When y'all purchase a new computer, you'll desire to transfer most of your existing files over to the new figurer. Whether yous want to take all your information with you or only the essentials, there are quick and uncomplicated ways to transfer files from PC to PC.

Depending on what you're working with, some methods are better than others. Every bit a rule of thumb, it's faster to use any method that uses a robust physical connexion (similar swapping difficult drives or transferring over LAN) instead of quick-and-like shooting fish in a barrel solutions (similar moving files over Wi-Fi or using a USB drive).

Obviously, this is the way most people do information technology. Stick a USB flash drive in one reckoner, copy the information. Stick the same drive in the other computer, so paste the data. Uncomplicated. Or you could apply an external hard bulldoze if y'all have more data than tin can fit on a flash bulldoze.

brown WD portable drive

If both computers have USB 3.0 ports, you lot might want to consider investing in i of the fastest flash drives effectually. When you have a lot of information to move, speed becomes important!

There's a quicker manner to practise this, though. Showtime, check if the computer y'all want to move data to has an eSATA port or an bachelor SATA slot. If information technology does, disconnect the hard drive from the original computer and connect information technology to the new reckoner. One time washed, it'll show up as another bulldoze on the target PC. You can then transfer data over SATA, which is much faster than USB.

For computers close to each other, there are two chief means to share files and folders. The first is to set up a local area network (LAN), and so you can apply one PC to browse the other's difficult drives. The second is to use software to transfer files over Wi-Fi.

Sharing a Network Drive

All the major operating systems have a built-in option to gear up up a home network. This lets devices on the aforementioned router (connected via Ethernet or Wi-Fi) recognize each other permanently. Then when yous need to transfer files betwixt computers, y'all don't need to set up up a new connectedness each time; it's always on, every bit long as both computers are on.

We have a unproblematic guide showing how to share files betwixt Windows and Mac. The process also works with Windows-to-Windows and Mac-to-Mac. If you're on Linux, the menu organization depends on your operating system. But once you lot're in network settings, you'll find that information technology'due south similar to how yous set upward a home network on MacOS.

Sharing With Software

If both the computers are on the same Wi-Fi network, you can transfer files with some unproblematic software. Information technology's an easy way to share without setting upward a home network and is ideal for temporary networks. There are several apps for sharing large files instantly. The best, in our opinion, is Send Anywhere.

Send Anywhere has an app for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It fifty-fifty has a web app and a Chrome extension for use on Chrome Os. Send Anywhere but works, and it's fantastic how piffling setup it needs.

Yous tin can also use it to transfer files from one estimator to phones and tablets. And the best matter about information technology is it's completely gratis.

Download: Transport Anywhere for Windows | macOS | Linux | Android | iOS (Free)

3. Utilise a Transfer Cable

For computer-to-reckoner transfer, y'all need a USB bridging cable or a USB networking cablevision. It's faster than using drives since the copy-and-paste procedure happens simultaneously betwixt the continued systems. When using external drives, you are basically transferring betwixt three drives; but cables reduce that to two drives.

Windows to Windows: If you're transferring files from ane Windows computer to another, plug the USB cable on both computers. Expect until both computers recognize the cable and they automatically install drivers.

Once you've installed the USB cable'southward driver, download and install the information transfer software for both computers. Once ready, launch the transfer app on both computers, and you can at present begin transferring files.

Mac to Mac: You can connect two Mac computers via the proprietary Thunderbolt cable. Once you exercise that, both computers should detect each other, and transferring files is a unproblematic as dragging and dropping them between systems.

Windows/Mac/Linux to Windows/Mac/Linux: Use an Ethernet cable to build a local area network without a router. Brand sure it'southward a crossover Ethernet cable (i.east., the color patterns on one end don't match the other). Set up network sharing on both computers, and you lot're good to go.

4. Connect the HDD or SSD Manually

ssd hdd drives stacked up

If yous're transferring from an former figurer to a new one, your erstwhile PC might not exist functional anymore. Or you lot might want to install a new hard drive to replace an old one. Simply how do you get your old data, then?

Hard disk drive drives (HDD) and some Solid State Drives (SSD) use standard SATA cables to connect to the motherboard. If y'all have a spare SATA or eSATA (external SATA) port, connect your sometime difficult drive there. The operating system will recognize information technology as a new drive. Then start transferring. It's the fastest of all solutions.

Unlike a PC, finding a spare SATA port on a laptop is hard. You lot could instead apply other solutions like using an external enclosure or a USB docking station.

You lot also might want to turn the old hard drive into external storage. Investing in an external case for the one-time drive volition let you copy all the data from information technology, and after that, you lot get to use the erstwhile drive equally portable external storage.

five. Use Cloud Storage or Web Transfers

The final option is to apply the internet. Since more and more users now employ cloud storage to save their files, this is probably the easiest way to sync your files betwixt computers. However, this may accept quite some fourth dimension, from several minutes to several days, depending on the quality of your internet connection.

You can choose from i of the several cloud storage providers like Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive. They all work as well as each other to go the task done.

Cloud drives are an excellent option since the size of the files is virtually unlimited, as long as you accept enough storage space. Plus, if both the computers are syncing folders locally, and then equally ane uploads files, the other will download simultaneously.

If speed is what you want, though, then effort FilePizza. What makes it special is that information technology's a peer-to-peer app. And so as one computer uploads the file, the other downloads it immediately. At that place is no waiting between the two. And you don't need to be subscribed to the same cloud drive. It'southward all in the browser.

What'due south Your Preferred File Transfer Method?

Whatever one of these methods will allow you to transfer files from PC to PC quickly. Remember, when moving a lot of information, you're ameliorate off with a wired connection between computers. But if information technology'southward just a few gigabytes of data, then feel free to employ one of the wireless options instead.