> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://elephas.app/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Move Elephas to a New Computer

> Move Elephas to a new Mac or PC. With Personal Sync your Brains come with you. Without it, use Use This Device Instead and add your files again.

<Warning>
  Draft. This article depends on an open product question and is not ready to publish.
</Warning>

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.

## Before you start

* Install Elephas on the new computer: [Mac](/docs/getting-started/install-elephas-on-mac) or [Windows](/docs/getting-started/install-elephas-on-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](/docs/plans-and-billing/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](/docs/privacy-and-security/where-your-data-is-stored).

## Steps

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="With Personal Sync">
    <Steps>
      <Step title="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+,).
      </Step>

      <Step title="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**.
      </Step>

      <Step title="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](/docs/sync-and-devices/add-a-device-to-sync).
      </Step>

      <Step title="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**.
      </Step>

      <Step title="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](/docs/sync-and-devices/remove-a-device).
      </Step>
    </Steps>
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Without Sync">
    <Steps>
      <Step title="Sign in on the new computer">
        Open **Settings › Plan & Billing** and sign in with the same Elephas account.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Use this device instead">
        If your plan has a free place, **Devices** says "Your plan has a free place for this device." Click **Use This Device**.

        If your account is already in use, it says **This account is in use on another device.** and names that computer. Click **Use This Device Instead**. If there are several, pick the one to replace.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Confirm">
        The **Use this device instead?** dialog says AI stops working on the old computer, and that "Brains and files on it are not deleted." Check the name under **Name of this device**. If the old computer was lost or stolen, tick **That device is lost or stolen. Do not let it take the account back.** Click **Use This Device Instead**.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Add your files again">
        Elephas confirms: "This device now uses your account. AI works here again." Your library is empty on the new computer. Add your documents from your own copies. See [Add files and folders](/docs/brains-and-documents/add-files-and-folders).
      </Step>
    </Steps>
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## How it works

### 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.

### 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.

### 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.

### 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.

## Troubleshooting

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="My old computer is broken and every device I had used Sync">
    The new computer cannot replace a synced computer, and nothing is left to approve it. [Contact support](/docs/troubleshooting/contact-support). Your synced data cannot be recovered without an approved computer. See [Sync recovery](/docs/sync-and-devices/sync-recovery).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="This device was removed from your account">
    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](/docs/troubleshooting/contact-support).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="This device is registered to another Elephas account">
    An Elephas installation belongs to one account for its whole life. Sign in with that account, as the message says, or see [Device limits](/docs/plans-and-billing/device-limits).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related articles

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Device limits" href="/docs/plans-and-billing/device-limits" />

  <Card title="Add a computer" href="/docs/sync-and-devices/add-a-device-to-sync" />

  <Card title="Remove a device" href="/docs/sync-and-devices/remove-a-device" />

  <Card title="Uninstall Elephas" href="/docs/getting-started/uninstall-elephas" />
</CardGroup>


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