Backup and Migration

Backup and migration

Everything on this page is in Settings, and none of it goes over the internet.

Exporting your history

Settings › Backup › Export… and choose where to save. A single .cpbackup file is written with:

	Included?
Your whole history, pinned items included	Yes
Images and other stored content	Yes
Card names and colours	Yes
Settings	No

Warning

The file holds your history unencrypted. Keep it where you would keep the history itself, and think twice before putting it in cloud storage or attaching it to a bug report.

On a Mac, the file is readable by your user only.

Importing

Settings › Backup › Choose a file… and pick a .cpbackup.

Importing adds: it puts what the file holds alongside what you already have. It never replaces or deletes anything, and importing the same file twice duplicates nothing.

When it finishes, it tells you how many items came in and how many were already there.

Moving to another computer

1. On the old computer: Export… and save the .cpbackup to a USB drive or wherever you like.
2. On the new computer: install CopyPaste and use Choose a file….

It also works between Windows and Mac. If the file comes from the other system, CopyPaste warns you that some of it may not paste the same: for example, the path to a file that only existed on the other computer.

Coming from CopyPaste 2

Nothing of CopyPaste 2 moves unless you ask.

Bring the history over. The first time you open 3.0, the welcome tour offers to import it. If you said Not now, it is in Settings › Backup › Bring the history over. On Windows it also finds the history of the Microsoft Store version.

Before it starts, it tells you what will happen:

• dates, what was pinned, labels, colour, which app each item came from and how many times you pasted it all cross over;
• what used to paste with styling arrives as plain text if version 2 kept only the text;
• pictures that are no longer on disk arrive without their content;
• anything older than the time you keep goes as soon as it arrives. If you want to keep it, raise Settings › History › Keep before bringing it over.

While it crosses over, the panel pauses for a moment and comes back on its own when it is done.

CopyPaste 2 is only read. Its files stay where they are. When you no longer want them, Delete CopyPaste 2's data (in the same place, behind a confirmation) deletes its history, its pictures and its settings. The files you copied are never touched: those are yours.

The Windows installer notices CopyPaste 2 and offers to close and uninstall it, so the two do not fight over the same shortcut. Your history is left untouched either way. If version 2 came from the Microsoft Store and keeps its history inside its package, it is only closed, never uninstalled.

Emptying the history

Settings › History › Empty the history deletes everything you copied and keeps what you pinned. It cannot be undone.

A completely clean slate

1. Quit CopyPaste: right click the icon › Quit CopyPaste.
2. Delete the data folder. Settings › History › Data folder › Open folder takes you there:
   • Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\CopyPaste\
   • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/CopyPaste/
3. Open CopyPaste again. It is like a fresh installation, welcome tour included.

What is in the data folder

What	Where
History	history.db
Stored images and files	blobs/
Thumbnails	thumbs/
Settings	config.toml
Logs	logs/