Moving your files to a new PC: match the transfer size to the right route

How to transfer files from an old PC to a new PC

Route choice comes down to two numbers: how many gigabytes you're moving, and how fast your slowest connection runs. A 15 GB photo library over a gigabit home network takes around five minutes. The same library on a typical consumer cloud upload can take three to four hours. Size isn't the trick, it's the bottleneck.

Small transfers under 32 GB suit a direct USB 3.0 cable between the two PCs, or a cloud service if you already pay for one. Tens to low hundreds of gigabytes suit the local network, using a folder share. Anything above 500 GB should go onto an external drive. Cloud uploads at typical home speeds make large jobs take days, and the meter often runs on your data cap.

The shape of the data matters too. One 40 GB video file copies faster than 40,000 small documents, because the drive reads and writes in blocks. File count, not gigabytes, is often what makes a transfer feel slow.

External drive vs local network vs USB cable vs cloud

Each route fails in its own way, so match the weak spot to your situation. A USB cable link is the simplest and fastest for small jobs, but both PCs need to stay powered on for the whole copy. If your new PC is already set up next to the old one, this is often the least fuss.

A local network share copies from the old PC's drive to the new one over your router. It's cleaner for 50-250 GB because nothing dangles. The catch is Wi-Fi: over 2.4 GHz you might get 5-10 MB/s, over 5 GHz maybe 30-60 MB/s, against 70-110 MB/s on a wired gigabit connection. Plug both machines into the router with Ethernet cable if you can.

An external drive is the safest for large jobs and for keeping a copy afterwards. Buy one with at least 2x your data size so it holds the transfer plus room for the old PC's backup. Drives typically run $50-100 for a 2 TB HDD, more for an SSD. Cloud is fine for small folders, but only if your upload is fast, and only after you've checked what it will re-download.

• USB 3.0 cable: fastest for a few GB, no extra hardware, both machines tied together for the duration.
• Local network: good for 32-250 GB, needs both PCs on the same router, wired beats wireless every time.
• External USB drive: best for 500 GB and up, gives you a spare backup afterwards.
• Cloud sync: works for under 20 GB, avoids cables, but bottlenecks on your upload and may re-sync folders on the new PC.

Copy these folders first, and keep the old PC until verified

During the move the old PC's drive is your only copy of everything on it. That's the risky bit. If the new PC's drive dies mid-transfer, or you drop the external drive, you've lost the lot. So copy in order of what hurts most if it's gone.

Start with the folders you actually own, not the whole user profile. Under C:\Users\YourName on Windows, that's Desktop, Documents, Pictures, Videos, Music, Downloads and any personal folder you created. On a Mac, it's the Home folder: Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Pictures, Movies, Music. Copy these on their own, check them, then move on to the bigger, less critical sets.

Next come app data folders that hold settings, browser profiles, email archives and game saves. These live in hidden folders, and permissions can stop them copying cleanly. Copy them last, and expect to re-import them into the app on the new PC rather than just dropping them in.

1. Open the old PC and note the top-level folders inside your user profile (C:\Users\YourName or ~/).
2. Copy Desktop, Documents, Pictures, Videos and Music to the new PC first.
3. Verify each folder opens on the new PC and a few random files load.
4. Copy Downloads, email data files (.pst on Windows, .mbox or Mail on Mac) and browser profiles last.
5. Leave the old PC exactly as it is until the final count matches.

What to do if the old PC won't boot

A dead motherboard or failed Windows install doesn't mean your files are gone. The drive itself often survives. Pull it out, put it in a USB enclosure or docking station, and plug it into the new PC. Windows and macOS will mount it as an external drive, and you can copy folders off it the same way you'd copy from any USB stick.

Drive enclosures cost $15-30 for a 2.5-inch laptop drive, a bit more for a 3.5-inch desktop drive. You need to know whether the old drive is SATA or NVMe. SATA drives are rectangular with an L-shaped connector. NVMe drives are thin sticks that slot into an M.2 port. Match the enclosure to the drive type.

Once the drive is in the enclosure and plugged in, navigate to the old user profile folder and copy what you need. Permissions may block some folders. On Windows, right-click the drive, go to Properties, Security, Advanced, and take ownership. On a Mac, use Disk Utility to ignore permissions if the folder won't open.

1. Shut down the old PC and unplug it from power.
2. Open the case or bottom panel and locate the drive.
3. Disconnect the power and data cables (SATA) or unscrew the M.2 drive.
4. Slide the drive into a USB enclosure that matches its type.
5. Plug the enclosure into the new PC and copy the user folders.

Windows Nearby Sharing, Mac Migration Assistant and transfer software

Windows 10 and 11 include Nearby Sharing, which sends files over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Direct between two PCs sitting close together. It's fast for a few documents or photos, but it's not built for transferring a whole user profile. You pick individual files or folders in File Explorer, right-click, choose Share, and select the other PC. It works well under 10 GB. Beyond that, it's slower than a wired network share.

Apple's Migration Assistant is far more capable. It moves user accounts, settings, applications and files from one Mac to another, or from a Time Machine backup, or from a Windows PC to a Mac. It runs over Wi-Fi, Ethernet or a Thunderbolt cable. It's the best option if both machines are Macs. Windows has no equivalent tool anymore; the old Windows Easy Transfer was retired after Windows 7.

Third-party software like Laplink PCMover automates the process and can transfer some installed programs, not just files. PCMover costs around $30-60 depending on edition. It's useful if you want settings, browser favourites and application data moved in one pass. The free version is limited, and results vary by how programs store their data. It won't transfer everything, but it cuts down reinstall time.

For a cross-platform move, from Windows to Mac or Mac to Windows, you're back to manual file copying. Format an external drive as exFAT so both systems can read it, copy your user folders, and reinstall programs on the new OS. Migration Assistant can pull files from a Windows PC, but not programs or Windows-specific settings.

• Nearby Sharing: quick for a handful of files, too slow for big transfers.
• Migration Assistant: moves everything on a Mac-to-Mac transfer, including apps and settings.
• Laplink PCMover: paid software that automates Windows-to-Windows transfers and moves some program settings.
• Cross-platform: manual copy to an exFAT drive, reinstall programs, import data separately.

File count and size check before the old PC is wiped or sold

Every guide tells you to copy files. None of them tells you to count them. That's the step that catches the missing subfolder hidden three levels deep. Before the old machine goes anywhere, compare a file count and a total size on both machines for the folders you moved.

Windows has the numbers in File Explorer: right-click a folder, choose Properties, and read Size and Contains. For a whole drive or folder tree, open PowerShell and run the two commands below. On a Mac, right-click a folder and pick Get Info, or use du -sh in Terminal for a total.

Add up the folder totals and compare the two sides. A small difference in bytes is normal, because copying can shift sizes by a few KB per file. Gaps over a few megabytes mean files were skipped. File count that differs by even one deserves a second look.

If both figures match, the transfer is done and you can proceed with the old machine. If they don't, recopy the affected folder rather than chasing individual files.

Count all files and total size in a folder on Windows

$files = Get-ChildItem -Path 'C:\Users\YourName\Documents' -Recurse -File
"Count: {0}" -f $files.Count
"Size (GB): {0:N2}" -f (($files | Measure-Object Length -Sum).Sum / 1GB)

Same check on macOS or Linux

find ~/Documents -type f | wc -l
du -sh ~/Documents

Why synced folders re-download and permissions break

Two things surprise people after the move. First, OneDrive, Dropbox, iCloud Drive and Google Drive folders often start downloading all over again on the new PC. Those files were once placeholders in the cloud, synced on demand. Copy them and you copy the placeholder, not the full file. The new PC then pulls the real file down from the internet, chewing through bandwidth and disk.

The fix is to check before you copy, on the old PC. In OneDrive, look for the cloud icon on files and force them to stay on the device. Files with a green tick are fully local. Files with a cloud icon are online-only and will re-download. Copy only the ones that are fully local, or move the whole folder out of the sync root first.

Second, permissions. Files copied from one Windows account to another often land with the old account's ownership. On a home network share or an external drive formatted with NTFS, you may find you can't open or delete the files once they're on the new PC. Copying to a FAT32 or exFAT drive avoids this because those formats carry no per-user permissions.

Network drive maps and shared folder shortcuts also don't follow you. Reconnect them on the new PC with the same paths, or they'll fail silently when an app looks for them.

• Green tick icon: file is fully local, safe to copy.
• Cloud icon: file lives online only, will re-download if copied.
• NTFS to NTFS copy: permissions may travel with the file and lock you out.
• exFAT or FAT32 external drive: carries no permissions, cleaner for cross-PC moves.

Passwords, two-factor apps and other data tied to your phone or browser

Browser passwords, payment cards and autofill data live in your browser profile folder, but the safer route is to let the browser sync them. Sign in to Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari on the new PC with the same account you used on the old one, and the browser pulls everything down from its cloud. You don't touch files, and nothing breaks.

Two-factor authentication apps like Google Authenticator, Authy or Microsoft Authenticator need to be transferred separately. Some let you export codes or sync them to a cloud account. Others make you re-add each account manually on the new phone or PC. Check the app's transfer or backup feature before you wipe the old machine, or you'll be locked out of any account that requires a code.

Password managers like 1Password, Bitwarden, LastPass or Dashlane store everything in the cloud, so logging in on the new PC restores the vault. If you use a local vault file, copy it and the app's settings folder. Phone-tethered data, like texts or photos stored only on your phone, won't move unless you sync them to a cloud service or a PC backup tool first.

If you tether your phone for mobile data, or use it as a hotspot, that setting lives on the phone, not the PC. You'll reconnect it on the new machine the same way you did on the old one.

• Browser passwords: sign in to the same browser account on the new PC, let it sync.
• Two-factor apps: export codes or enable cloud sync before the move, or re-add accounts.
• Password manager: log in with your account, vault syncs automatically if cloud-based.
• Phone data: texts, photos and hotspot settings stay on the phone, not the PC.

What does not move, and where to get it back

Installed programs don't travel. Copying C:\Program Files to a new PC leaves you with a folder of files that can't run, because the registry entries, services and dependencies live elsewhere. You reinstall programs from the original installer, a download from the vendor, or a store library. If you have the license key, keep it. If you don't, check your email archive for the purchase message.

Windows settings, drivers, display preferences and app configurations mostly don't copy either. Some apps store settings in files you can move: browser bookmarks export as an HTML file, email clients export account settings, games keep saves in a specific folder under Documents or AppData. Look up the app's own backup instructions rather than guessing which files to move.

Windows Backup is a Microsoft account-based settings sync that can carry some preferences like taskbar layout, wallpaper and a few app settings between PCs signed in to the same account. The old Backup and Restore tool is separate and creates system image backups, but those are meant for restoring the same PC, not moving to new hardware. Neither tool moves files the way a folder copy does. Apple's Migration Assistant moves far more, including accounts and settings, when both machines are Macs. If your new PC matches the old one's brand and OS, use the manufacturer's migration utility first, then fill gaps with a file copy.

Keep a text file on your desktop listing every program you need to reinstall, with its license key if you have one. It'll save a frustrating evening a month later.

1. On the old PC, list every program you use weekly and its license key if you have one.
2. Save the list outside the folders you're about to wipe.
3. Reinstall those programs on the new PC from vendor downloads or a store library.
4. Point each program at the copied data folders, or re-import its settings.
5. Check the app opens the right files before deleting anything on the old PC.

Quick answers

Can I move my entire user profile across and be done?

Technically you can copy it, but you'll hit permission errors and synced folders that re-download. Copy the folders you own in order, leave the hidden app data until last, and re-import what apps need.

How long does 500 GB take over an external USB 3.0 drive?

At 100-150 MB/s sustained you're looking at roughly one to two hours each way, so two to four hours total. Small files slow it down considerably, and drive speed varies by model.

Will my photos and videos lose quality in the transfer?

No. A copy is a byte-for-byte duplicate unless you use a tool that recompresses, like a photo app's export function. Copy the original files, not exports.

Should I use cloud for my whole drive?

Not unless your upload is unusually fast and your data cap is high. Most home uploads run 10-40 Mbps, and a 500 GB drive takes days at those speeds.

Is it safe to sell the old PC once the files are copied?

After you've verified counts and size, yes, but wipe it first with the built-in reset or a drive-erase tool. A simple delete leaves files recoverable.