..01df32ecd 100644
--- a/test/test_axes.jl
+++ b/test/test_axes.jl
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
           ["500.×10^{0}", "1.00×10^{3}", "1.50×10^{3}"]
     @test Plots.get_labels(:latex, 1:3, :identity) == ["\$1\$", "\$2\$", "\$3\$"]
     # GR is used during tests and it correctly overrides labelfunc(), but PGFPlotsX did not
-    with(:pgfplotsx) do
+    Plots.with(:pgfplotsx) do
         @test Plots.get_labels(:auto, 1:3, :log10) == ["10^{1}", "10^{2}", "10^{3}"]
     end
     @test Plots.get_labels(:auto, 1:3, :log10) == ["10^{1}", "10^{2}", "10^{3}"]
diff --git a/test/test_backends.jl b/test/test_backends.jl
index d6e1c3c04..7a8b0ba8d 100644
--- a/test/test_backends.jl
+++ b/test/test_backends.jl
@@ -122,25 +122,25 @@ end
 ## Uncomment the following lines to update reference images for different backends
 #=
 
-with(:gr) do
+Plots.with(:gr) do
     image_comparison_facts(:gr, tol = PLOTS_IMG_TOL, skip = Plots._backend_skips[:gr])
 end
 
-with(:plotlyjs) do
+Plots.with(:plotlyjs) do
     image_comparison_facts(:plotlyjs, tol = PLOTS_IMG_TOL, skip = Plots._backend_skips[:plotlyjs])
 end
 
-with(:pyplot) do
+Plots.with(:pyplot) do
     image_comparison_facts(:pyplot, tol = PLOTS_IMG_TOL, skip = Plots._backend_skips[:pyplot])
 end
 
-with(:pgfplotsx) do
+Plots.with(:pgfplotsx) do
     image_comparison_facts(:pgfplotsx, tol = PLOTS_IMG_TOL, skip = Plots._backend_skips[:pgfplotsx])
 end
 =#
 
 @testset "UnicodePlots" begin
-    with(:unicodeplots) do
+    Plots.with(:unicodeplots) do
         @test backend() == Plots.UnicodePlotsBackend()
 
         io = IOContext(IOBuffer(), :color => true)
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ end
 push!(blacklist, 50)  # NOTE:  remove when github.com/jheinen/GR.jl/issues/507 is resolved
 
 @testset "GR - reference images" begin
-    with(:gr) do
+    Plots.with(:gr) do
         # NOTE: use `ENV["VISUAL_REGRESSION_TESTS_AUTO"] = true;` to automatically replace reference images
         @test backend() == Plots.GRBackend()
         @test backend_name() === :gr
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ push!(blacklist, 50)  # NOTE:  remove when github.com/jheinen/GR.jl/issues/507 i
 end
 
 is_pkgeval() || @testset "PlotlyJS" begin
-    with(:plotlyjs) do
+    Plots.with(:plotlyjs) do
         @test backend() == Plots.PlotlyJSBackend()
         pl = plot(rand(10))
         @test pl isa Plot
diff --git a/test/test_misc.jl b/test/test_misc.jl
index 9559b4fc7..172aee38c 100644
--- a/test/test_misc.jl
+++ b/test/test_misc.jl
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ end
 end
 
 @testset "NoFail" begin
-    with(:unicodeplots) do
+    Plots.with(:unicodeplots) do
         @test backend() == Plots.UnicodePlotsBackend()
 
         dsp = TextDisplay(IOContext(IOBuffer(), :color => true))
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ end
 
 @testset "wrap" begin
     # not sure what is intended here ...
-    wrapped = wrap([:red, :blue])
+    wrapped = Plots.wrap([:red, :blue])
     @test !isempty(wrapped)
     @test scatter(1:2, color = wrapped) isa Plots.Plot
 end
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ end
     @test plot(skipmissing(1:5)) isa Plots.Plot
 end
 
-with(:gr) do
+Plots.with(:gr) do
     @testset "text" begin
         io = PipeBuffer()
         x = y = range(-3, 3, length = 10)
diff --git a/test/test_output.jl b/test/test_output.jl
index 12f3270a3..5fb80018f 100644
--- a/test/test_output.jl
+++ b/test/test_output.jl
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ macro test_save(fmt)
     end |> esc
 end
 
-with(:gr) do
+Plots.with(:gr) do
     @test Plots.defaultOutputFormat(plot()) == "png"
     @test Plots.addExtension("foo", "bar") == "foo.bar"
 
@@ -39,14 +39,14 @@ with(:gr) do
     @test_save :ps
 end
 
-with(:unicodeplots) do
+Plots.with(:unicodeplots) do
     @test_save :txt
     if Plots.UnicodePlots.get_font_face() ≢ nothing
         @test_save :png
     end
 end
 
-with(:plotlyjs) do
+Plots.with(:plotlyjs) do
     @test_save :html
     @test_save :json
     @test_save :pdf
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ with(:plotlyjs) do
     # @test_save :eps
 end
 
-with(:plotly) do
+Plots.with(:plotly) do
     @test_save :pdf
     @test_save :png
     @test_save :svg
@@ -63,13 +63,13 @@ with(:plotly) do
 end
 
 if Sys.islinux() && Sys.which("pdflatex") ≢ nothing
-    with(:pgfplotsx) do
+    Plots.with(:pgfplotsx) do
         @test_save :tex
         @test_save :png
         @test_save :pdf
     end
 
-    with(:pythonplot) do
+    Plots.with(:pythonplot) do
         @test_save :pdf
         @test_save :png
         @test_save :svg
@@ -79,14 +79,14 @@ if Sys.islinux() && Sys.which("pdflatex") ≢ nothing
 end
 
 #=
-with(:gaston) do
+Plots.with(:gaston) do
     @test_save :png
     @test_save :pdf
     @test_save :eps
     @test_save :svg
 end
 
-with(:inspectdr) do
+Plots.with(:inspectdr) do
     @test_save :png
     @test_save :pdf
     @test_save :eps
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ end
 =#
 
 @testset "html" begin
-    with(:gr) do
+    Plots.with(:gr) do
         io = PipeBuffer()
         pl = plot(1:2)
         pl.attr[:html_output_format] = :auto
diff --git a/test/test_pgfplotsx.jl b/test/test_pgfplotsx.jl
index 5d178603a..12069b740 100644
--- a/test/test_pgfplotsx.jl
+++ b/test/test_pgfplotsx.jl
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ function get_pgf_axes(pl)
     Plots.pgfx_axes(pl.o)
 end
 
-with(:pgfplotsx) do
+Plots.with(:pgfplotsx) do
     pl = plot(1:5)
     axis = first(get_pgf_axes(pl))
     @test pl.o.the_plot isa PGFPlotsX.TikzDocument
diff --git a/test/test_plotly.jl b/test/test_plotly.jl
index dedc72e36..8b172d2a6 100644
--- a/test/test_plotly.jl
+++ b/test/test_plotly.jl
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 using Plots, Test
-with(:plotly) do
+Plots.with(:plotly) do
     @testset "Basic" begin
         @test backend() == Plots.PlotlyBackend()
 
diff --git a/test/test_preferences.jl b/test/test_preferences.jl
deleted file mode 100644
index 033087001..000000000
--- a/test/test_preferences.jl
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,59 +0,0 @@
-
-@testset "Preferences" begin
-    Plots.set_default_backend!()  # start with empty preferences
-
-    withenv("PLOTS_DEFAULT_BACKEND" => "invalid") do
-        @test_logs (:warn, r".*is not a supported backend") Plots.load_default_backend()
-    end
-    @test_logs (:warn, r".*is not a supported backend") backend(:invalid)
-
-    @test Plots.load_default_backend() == Plots.GRBackend()
-
-    withenv("PLOTS_DEFAULT_BACKEND" => "unicodeplots") do
-        @test_logs (:info, r".*environment variable") Plots.diagnostics(devnull)
-        @test Plots.load_default_backend() == Plots.UnicodePlotsBackend()
-    end
-
-    @test Plots.load_default_backend() == Plots.GRBackend()
-    @test Plots.backend_package_name() === :GR
-    @test Plots.backend_name() === :gr
-
-    @test_logs (:info, r".*fallback") Plots.diagnostics(devnull)
-
-    @test Plots.merge_with_base_supported([:annotations, :guide]) isa Set
-    @test Plots.CurrentBackend(:gr).sym === :gr
-
-    @test_logs (:warn, r".*is not compatible with") Plots.set_default_backend!(:invalid)
-
-    @testset "persistent backend" begin
-        # this test mimics a restart, which is needed after a preferences change
-        Plots.set_default_backend!(:unicodeplots)
-        script = tempname()
-        write(
-            script,
-            """
-            using Pkg, Test; io = (devnull, stdout)[1]  # toggle for debugging
-            Pkg.activate(; temp = true, io)
-            Pkg.develop(; path = "$(escape_string(pkgdir(Plots)))", io)
-            Pkg.add("UnicodePlots"; io)  # checked by Plots
-            using Plots
-            res = @testset "Prefs" begin
-                @test_logs (:info, r".*Preferences") Plots.diagnostics(io)
-                @test backend() == Plots.UnicodePlotsBackend()
-            end
-            exit(res.n_passed == 2 ? 0 : 1)
-            """,
-        )
-        @test success(run(```$(Base.julia_cmd()) $script```))
-    end
-
-    is_pkgeval() || for be in TEST_BACKENDS
-        (Sys.isapple() && be === :gaston) && continue  # FIXME: hangs
-        (Sys.iswindows() && be === :plotlyjs && is_ci()) && continue # OutOfMemory
-        @test_logs Plots.set_default_backend!(be)  # test the absence of warnings
-        rm.(Base.find_all_in_cache_path(Base.module_keys[Plots]))  # make sure the compiled cache is removed
-        @test success(run(```$(Base.julia_cmd()) -e 'using Plots'```))  # test default precompilation
-    end
-
-    Plots.set_default_backend!()  # clear `Preferences` key
-end
diff --git a/test/test_recipes.jl b/test/test_recipes.jl
index 34273b172..a7fe5007f 100644
--- a/test/test_recipes.jl
+++ b/test/test_recipes.jl
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ end
     @test Plots.seriestype_supported(Plots.NoBackend(), :line) === :no
 end
 
-with(:gr) do
+Plots.with(:gr) do
     @testset "error bars" begin
         x = y = 1:10
         yerror = fill(1, length(y))
diff --git a/test/test_unitful.jl b/test/test_unitful.jl
index efcde6e2d..b0d79fdee 100644
--- a/test/test_unitful.jl
+++ b/test/test_unitful.jl
@@ -400,7 +400,7 @@ end
 
 if Sys.islinux() && Sys.which("pdflatex") ≢ nothing
     @testset "pgfplotsx exponents" begin  # github.com/JuliaPlots/Plots.jl/issues/4722
-        with(:pgfplotsx) do
+        Plots.with(:pgfplotsx) do
             pl = plot([1u"s", 2u"s"], [1u"m/s^2", 2u"m/s^2"])
             savefig(pl, tempname() * ".pdf")
 
diff --git a/test/test_utils.jl b/test/test_utils.jl
index e597c90c2..adf07c2a3 100644
--- a/test/test_utils.jl
+++ b/test/test_utils.jl
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@
     show(devnull, pl[1][:xaxis])
 
     # bounding boxes
-    with(:gr) do
+    Plots.with(:gr) do
         show(devnull, plot(1:2))
     end
 
@@ -297,7 +297,7 @@ end
 end
 
 @testset "dispatch" begin
-    with(:gr) do
+    Plots.with(:gr) do
         pl = heatmap(rand(10, 10); xscale = :log10, yscale = :log10)
         @test show(devnull, pl) isa Nothing