Transfer automation rules to a new PC

You spent months teaching the computer to organize itself. The Downloads folder that tidies itself, the invoices that file by month, the PDFs that go to the right place the moment they arrive. Then you reinstall Windows, or buy a new PC, and feel that sinking dread: do I have to set all of this up again?

You don’t. Your automation rules aren’t tied to that one Windows install. They fit in a single file you carry on a USB stick, keep in your backup, or send to yourself — and on the new PC they come back to life with the folders already pointing to the right place, even if your username changed.

Your whole “organizing system” fits in one file#

In the Automation manager, alongside creating and editing rules, there are two quiet buttons that handle the entire move: “Export…” and “Import…”.

Clicking “Export…” opens the Export automations window and saves all your rules into a single file with the .efeauto extension — a plain-text file you can even open in an ordinary editor to inspect. The suggested name comes dated: “My automations YYYY-MM-DD.efeauto”, handy for keeping several generations of your backup. When it’s done, the app confirms how many automations left and points out the detail that makes it all work: “The file travels with portable paths: import it on another PC and the folders adjust to the new user on their own.”

If you don’t have any rules yet, the app warns you instead of generating an empty file: “No automations to export yet. Create a rule or activate a recipe first.” — no phantom backups.

The trick: folders travel, not fixed paths#

Here’s the detail that separates a real export from simply “copying a settings file.” One of your rules watches, say, your Downloads folder. On your old PC that’s a path like C:\Users\maria\Downloads. If the file stored that literal path, it would break on John’s PC, whose user is someone else.

The .efeauto file doesn’t do that. Your base user folders — Downloads, Documents, Pictures, Desktop, Videos, Music and your profile folder — travel in a portable form, not as fixed text. On import, each one is resolved back to the equivalent folder on the destination PC: your Downloads rule now watches John’s Downloads, with no manual editing. That’s why the same export works on any machine and any user.

What travels inside each rule is the complete package: the conditions (“which files”), the actions (“what to do”), the trigger (⚡ Real time, ⏱ Periodic, or Manual) and the name-conflict policy. Tag and reminder names travel exactly as they are — an action that applies the “Bill” tag keeps applying “Bill” on the new PC.

What doesn’t travel (and why that’s good)#

Being honest about the limits is what makes the feature trustworthy. Two things are left out, on purpose:

• Folders outside the known base folders. If a rule watches a path that isn’t Downloads, Documents and the like — say, a folder on a second drive like D:\Archive\Notes — that path travels literal, with no automatic adaptation. If the folder doesn’t exist on the destination PC, the rule doesn’t vanish or break silently: it comes in disabled, with a warning to repoint it to the right folder and switch it on. Never a half-working rule behind your back.
• The run history. Each import resets the clock: a periodic rule starts counting from scratch on the new PC, and the log of everything organized before isn’t in the file. That makes sense — what you want to carry is the recipe, not the old flight log.

No cloud, no account, no automatic upload: export and import are always a local file you pick by hand through the Windows dialogs. It’s the same spirit as the rest of the app, which we get into in the anatomy of a perfect file rule.

Importing means seeing before applying#

The most reassuring part is the import. Click “Import…”, pick the file, and nothing happens yet. The Import automations window opens, with the subtitle “Choose what comes in — nothing replaces your current rules.” — a list where each automation in the file is a card you tick or untick:

• The rule’s final name, with a note when it was renamed to avoid clashing with a rule you already have (e.g., you already have “Bills,” this one comes in as “Bills (imported)”).
• A summary of the leaf folders involved and the number of actions.
• The trigger badge: ⚡ Real time, ⏱ Periodic, or Manual.
• An amber warning when a folder is missing: “Folder not found on this PC — the rule comes in disabled for you to adjust.”

At the bottom, a counter (“N of M selected”) and the “Import N automation(s)” button, which only acts when you confirm. Two guarantees keep this safe: the import never overwrites an existing rule — a repeated name always gets the “(imported)” suffix — and only what you ticked comes in. If the file is corrupted or isn’t a real export, the app warns you with a clear message instead of breaking: “This file is not an ElegantFileExplorer automation export.”

The best backup is the one you forget you made#

Even without switching PCs, exporting your rules now and then is cheap insurance. A dated .efeauto in your backup folder means a Windows reinstall stops being a start-from-scratch. You reinstall in the morning, import the file in the afternoon, review the list, and your autopilot is back in the air — with the folders already adjusted to the new user.

If you’re building this system now and want to let rules fly on their own with confidence, the path is in from manual to autopilot. And if you’re migrating from another automation tool, there’s an honest comparison in the File Juggler alternative.