systemctl-reload

Reload a service's configuration

$ systemctl reload nginx

$ systemctl reload [unit1] [unit2]

$ systemctl reload pipewire --user

systemctl [OPTIONS...] reload PATTERN...

systemctl reload asks the service to reload its configuration files without stopping. This reloads the service application's own configuration (like nginx.conf or apache's httpd.conf), not the systemd unit file.
The service must support reload operations (typically via SIGHUP signal). If the service doesn't support reload, the command will fail. For services that don't support reload, use systemctl restart instead.

--user

Reload user service manager units instead of system units

Do not wait for the operation to complete

Not all services support reload; check the service documentation. This reloads the service's configuration, not the systemd unit file. To reload unit files, use systemctl daemon-reload. If reload fails, the service continues running with old configuration.

systemctl(1), systemctl-restart(1), systemctl-daemon-reload(1)