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Draft. This article depends on an open product question and is not ready to publish.
How you move depends on whether you use Personal Sync. With Sync, you add the new computer and your Brains, documents and chats arrive on it. Without Sync, your account moves with one click, but your library does not: you add your files again on the new computer.

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Before you start

  • Install Elephas on the new computer: Mac or Windows.
  • Keep the old computer working until you finish, if you can. With Sync, it is the computer that approves the new one.
  • Know your plan’s device limit. Personal and the free trial work on 1 device, Professional on up to 3. See Device limits.
  • Copying the Elephas data folder to the new computer does not work. The keys that unlock it stay in the old computer’s Keychain or Credential Manager. See Where your data is stored.

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Steps

1

Sign in on the new computer

Open Settings › Plan & Billing and sign in with the same Elephas account. On Mac, open Settings with Elephas › Settings… (⌘,); on Windows, File › Settings… (Ctrl+,).
2

Join Sync from the new computer

In Settings › Sync, choose I already use Sync on another device, tick I understand there is no recovery, and click Join from My Other Device.
3

Approve it from the old computer

On the old computer, open Settings › Sync, click Review next to the new computer, compare the five words, and approve only if they match. Full steps: Add a computer.
4

Wait until the new computer is up to date

The new computer downloads your Brains, documents and chats, then indexes them locally. Wait until its Sync status reads Up to date.
5

Remove the old computer

On the new computer, open Settings › Sync, click Revoke on the old computer, and confirm with Revoke Device. Only do this once the new computer is fully synced. See Remove a device.

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How it works

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Use This Device Instead moves AI, not data

Your plan covers a set number of computers. Use This Device Instead gives the new computer the old one’s place. It moves nothing else. “AI” here covers Elephas AI, your own API key and Local AI. On the old computer:
  • AI stops. Elephas AI is refused at the next question. Your own API key and Local AI stop within 60 minutes, at the next plan check.
  • Brains, files and chats stay on it. Searching and reading old chats still work.
  • It shows Your account was moved to the new computer’s name, with the date and time.

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Taking the account back

If you move by mistake, open Settings › Plan & Billing on the old computer and click Use This Device Instead there. A computer you marked as lost or stolen cannot do this.

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How often you can move

Elephas can limit how many times an account moves between computers in 30 days. If you reach the limit, Plan & Billing says “You moved your account” a number of times “in the last 30 days” and gives the date you can move it again. The computer that joined your account first can always take it back.

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Computers with Sync on

A computer with Sync on cannot be replaced from a new computer. In the Devices list it shows Sync on · cannot be replaced here. If every computer on your account syncs, Plan & Billing says All your devices have Sync on. and asks you to remove one from Settings › Sync on a synced computer, then choose Check Again. That is why, with Sync, you add the new computer first and remove the old one after.

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Troubleshooting

The new computer cannot replace a synced computer, and nothing is left to approve it. Contact support. Your synced data cannot be recovered without an approved computer. See Sync recovery.
The computer was revoked in Settings › Sync, or replaced and marked lost or stolen. It cannot take the account back. If this is a mistake, contact support.
An Elephas installation belongs to one account for its whole life. Sign in with that account, as the message says, or see Device limits.

Device limits

Add a computer

Remove a device

Uninstall Elephas