diff --git a/.github/CODEOWNERS b/.github/CODEOWNERS
index 46d9595fd..2d840ec0e 100644
--- a/.github/CODEOWNERS
+++ b/.github/CODEOWNERS
@@ -90,6 +90,7 @@
 /modules/programs/home-manager.nix                    @rycee
 
 /modules/programs/htop.nix                            @bjpbakker
+/tests/modules/htop                                   @bjpbakker
 
 /modules/programs/i3status.nix                        @JustinLovinger
 
diff --git a/modules/lib/maintainers.nix b/modules/lib/maintainers.nix
index 2f14dbef1..20663a281 100644
--- a/modules/lib/maintainers.nix
+++ b/modules/lib/maintainers.nix
@@ -121,4 +121,10 @@
     githubId = 5646732;
     name = "Andreas Mager";
   };
+  bjpbakker = {
+    email = "bart@thesoftwarecraft.com";
+    github = "bjpbakker";
+    githubId = 605641;
+    name = "Bart Bakker";
+  };
 }
diff --git a/modules/programs/htop.nix b/modules/programs/htop.nix
index 1edd0f7ab..81abc8c63 100644
--- a/modules/programs/htop.nix
+++ b/modules/programs/htop.nix
@@ -10,14 +10,10 @@ let
     let v' = if isBool v then (if v then "1" else "0") else toString v;
     in "${n}=${v'}";
 
-  formatMeters = side: meters:
-    let
-      warn' = warn "htop: meters should be passed as a list";
-      meters' = if isList meters then meters else warn' [ meters ];
-    in {
-      "${side}_meters" = concatMap (mapAttrsToList (x: _: x)) meters';
-      "${side}_meter_modes" = concatMap (mapAttrsToList (_: y: y)) meters';
-    };
+  formatMeters = side: meters: {
+    "${side}_meters" = concatMap (mapAttrsToList (x: _: x)) meters;
+    "${side}_meter_modes" = concatMap (mapAttrsToList (_: y: y)) meters;
+  };
   leftMeters = formatMeters "left";
   rightMeters = formatMeters "right";
 
@@ -92,168 +88,15 @@ let
   led = meter modes.LED;
   blank = text "Blank";
 
-  # Mapping from names to defaults
-  meters = {
-    Clock = 2;
-    Date = 2;
-    DateTime = 2;
-    LoadAverage = 2;
-    Load = 2;
-    Memory = 1;
-    Swap = 1;
-    Zram = 2;
-    HugePages = 2;
-    Tasks = 2;
-    Uptime = 2;
-    Battery = 2;
-    Hostname = 2;
-    AllCPUs = 1;
-    AllCPUs2 = 1;
-    AllCPUs4 = 1;
-    AllCPUs8 = 1;
-    LeftCPUs = 1;
-    RightCPUs = 1;
-    Right = 1;
-    CPUs = 1;
-    LeftCPUs2 = 1;
-    RightCPUs2 = 1;
-    LeftCPUs4 = 1;
-    RightCPUs4 = 1;
-    LeftCPUs8 = 1;
-    RightCPUs8 = 1;
-    Blank = 2;
-    PressureStallCPUSome = 2;
-    PressureStallIOSome = 2;
-    PressureStallIOFull = 2;
-    PressureStallMemorySome = 2;
-    PressureStallMemoryFull = 2;
-    ZFSARC = 2;
-    ZFSCARC = 2;
-    CPU = 1;
-    "CPU(1)" = 1;
-    "CPU(2)" = 1;
-    "CPU(3)" = 1;
-    "CPU(4)" = 1;
-    "CPU(5)" = 1;
-    "CPU(6)" = 1;
-    "CPU(7)" = 1;
-    "CPU(8)" = 1;
-    SELinux = 2;
-    Systemd = 2;
-    DiskIO = 2;
-    NetworkIO = 2;
-  };
-
-  singleMeterType = let
-    meterEnum = types.enum (attrNames meters);
-    meterSubmodule = types.submodule {
-      options = {
-        kind = mkOption {
-          type = types.enum (attrNames meters);
-          example = "AllCPUs";
-          description = "What kind of meter.";
-        };
-
-        mode = mkOption {
-          type = types.enum [ 1 2 3 4 ];
-          example = 2;
-          description =
-            "Which mode the meter should use, one of 1(Bar) 2(Text) 3(Graph) 4(LED).";
-        };
-      };
-    };
-  in types.coercedTo meterEnum (m: {
-    kind = m;
-    mode = meters.${m};
-  }) meterSubmodule;
-
-  meterType = types.submodule {
-    options = {
-      left = mkOption {
-        description = "Meters shown in the left header.";
-        default = [ "AllCPUs" "Memory" "Swap" ];
-        example = [
-          "Memory"
-          "LeftCPUs2"
-          "RightCPUs2"
-          {
-            kind = "CPU";
-            mode = 3;
-          }
-        ];
-        type = types.listOf singleMeterType;
-      };
-      right = mkOption {
-        description = "Meters shown in the right header.";
-        default = [ "Tasks" "LoadAverage" "Uptime" ];
-        example = [
-          {
-            kind = "Clock";
-            mode = 4;
-          }
-          "Uptime"
-          "Tasks"
-        ];
-        type = types.listOf singleMeterType;
-      };
-    };
-  };
-
 in {
+  meta.maintainers = [ maintainers.bjpbakker ];
+
   options.programs.htop = {
     enable = mkEnableOption "htop";
 
     settings = mkOption {
       type = types.attrs;
-      default = {
-        account_guest_in_cpu_meter = false;
-        color_scheme = 0;
-        cpu_count_from_zero = false;
-        delay = 15;
-        detailed_cpu_time = false;
-        enable_mouse = true;
-        fields = with fields; [
-          PID
-          USER
-          PRIORITY
-          NICE
-          M_SIZE
-          M_RESIDENT
-          M_SHARE
-          STATE
-          PERCENT_CPU
-          PERCENT_MEM
-          TIME
-          COMM
-        ];
-        header_margin = true;
-        hide_kernel_threads = true;
-        hide_threads = false;
-        hide_userland_threads = false;
-        highlight_base_name = false;
-        highlight_megabytes = true;
-        highlight_threads = true;
-        shadow_other_users = false;
-        show_cpu_frequency = false;
-        show_cpu_usage = false;
-        show_program_path = true;
-        show_thread_names = false;
-        sort_direction = 1;
-        sort_key = fields.PERCENT_CPU;
-        tree_view = false;
-        update_process_names = false;
-        vim_mode = false;
-      } // (leftMeters [
-        (bar "AllCPUs2")
-        (bar "Memory")
-        (bar "Swap")
-        (text "Zram")
-      ]) // (rightMeters [
-        (text "Tasks")
-        (text "LoadAverage")
-        (text "Uptime")
-        (text "Systemd")
-      ]);
+      default = { };
       example = literalExample ''
         {
           color_scheme = 6;
@@ -291,300 +134,6 @@ in {
       description = ''
         Configuration options to add to
         <filename>~/.config/htop/htoprc</filename>.
-
-        This superseedes any other (deprecated) settings in this module.
-      '';
-    };
-
-    fields = mkOption {
-      type = types.nullOr (types.listOf (types.enum (attrNames fields)));
-      default = null;
-      example = [
-        "PID"
-        "USER"
-        "PRIORITY"
-        "PERCENT_CPU"
-        "M_RESIDENT"
-        "PERCENT_MEM"
-        "TIME"
-        "COMM"
-      ];
-      description = ''
-        Deprecated. Please use programs.htop.settings.fields instead.
-
-        Active fields shown in the table.
-      '';
-    };
-
-    sortKey = mkOption {
-      type = types.nullOr (types.enum (attrNames fields));
-      default = null;
-      example = "TIME";
-      description = ''
-        Deprecated. Please use programs.htop.settings.sort_key instead.
-
-        Which field to use for sorting.
-      '';
-    };
-
-    sortDescending = mkOption {
-      type = types.nullOr types.bool;
-      default = null;
-      description = ''
-        Deprecated. Please use programs.htop.settings.sort_direction instead.
-
-        Whether to sort descending or not.
-      '';
-    };
-
-    hideThreads = mkOption {
-      type = types.nullOr types.bool;
-      default = null;
-      description = ''
-        Deprecated. Please use programs.htop.settings.hide_threads instead.
-
-        Hide threads.
-      '';
-    };
-
-    hideKernelThreads = mkOption {
-      type = types.nullOr types.bool;
-      default = null;
-      description = ''
-        Deprecated. Please use programs.htop.settings.hide_kernel_threads instead.
-
-        Hide kernel threads.
-      '';
-    };
-
-    hideUserlandThreads = mkOption {
-      type = types.nullOr types.bool;
-      default = null;
-      description = ''
-        Deprecated. Please use programs.htop.settings.hide_userland_threads instead.
-
-        Hide userland process threads.
-      '';
-    };
-
-    shadowOtherUsers = mkOption {
-      type = types.nullOr types.bool;
-      default = null;
-      description = ''
-        Deprecated. Please use programs.htop.settings.shadow_other_users instead.
-
-        Shadow other users' processes.
-      '';
-    };
-
-    showThreadNames = mkOption {
-      type = types.nullOr types.bool;
-      default = null;
-      description = ''
-        Deprecated. Please use programs.htop.settings.show_thread_names instead.
-
-        Show custom thread names.
-      '';
-    };
-
-    showProgramPath = mkOption {
-      type = types.nullOr types.bool;
-      default = null;
-      description = ''
-        Deprecated. Please use programs.htop.settings.show_program_path instead.
-
-        Show program path.
-      '';
-    };
-
-    highlightBaseName = mkOption {
-      type = types.nullOr types.bool;
-      default = null;
-      description = ''
-        Deprecated. Please use programs.htop.settings.highlight_base_name instead.
-
-        Highlight program <quote>basename</quote>.
-      '';
-    };
-
-    highlightMegabytes = mkOption {
-      type = types.nullOr types.bool;
-      default = null;
-      description = ''
-        Deprecated. Please use programs.htop.settings.highlight_megabytes instead.
-
-        Highlight large numbers in memory counters.
-      '';
-    };
-
-    highlightThreads = mkOption {
-      type = types.nullOr types.bool;
-      default = null;
-      description = ''
-        Deprecated. Please use programs.htop.settings.highlight_threads instead.
-
-        Display threads in a different color.
-      '';
-    };
-
-    treeView = mkOption {
-      type = types.nullOr types.bool;
-      default = null;
-      description = ''
-        Deprecated. Please use programs.htop.settings.tree_view instead.
-
-        Tree view.
-      '';
-    };
-
-    headerMargin = mkOption {
-      type = types.nullOr types.bool;
-      default = null;
-      description = ''
-        Deprecated. Please use programs.htop.settings.header_margin instead.
-
-        Leave a margin around header.
-      '';
-    };
-
-    detailedCpuTime = mkOption {
-      type = types.nullOr types.bool;
-      default = null;
-      description = ''
-        Deprecated. Please use programs.htop.settings.detailed_cpu_time instead.
-
-        Detailed CPU time (System/IO-Wait/Hard-IRQ/Soft-IRQ/Steal/Guest).
-      '';
-    };
-
-    cpuCountFromZero = mkOption {
-      type = types.nullOr types.bool;
-      default = null;
-      description = ''
-        Deprecated. Please use programs.htop.settings.cpu_count_from_zero instead.
-
-        Count CPUs from 0 instead of 1.
-      '';
-    };
-
-    showCpuUsage = mkOption {
-      type = types.nullOr types.bool;
-      default = null;
-      description = ''
-        Deprecated. Please use programs.htop.settings.show_cpu_usage instead.
-
-        Show CPU usage frequency.
-      '';
-    };
-
-    showCpuFrequency = mkOption {
-      type = types.nullOr types.bool;
-      default = null;
-      description = ''
-        Deprecated. Please use programs.htop.settings.show_cpu_frequency instead.
-
-        Show CPU frequency.
-      '';
-    };
-
-    updateProcessNames = mkOption {
-      type = types.nullOr types.bool;
-      default = null;
-      description = ''
-        Deprecated. Please use programs.htop.settings.update_process_names instead.
-
-        Update process names on every refresh.
-      '';
-    };
-
-    accountGuestInCpuMeter = mkOption {
-      type = types.nullOr types.bool;
-      default = null;
-      description = ''
-        Deprecated. Please use programs.htop.settings.account_guest_in_cpu_meter instead.
-
-        Add guest time in CPU meter percentage.
-      '';
-    };
-
-    colorScheme = mkOption {
-      type = types.nullOr (types.enum [ 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 ]);
-      default = null;
-      example = 6;
-      description = ''
-        Deprecated. Please use programs.htop.settings.color_scheme instead.
-
-        Which color scheme to use.
-      '';
-    };
-
-    enableMouse = mkOption {
-      type = types.nullOr types.bool;
-      default = null;
-      description = ''
-        Deprecated. Please use programs.htop.settings.enable_mouse instead.
-
-        Enable mouse support.
-      '';
-    };
-
-    delay = mkOption {
-      type = types.nullOr types.int;
-      default = null;
-      example = 2;
-      description = ''
-        Deprecated. Please use programs.htop.settings.delay instead.
-
-        Set the delay between updates, in tenths of seconds.
-      '';
-    };
-
-    meters = mkOption {
-      description = ''
-        Deprecated. Please use programs.htop.settings.left_meters,
-        programs.htop.settings.left_meter_modes,
-        programs.htop.settings.right_meters and
-        programs.htop.settings.right_meter_modes instead. Or consider using
-        lib.htop.leftMeters and lib.htop.rightMeters.
-
-        Meters shown in the header.
-      '';
-      default = null;
-      example = {
-        left = [
-          "Memory"
-          "CPU"
-          "LeftCPUs2"
-          "RightCPUs2"
-          {
-            kind = "CPU";
-            mode = 3;
-          }
-        ];
-        right = [
-          {
-            kind = "Clock";
-            mode = 4;
-          }
-          "Uptime"
-          "Tasks"
-          "LoadAverage"
-          {
-            kind = "Battery";
-            mode = 1;
-          }
-        ];
-      };
-      type = types.nullOr meterType;
-    };
-
-    vimMode = mkOption {
-      type = types.nullOr types.bool;
-      default = null;
-      description = ''
-        Deprecated. Please use programs.htop.settings.vim_mode instead.
-
-        Vim key bindings.
       '';
     };
   };
@@ -596,72 +145,27 @@ in {
 
     home.packages = [ pkgs.htop ];
 
-    xdg.configFile."htop/htoprc".text = let
+    xdg.configFile."htop/htoprc" = let
+      defaults = {
+        fields = with fields; [
+          PID
+          USER
+          PRIORITY
+          NICE
+          M_SIZE
+          M_RESIDENT
+          M_SHARE
+          STATE
+          PERCENT_CPU
+          PERCENT_MEM
+          TIME
+          COMM
+        ];
+      };
 
-      deprecate = settingsKey: optionKey: optionValue:
-        let
-          warn' = warn
-            "htop: programs.htop.${optionKey} is deprecated; please is programs.htop.settings.${settingsKey} instead";
-        in if !isNull optionValue then
-          warn' optionValue
-        else if hasAttr settingsKey cfg.settings then
-          cfg.settings.${settingsKey}
-        else
-          null;
-
-      deprecate' = settingsKey: optionKey:
-        deprecate settingsKey optionKey cfg.${optionKey};
-
-      ifNonNull = x: y: if isNull x then null else y;
-
-      leftMeters = deprecate "left_meters" "meters.left"
-        (ifNonNull cfg.meters (map (m: m.kind) cfg.meters.left));
-      leftModes = deprecate "left_meter_modes" "meters.left"
-        (ifNonNull cfg.meters (map (m: m.mode) cfg.meters.left));
-      rightMeters = deprecate "right_meters" "meters.right"
-        (ifNonNull cfg.meters (map (m: m.kind) cfg.meters.right));
-      rightModes = deprecate "right_meter_modes" "meters.right"
-        (ifNonNull cfg.meters (map (m: m.mode) cfg.meters.right));
-
-      settings' = cfg.settings // (filterAttrs (_: v: !isNull v) {
-        fields = deprecate "fields" "fields"
-          (ifNonNull cfg.fields (map (n: fields.${n}) cfg.fields));
-        sort_key = deprecate "sort_key" "sortKey"
-          (ifNonNull cfg.sortKey fields.${cfg.sortKey});
-        sort_direction = deprecate' "sort_direction" "sortDescending";
-        hide_threads = deprecate' "hide_threads" "hideThreads";
-        hide_kernel_threads =
-          deprecate' "hide_kernel_threads" "hideKernelThreads";
-        hide_userland_threads =
-          deprecate' "hide_userland_threads" "hideUserlandThreads";
-        shadow_other_users = deprecate' "shadow_other_users" "shadowOtherUsers";
-        show_thread_names = deprecate' "show_thread_names" "showThreadNames";
-        show_program_path = deprecate' "show_program_path" "showProgramPath";
-        highlight_base_name =
-          deprecate' "highlight_base_name" "highlightBaseName";
-        highlight_megabytes =
-          deprecate' "highlight_megabytes" "highlightMegabytes";
-        highlight_threads = deprecate' "highlight_threads" "highlightThreads";
-        tree_view = deprecate' "tree_view" "treeView";
-        header_margin = deprecate' "header_margin" "headerMargin";
-        detailed_cpu_time = deprecate' "detailed_cpu_time" "detailedCpuTime";
-        cpu_count_from_zero =
-          deprecate' "cpu_count_from_zero" "cpuCountFromZero";
-        show_cpu_usage = deprecate' "show_cpu_usage" "showCpuUsage";
-        show_cpu_frequency = deprecate' "show_cpu_frequency" "showCpuFrequency";
-        update_process_names =
-          deprecate' "update_process_names" "updateProcessNames";
-        account_guest_in_cpu_meter =
-          deprecate' "account_guest_in_cpu_meter" "accountGuestInCpuMeter";
-        color_scheme = deprecate' "color_scheme" "colorScheme";
-        enable_mouse = deprecate' "enable_mouse" "enableMouse";
-        delay = deprecate' "delay" "delay";
-        left_meters = leftMeters;
-        left_meter_modes = leftModes;
-        right_meters = rightMeters;
-        right_meter_modes = rightModes;
-        vim_mode = deprecate' "vim_mode" "vimMode";
-      });
-    in concatStringsSep "\n" (mapAttrsToList formatOption settings');
+    in mkIf (cfg.settings != { }) {
+      text = concatStringsSep "\n"
+        (mapAttrsToList formatOption (defaults // cfg.settings)) + "\n";
+    };
   };
 }
diff --git a/tests/modules/programs/htop/default-settings.nix b/tests/modules/programs/htop/default-settings.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index f67e58276..000000000
--- a/tests/modules/programs/htop/default-settings.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-{ config, lib, pkgs, ... }:
-
-with lib;
-
-{
-  config = {
-    programs.htop.enable = true;
-
-    nmt.script = ''
-      assertFileExists home-files/.config/htop/htoprc
-    '';
-  };
-}
diff --git a/tests/modules/programs/htop/default.nix b/tests/modules/programs/htop/default.nix
index 53653285e..ebb3cefcf 100644
--- a/tests/modules/programs/htop/default.nix
+++ b/tests/modules/programs/htop/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 {
-  htop-default-settings = ./default-settings.nix;
+  htop-empty-settings = ./empty-settings.nix;
   htop-example-settings = ./example-settings.nix;
+  settings-without-fields = ./settings-without-fields.nix;
 }
diff --git a/tests/modules/programs/htop/empty-settings.nix b/tests/modules/programs/htop/empty-settings.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ae4e437fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/modules/programs/htop/empty-settings.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+{ config, lib, pkgs, ... }:
+
+with lib;
+
+{
+  config = {
+    programs.htop.enable = true;
+
+    nixpkgs.overlays =
+      [ (self: super: { htop = pkgs.writeScriptBin "dummy" ""; }) ];
+
+    nmt.script = ''
+      assertPathNotExists home-files/.config/htop
+    '';
+  };
+}
diff --git a/tests/modules/programs/htop/example-htoprc.txt b/tests/modules/programs/htop/example-htoprc.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ff06ed5ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/modules/programs/htop/example-htoprc.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+color_scheme=6
+cpu_count_from_one=0
+delay=15
+fields=0 48 17 18 38 39 40 2 46 47 49 1
+highlight_base_name=1
+highlight_megabytes=1
+highlight_threads=1
+left_meter_modes=1 1 1 2
+left_meters=AllCPUs2 Memory Swap Zram
+right_meter_modes=2 2 2 2
+right_meters=Tasks LoadAverage Uptime Systemd
diff --git a/tests/modules/programs/htop/example-settings.nix b/tests/modules/programs/htop/example-settings.nix
index 66698c844..412b8c7d8 100644
--- a/tests/modules/programs/htop/example-settings.nix
+++ b/tests/modules/programs/htop/example-settings.nix
@@ -36,8 +36,13 @@ with lib;
           (text "Systemd")
         ]);
 
+    nixpkgs.overlays =
+      [ (self: super: { htop = pkgs.writeScriptBin "dummy" ""; }) ];
+
     nmt.script = ''
-      assertFileExists home-files/.config/htop/htoprc
+      htoprc=home-files/.config/htop/htoprc
+      assertFileExists $htoprc
+      assertFileContent $htoprc ${./example-htoprc.txt}
     '';
   };
 }
diff --git a/tests/modules/programs/htop/settings-without-fields.nix b/tests/modules/programs/htop/settings-without-fields.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7a6ebe8dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/modules/programs/htop/settings-without-fields.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+{ config, lib, pkgs, ... }:
+
+with lib;
+
+{
+  config = {
+    programs.htop.enable = true;
+    programs.htop.settings = { color_scheme = 6; };
+
+    nixpkgs.overlays =
+      [ (self: super: { htop = pkgs.writeScriptBin "dummy" ""; }) ];
+
+    # Test that the 'fields' key is written in addition to the customized
+    # settings or htop won't read the options.
+    nmt.script = ''
+      htoprc=home-files/.config/htop/htoprc
+      assertFileExists $htoprc
+      assertFileContent $htoprc \
+        ${
+          builtins.toFile "htoprc-expected" ''
+            color_scheme=6
+            fields=0 48 17 18 38 39 40 2 46 47 49 1
+          ''
+        }
+    '';
+  };
+
+}