The new laptop is sitting unpacked on the table, the old one is due to be sold in three days, and on Monday a client project is waiting. It is precisely in this situation that, when switching computers, things get lost that you only miss weeks later: a purchased font, a collection of your own presets, access to a client's server, or the app that generates the second factor for your email account.
The files themselves are usually the smallest problem. macOS and Windows come with their own tools for that. It gets harder with everything tied to licenses, activations, and logins. This guide shows everything that belongs to a work computer, how to move it, and in what order to proceed, so that the old computer is only empty once the new one is really running.
What belongs to your work computer?
More than the folder with the projects. A computer you have worked with for a few years consists of five layers, and each one moves in a different way.
What moves with what
The five layers of a work computer and the appropriate way for each
LayerWay to the new computer
- Files and settingsMigration Assistant or Windows Backup
- Programs and licensesdeactivate on old, install and activate on new
- Fonts, templates, presetscopy by hand, check license
- Access and second factorPassword vault, back up codes before deleting
- Ongoing projectsBackup on a second medium, test the restore
Sources: Apple, Microsoft, BSI
The operating system's tools handle the first layer almost on their own. With programs and licenses, you have to take matters into your own hands, because activation is tied to the device. Fonts, templates, and presets are often stored in places that no migration tool fully captures. Access and the second factor are the most delicate layer: they do not get lost because they would be hard to move, but because people forget them. Finally, ongoing projects need a backup before you delete anything on the old computer.
How do files and settings get to the new computer?
On a Mac, with the Migration Assistant. According to Apple, it transfers documents, apps, user accounts, and settings from one Mac to another, wirelessly if both devices are close to each other, or from a Time Machine backup. It deletes nothing on the old Mac. For email accounts, Apple points out that you may have to set them up again in the Mail app.
On Windows, the Windows Backup app takes on this task. It backs up the Desktop, Documents, Pictures, Videos, and Music folders to OneDrive, along with settings such as Wi-Fi networks, printers, and personalization. If you sign in with the same Microsoft account when setting up the new PC, Windows offers to restore this backup. Programs that do not come from the Microsoft Store are not reinstalled by Windows; instead, it points to the manufacturer's website.
For creatives, this is an important limitation. Most programs for image, layout, and video do not run through the Store. So expect to reinstall them on Windows anyway. On a Mac they do come along, but often require a new login or activation. Plan an hour for this and have the list of your licenses ready.
Why do programs and licenses need their own attention?
Because many licenses may only be active on a limited number of devices at the same time. If you move without releasing the license on the old computer, the computer you are selling continues to occupy a slot.
One example is DaVinci Resolve Studio. According to Blackmagic Design, an activation key can be used on two computers at the same time. You deregister the old computer via the program's Help menu while it is still connected to the internet. Anyone who forgets this ends up with the manufacturer's support. Subscriptions with an account, as are common for office and creative software, usually handle this via account management in the browser. There, too, it is worth checking which devices are still registered.
Create a list before the move: program, version, type of license, where the key or account is found, how many devices it may run on. This also includes plug-ins and extensions, which often have their own keys. This list will help you again at the next switch and does not belong on the computer you are currently wiping.
What about fonts, templates, and presets?
They are the quiet components of a work computer and the most likely to be moved incompletely. Fonts you installed yourself are located on a Mac in the Library/Fonts folder of your user folder, and on Windows, for an installation just for you, under AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Fonts. Programs sometimes store additional fonts and templates in their own folders.
Before you copy, check the license. Purchased desktop fonts often apply to a certain number of workstations, and a new computer is then not an additional one but a replacement. Fonts from Google Fonts are under free licenses and may also be used in commercial projects. If you are taking current layouts with you, it is best to collect fonts and linked images together with the document right away, as the lesson Packaging a document in InDesign shows.
For presets, brushes, color swatches, and keyboard shortcuts, the only thing that helps is exporting from the respective program. Do this while the old computer is still running, and put the files in a folder that you immediately copy to the new computer and additionally to an external medium.
How do access credentials and the second factor move safely?
With a dedicated password vault instead of the browser. The BSI considers password storage in browsers to be less protected, because malware can read out the login data there relatively easily. If you have collected your logins in the browser over the years, you will also notice when switching computers that some of them are tied to a profile that does not come along automatically.
A password manager stores the credentials encrypted behind a master password, and the BSI generally considers it worthwhile, because it lets you use a separate, strong password for each account. For the move, this means: you install the app on the new computer, log in with the master password, and have all your access credentials again, including those for the CMS, the hosting, and your clients' social media accounts. The master password itself belongs in a safe place outside the computer, because if it is lost, then according to the BSI, in the worst case all stored data is lost.
Many people forget the second factor, that is, the one-time code that you enter in addition to the password for two-factor authentication. If an app on the old device generates the one-time codes for your email account or your cloud, set it up on the new device before you reset the old one. Also write down the recovery codes that many services offer during setup. The BSI recommends the second factor above all for the email account. The reason is obvious: through this account, the passwords of many other services can be reset.
In what order do you proceed?
First back up, then transfer, then check, and only at the very end delete. If you reset the old computer too early, there is no way back.
So ziehst du in fünf Schritten um
Der alte Rechner bleibt unangetastet, bis der neue alles kann
- Sichernvollständiges Backup auf ein zweites Medium, Rücksicherung einmal testen
- InventurListe der Programme, Lizenzen, Plug-ins, Schriften und Presets anlegen
- ÜbertragenMigrationsassistent oder Windows-Sicherung, dann Programme neu aktivieren
- Prüfenein echtes Projekt öffnen, exportieren, alle wichtigen Logins testen
- AbmeldenLizenzen freigeben, zweiten Faktor umziehen, erst dann zurücksetzen
Quellen: BSI, Apple, Microsoft, Blackmagic Design
For the backup in the first step, the BSI names a simple rule: three versions of important files on two different media, one of them in a different location. Just as important is the test. In its baseline protection, the BSI requires regularly checking whether data backups can really be restored. For you, this means: before the move, retrieve a project from the backup and open it. Video projects often have their own backup function in the program, as the lesson on project backup in DaVinci Resolve shows.
The fourth step is the one people skip under time pressure. Don't just open a file, but work for half an hour on a real project: load fonts, call up plug-ins, export, upload. If something is missing, you fetch it from the old computer while it is still there.
Only after that do you release the licenses, check the second factor one last time, and reset the old computer. On a Mac, the function for erasing all content and settings helps with this, and on Windows, resetting the PC with removal of all data. This also protects the buyer from getting access to your client data.
What this means for you
Switching computers takes less time than you might fear if the preparation happens beforehand and not on Monday morning. We consider the inventory the most important step, because it also helps with the next switch, after a defect, or in the event of theft.
- Create a list of your programs, licenses, plug-ins, and fonts today and save it outside of your computer.
- Move your logins from the browser into a dedicated password vault before the next switch comes up.
- Back up the recovery codes for your email account and cloud and keep them separate from your computer.
- Test your data backup once with a real project.
- Only reset the old computer once you have completely finished a project on the new one.
If you work with others on the same accounts, it is also worth taking a look at shared rules for access credentials, as described in the article Access credentials in the team.
