Migrating to a New Computer¶

If you're taking full advantage of Zettlr's functionality, you'll eventually create an extensive library of workspaces, interconnected notes, and likely a few custom settings, too. When the time comes to replace your computer, or perhaps migrate to a new operating system, you'll obviously want to take this data with you.

Migrating your data to a new computer involves four steps which we explain in detail on this page:

1. Back up your data
2. Install Zettlr on your new computer
3. Move your data to the new computer
4. Reconnect your reference manager, if applicable.

Back Up¶

There are two things you’ll need to backup or move to your new computer. The first one are all your workspaces and files, which contain your work. The second one are your application settings. These include snippets, your export profiles, any custom CSS, or your writing statistics.

Workspaces¶

We recommend that you keep your data backed up using some cloud provider of your choice (for example, Nextcloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive). In that case, setting up the same cloud provider on your new computer and waiting for it to finish synchronizing the data is sufficient to move all your data to the new computer. Just make sure that the cloud provider also backs up hidden files (Nextcloud, for example, does not do this by default). If your cloud provider ignores hidden files, you may lose your folder settings (such as sorting or a custom icon). This may not be tragic, but it is best to be avoided.

If you do not use a cloud provider, you should copy all your workspaces to an external storage or any other suitable medium. Move your workspaces and files to the new computer.

If you have forgotten where you have stored a workspace, you can right-click it in Zettlr's file manager and select Reveal in Finder/Explorer/File Browser (wording differs depending on operating system) from the context menu that pops up. This will open the corresponding folder in your computer's file browser. If you need to locate/back up an individual note file — one that's not part of a workspace, for example — you can likewise right-click it in the Zettlr file manager and choose Reveal in Finder/Explorer/File Browser (wording differs depending on operating system) from the context menu.

Application Settings¶

The second part you may want to back up are your application settings. This data is located in the application data path — a configuration directory whose location depends on your Operating System:

• Windows: C:\Users\<your username>\AppData\Roaming\Zettlr (note that “AppData” is a hidden folder, so you need to either ensure hidden folders are shown, or manually type the location into the Explorer address bar)
• macOS: /Users/<your username>/Library/Application Support/Zettlr (open a Finder window, hold down “Alt” while opening the “Go”-menu, and click on the appearing “Library” entry)
• Linux: /home/<your username>/.config/Zettlr (note that .config is a hidden folder, so you might want to use a command line to open it)

Once you've located this folder, save a copy of the following files and subfolders within it to move to your new machine:

• stats.json: your writing statistics
• config.json: the app settings — see the “Note of Reassurance” below
• custom.css: your custom CSS
• tags.json: information on your color-coded tags (regular tags are automatically migrated because these are part of your data)
• targets.json: your writing targets
• user.dic: your own custom dictionary
• defaults: your import and export profiles
• snippets: your snippets
• lua-filter: The Lua filters used for exports

The other files and folders are partially written by Electron (the framework Zettlr uses) or volatile data that needs to be re-created on your new computer, so please disregard them.

Migrate Your Application Settings to the New Machine¶

On your new machine, install Zettlr and launch it. This will create the configuration directory into which you will be able to put the application-settings backups you made. Once the app has launched, quit it again. Avoid adding or opening any notes or workspaces in Zettlr until after you've copied over your old application settings — if you do, you'll have to add them all over again afterward (see the “Note of Reassurance” below).

Once you've quit the app, copy all the application settings backups you wish to keep from your old install into the new configuration directory (see the guidance above on determining the correct application data path for your operating system). If you're prompted whether it's okay to replace existing files, you can confirm. You’ve now copied over the application settings from your old computer.

Migrate the Workspaces Containing your Notes to the New Machine¶

If Zettlr is still closed on your new machine, launch it now. Because Zettlr workspaces are simply folders on your computer and your notes are simply text files, moving this data to a new computer is as simple as copying the backups of these folders and files from your old computer to the new one. All of the metadata about your notes and the connections between them — note IDs, tags, etc. — is saved to the individual note files themselves, meaning this information travels right along with the files.

Once you've placed the backups on your new machine, you can add each of the workspaces — and the files within them — to your new Zettlr install simply by going to the File > Open Workspace … menu option and selecting that workspace folder (or File > Open if you need to import an individual note that's not part of a workspace). Note that this is the same process you would use if you were adding any other folder to Zettlr. The workspace folder, including the notes it contains, will be populated into your new Zettlr install. The connections between notes will also be retained, though if you have links to notes that live in different workspaces, you'll have to make sure you've likewise opened those workspace folders and their contents within your new Zettlr install.

Reconnect Your Reference Manager¶

Finally, if you're using Zettlr with a reference manager like Zotero, you'll need to go through that software's migration process. Once your reference manager is up and running again on the new machine, you can reconnect it to Zettlr by once again following the steps in the “Enabling Citations in Zettlr” portion of this documentation.