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Moving LightBurn to Another Computer

This guide will help you move your LightBurn settings and devices from an existing installation to a new computer.

Before you begin, please make sure that you have:

  • An existing, already configured LightBurn installation running at least LightBurn 1.6.
  • A new LightBurn installation that you wish to migrate to, also running at least LightBurn 1.6.
  • Some way of moving files between computers. A USB flash drive is typically a convenient way to do this.

What if I'm using an older version of LightBurn?

This guide makes use of LightBurn's User Bundles feature, introduced in LightBurn 1.6. If you are using an older version of LightBurn, please either upgrade before migrating or see our legacy documentation for assistance.

License Management

Each LightBurn license key comes with 3 seats, allowing you to activate LightBurn on up to 3 computers simultaneously. If you will no longer be using LightBurn on a particular computer, you can deactivate LightBurn to free up the seat for use on another computer. See License Management for more information.

You can add additional seats without purchasing a separate license here.

Migration Overview

Most of the migration process is handled by LightBurn's User Bundles feature, which can export and import the following:

Please be aware that User Bundles do not contain:

  • Your project files, which you'll need to move yourself.
  • Your SHX fonts folder, which you'll need to move yourself.
  • Ordinary fonts, which are handled by your computer, not by LightBurn.

Migrate Settings and Devices With User Bundles

The migration process starts with exporting a User Bundle from the existing installation and importing it into the new installation.

Start by exporting user bundles containing all the settings you want to bring into the new installation:

  1. In an existing and already configured LightBurn installation, go to File → Bundles → Export Bundle.
  2. Make sure that all components of the current installation that you want to include are selected and click Export. Save the .lbzip file somewhere you can find it again easily.

Next, import the bundle into the new installation:

  1. Move the .lbzip file from Export Bundle to the new computer.
  2. Open LightBurn on the new computer, and drag the .lbzip file into LightBurn to load it.
  3. Make sure that all components you want to import are selected, and uncheck any components you want to ignore. Components that are already detected on the computer will be grayed out and unavailable, with two exceptions:
    • Devices that conflict with an existing one will create a duplicate to preserve the existing profile.
    • Material Libraries and Art Libraries with the same name but different contents will create a new copy of the library without overwriting the original.
  4. Click Import to complete the process.

Move Project Files

Because users are free to store and organize their project files however they want, LightBurn is unable to move project files automatically. Please make sure that you copy any project files you want over to your new computer yourself.

Move SHX Fonts

SHX Fonts are handled separately from other fonts installed on your computer. To move your SHX fonts to the new computer, please do the following:

  1. Copy your SHX Fonts folder to the new computer.
  2. If your SHX fonts aren't recongized, update the SHX Font path on the new computer.

For more help using LightBurn, please visit our forum to talk with LightBurn staff and users, or email support.