If I switch to a macOS will I be able to convert all of my Windows Scrivener projects into the mac version? Does the conversion work both ways?
The answer depends on which version of Scrivener you’ve been using on Windows, as Macs use Version 3, which Windows has only just caught up with, and the old project format isn’t compatible with the new one.
If you’re on Version 3, then you don’t have to convert your projects at all, as Mac and Windows V3 use the same format. (There are a couple of things which work slightly differently and you may need to reformat some lists, but effectively, you can work on the same project on both platforms without conversion.)
If, on the other hand, you have been using Windows V1, then you do have to convert the old projects to the V3 format (whether you’re on Windows or the Mac). This is done automatically when you open the V1 project in V3 – it will keep a backup of the old project. This is a one-time conversion and it’s not reversible – you won’t be able to use a V3 project on V1 Scrivener. (Mac Scrivener allows you to resave it back to V1, but that’s not recommended.)
To sum up:
- Version 3 projects are interchangeable between Mac and Windows
- Version 1 projects must be converted to V3 format before you can use them on the Mac or on Windows V3.
HTH.