What is and is not moved
Clone Studio moves things from your home folder, plus a list of your installed apps. This page says exactly what each mode includes and what never moves.
The modes
| Mode | Label | What it moves |
|---|---|---|
| Safe Transfer | SAFEST | Apps and your personal files. Nothing else |
| Recommended | RECOMMENDED | Apps, files and your settings |
| Custom | ADVANCED | Exactly what you tick, file by file |
| Whole Disk Clone | ERASES TARGET | Preview only. Not available in this release |
The categories
| Category | What it is | Safe Transfer | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|
| Applications | A list of your apps (see below) | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Pictures, Videos, Music | Your personal folders | Yes | Yes |
| App settings & dotfiles | ~/.config, ~/.local/share, .bashrc, .zshrc, .profile, .gitconfig, .vimrc | No | Yes |
| SSH keys | ~/.ssh | No | Yes |
| Browser profiles | Firefox, Chrome, Chromium and Brave profiles | No | Yes |
| Desktop look & feel | Your desktop settings, saved as a file | No | Yes |
| Scheduled tasks | Your crontab, saved as a file | No | Yes |
Pick exactly what moves
Choose Custom to open Pick exactly what moves. Open any folder and tick files or whole folders. The total at the bottom shows how many items and how much data are selected. Select Next when you are done.
The new computer gets a second chance: on Review what's coming you can untick anything before it is written.
How apps move
Apps are not copied as programs. Clone Studio makes a list of:
- packages you installed yourself with apt
- Flatpak apps
- snap apps
On the new computer it offers to reinstall them. See Finish on the new computer.
What is not moved
- The operating system and system settings. Only your home folder and the app list move.
- Other users' files. Clone Studio moves the files of the user who runs it.
- Saved Wi-Fi passwords. They are stored by the system, outside your home folder.
- Caches and build folders, such as
.cache,node_modules,.npm,.gradle,venv,__pycache__and the trash. - Apps installed by other means, such as programs copied by hand or built from source, unless they live in a folder you select.
What happens to files already on the new computer
Nothing already on the new computer is overwritten. If a file with the same name exists, the incoming file is saved beside it with (from old computer) added to its name. Both copies are kept.
WARNING
SSH keys and browser profiles hold secrets: private keys, saved logins and session cookies. Move them only to a computer you own, and think twice before putting them on a USB drive. See Move with a USB drive.