I used scrivener back in 2015/2016. Had to drop project but restarting now that I am retired.
I got an upgraded scrivener on new computer Win 11, old is Win 10.
I read through the various topic on forum.
New scrivener is
Version: 3.1.5.1 64-bit
Old scrivener is
Version: 3.1.1.0 64-bit
I have the old scrivener files on a USB stick. What files do I move to the new scrivener? I do have my 47k word book I want to continue. Basically nothing in the new scrivener.
Thanks
Hi DougLeppard, and welcome to the forum.
Does that old computer still work?
If it does, you can open a project on the old computer and use Scrivener’s File > Back Up > Back Up To.... command in that project.
That opens a panel, and you can click the dropdown in that panel to select where this backup will be saved. You can also tick the “Back up as ZIP file” option, which will compress the project’s data and protect it.
That’s a handy way to save the ZIP to a USB drive or cloud storage account to download on the new computer. Or, if it’s small enough, you can email it to yourself.
I’m suggesting that because I’ve handled some past help tickets where users had only moved the internal .scrivx file and not the entire .scriv folder to their USB drives.
To ensure the whole project moves as a single file, I find it’s better to have Scrivener compress my projects into ZIPs before I move them to my new machine.
On the new computer, you can move that ZIP file into your Documents folder. Or, if the old machine isn’t working, you can move the .scriv folders from your current USB into the new computer’s Documents folder.
To unzip those files, you can right click a ZIP and tell the PC to “Extract All”. That should have it unzip the project and add a .scriv folder to your computer.
Then, you can double click the .scriv folder on the new computer and double click the .scrivx file inside it to open this project on the new computer.
You can use File > Add Project to Favorites to build your own favorites list of your projects so you can open them more easily. And, you’ll repeat these steps for each project.
If you don’t need the ZIPs anymore, you can move them to the Recycling Bin and then empty it to delete them.
You can then deactivate your Scrivener on the old computer with the Help menu command.
If you plan to share your projects between computers, you can move the project to a shared storage location, like a cloud server or networked drive. That will allow both computers to access your work.
We have this KB article about using Scrivener with cloud servers, and that will give you some options to consider.
And, if you’re at all concerned that cloud syncing might result in data loss, we have this KB article about alternative methods for sharing work.
Overall, the best thing you can do when working on multiple computers is to make sure that you do not attempt to access your project from multiple devices at the same time. And, you’ll want to know where your main projects and their backups are stored.
You might also find this KB article on keeping projects organized useful as you consider which file sharing method you want to use and how you’ll keep track of your work.
If you customized your Scrivener settings on the old PC and want to use those same settings on the new one, this Knowledge Base article has tips about sharing settings. That will help you bring over any customized word lists or dictionary files.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Got it all on my new computer and new Scrivener.
Your explanation was so helpful. I hope others will find this and help them too.
Doug Leppard