Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through them, P2C Solutions may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. We only recommend what we would use ourselves.
A new computer is the fun part. Moving in is where things get lost: the photos were copied, but the bookmarks, the email from 2019 and the licence key for the accounting program were not. The way to avoid that is to treat the move as a checklist and to keep the old computer until the list is finished.
Before you start
Do not wipe, sell or recycle the old computer yet. Keep it, untouched, for at least a month after the move. Almost everyone finds something they forgot.
Make a full backup of the old computer first. Use an external drive and the built-in backup tool, File History on Windows or Time Machine on a Mac. This is your safety net if anything goes wrong during the move, and it is worth having anyway.
Choose how to move your files
If your files already live in the cloud. If your Documents, Desktop and Pictures folders sync with OneDrive, iCloud or Google Drive, sign in on the new computer and they will appear. Check that everything has finished syncing on the old computer before you rely on it, and look for folders that sit outside the synced ones.
Windows to Windows. Windows 11 includes Windows Backup, which saves your files, settings and list of apps to your Microsoft account and offers to restore them when you set up the new PC. It moves files and settings well. Programs that did not come from the Microsoft Store still need to be installed again.
Mac to Mac. Migration Assistant, found in the Utilities folder, moves nearly everything, including programs and settings, over Wi-Fi, a cable or from a Time Machine backup. It is the most complete tool of its kind. Allow a few hours.
Windows to Mac, or Mac to Windows. Your files move, but your programs do not, because they are built for one system or the other. Apple's Migration Assistant has a Windows version that carries over documents, email accounts and bookmarks. Going the other way, copy your files with an external drive or a cloud service.
The manual way, which always works. Copy your user folders to an external drive and copy them back on the new computer: Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Pictures, Music and Videos. Then look for the stragglers: folders saved directly on the C: drive, and data folders that belong to particular programs.
The things people forget
Browser bookmarks and saved passwords. If you sign in to Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari with an account and sync is turned on, they follow you. If you never signed in, export the bookmarks to a file. Better still, move your passwords into a password manager before the move, and this problem disappears for good.
Email. Most email today stays on the provider's servers, and it reappears as soon as you sign in. The exception is older accounts set up with a method called POP, which downloads messages to one computer and removes them from the server. If your mail program holds years of messages that you cannot see when you check your email on the web, they exist only on that computer and must be exported. This is the most common way people lose years of email.
Licence keys. Software you paid for, such as Microsoft Office bought outright, accounting programs and photo editors, needs its key or account sign-in on the new machine. Find the keys before you need them. Some programs also have to be signed out or deactivated on the old computer first, because the licence only allows a set number of computers.
Two-step sign-in apps. If an authenticator app or a security program on the old computer produces your sign-in codes, move it properly by following the app's own transfer steps. Wiping a device that holds your only authenticator is a reliable way to lock yourself out of your accounts.
Printers and scanners. These have to be added again. Download the current driver from the manufacturer's website and ignore the disc that came in the box.
Special data that hides. Accounting company files, tax return files from previous years, saved games, custom dictionaries, email signatures and templates. If a program matters to you, search for where it keeps its data.
Set up the new computer properly
- Run all the updates before you do anything else. A new computer has often sat in a box for months.
- Remove the trial software that came with it and that you do not want.
- Install your programs fresh from the makers' websites. Do not try to copy installed programs across.
- Turn on backup on the new computer straight away. It is easy to forget, and new drives fail too.
- Turn on drive encryption: BitLocker or Device Encryption on Windows, FileVault on a Mac. This matters most on a laptop.
When the old computer can go
After a month of normal use without reaching for the old machine, it is safe to let it go. Back it up one last time, sign out of your accounts on it, and wipe it properly before it leaves the house. Deleting your files is not enough.