Can You Back Up or Move Edge Drop History to a New PC?

Not as a built-in feature. Edge Drop 0.3.2 has no export, import or sync, and its history index is encrypted with Windows DPAPI for your Windows account, so copying the data folder to another PC or another account isn't a supported way to move it. You can keep a copy of the folder as a backup for the same account on the same PC. For a new PC, save the items that matter as ordinary files, then copy and pin them again there.

What you can and can't do

Where Edge Drop keeps your history

For the GitHub build, everything lives in %APPDATA%\Edge-Drop (usually C:\Users\<you>\AppData\Roaming\Edge-Drop). The Microsoft Store build's data is redirected by Windows into the app's package folder under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\.

Where Edge Drop stores data on disk lists every file in the folder.

Why the history doesn't move to another PC

Edge Drop encrypts items.json with Electron's safeStorage, which uses Windows DPAPI. Microsoft's documentation says that, typically, only a user with the same logon credentials as the one who encrypted the data can decrypt it, and usually only on the same computer. There are exceptions, such as roaming profiles in some organisations, but Edge Drop doesn't support or document moving its data that way. Without a readable items.json, the images and text files in the folder are no longer connected to cards on the shelf.

Edge Drop also has no account and no cloud sync, so there's no server copy to restore from. Your history exists only on the PC where you copied it. Does DPAPI protect clipboard history from other users? explains what this encryption does and doesn't cover.

How to back up Edge Drop on the same PC

Edge Drop has no backup command, but a folder copy works as a restore point for the same Windows account on the same PC, for example before reinstalling the app:

1. Right-click the Edge Drop tray icon and select Quit Edge-Drop, so nothing is written mid-copy.
2. Press Win+R, type %APPDATA% and press Enter.
3. Copy the Edge-Drop folder somewhere safe.
4. To restore, quit Edge Drop, put the folder back in %APPDATA%, and start Edge Drop.

The backup holds your captured images and long text as plain, unencrypted files, so store it somewhere private. These steps are for the GitHub build; the Store build's data sits in a package folder that Windows manages, so use the file-based approach below instead.

What carries over to a new PC, and what doesn't

Files need the most care. Edge Drop never copies the files you put on the shelf; a file card points to the original on disk. On a new PC that path won't exist, so move the files themselves (with a USB drive, OneDrive or your usual method), then copy them again in File Explorer on the new PC.

How to rebuild your Edge Drop shelf on a new PC

Most people only need their pinned items. Unpinned history is usually recent and short-lived, and it's capped by History capacity anyway.

On the old PC

1. Open the shelf and look through the PINNED section.
2. For each text or link card you want to keep, select its copy button and paste the text into a Notepad file. Text, link and colour cards can't be dragged out, so this is the way to collect them.
3. Drag each image card you want to keep into a folder in File Explorer. Edge Drop saves it there as an image file.
4. For each file card, drag it into your transfer folder (a USB drive or cloud folder). Edge Drop drags the original file, so this copies the real file. To find the original instead, open the card's preview and select Open location in Explorer.
5. Open Settings from the tray icon and note anything you changed from the defaults (the list below helps).
6. Copy the text file, the saved images and the original files to the new PC.

On the new PC

1. Install Edge Drop. How to install Edge Drop on Windows 10 and 11 covers both builds.
2. Set your options again in Settings.
3. Open your text file and copy each block of text you want on the shelf. Each copy appears as a card.
4. Copy the saved images and the original files in File Explorer the same way.
5. Pin each card you want to keep. How to pin and unpin items in Edge Drop shows how.

Pinned items don't count toward History capacity and survive the Auto-delete timer, Clear unpinned on restart and Clear all history, so they'll stay put once you've rebuilt them.

Settings to note before you move

Settings aren't synced and Edge Drop has no settings import. settings.json is a plain file, but it isn't meant for hand-editing or documented as a way to carry settings across. Writing down the handful you've changed is quicker:

Edge Drop settings explained lists every option.

FAQ

Does Edge Drop sync history between computers?

No. Edge Drop has no account and no cloud sync. Each PC, and each Windows account, has its own separate history.

Can I export Edge Drop history to a file?

Not in version 0.3.2: there's no export, import or save-as feature. Copy items out one at a time as described above. New versions are listed in the changelog.

Will uninstalling Edge Drop delete my history?

Don't rely on uninstalling either to keep or to remove it. If you want a copy, back up the folder first; if you want it gone, delete the folder yourself. How to uninstall Edge Drop cleanly covers both builds.

Is my backup copy encrypted?

Only items.json is. Captured images, long-text files and settings.json are plain files in the backup too.

Related reading

• Where Edge Drop Stores Data on Disk
• Edge Drop: GitHub Installer or Microsoft Store Version?
• Does DPAPI Protect Clipboard History From Other Users?
• Can You Export Win+V Pins? How to Move to a New Manager

Sources

• safeStorage (Electron documentation) — DPAPI on Windows and who can decrypt.
• CryptProtectData function (Microsoft Learn) — decryption normally needs the same logon credentials on the same computer; roaming profile exception.
• Edge Drop (GitHub) — source code for storage, encryption and settings.

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