Migrating GnuCash financial data is a as simple as copying .gnucash files with a file manager if you know where they are saved. If you can’t remember where a file is stored but you can open it directly within GnuCash, save it in the desired path from within GnuCash.

All other files in the folder are either backups or log files. It won’t do any harm to copy them too, but it’s not likely to do any good, either.

There are three different folders with supporting files: one for GnuCash preferences, one for reports, and one for online banking settings. Preferences are managed by gconf, reports are managed by GnuCash itself, and online banking is managed by aqbanking. If you do not use online banking, then you will not have this folder on your machine.

The paths where the GnuCash preferences files are stored vary depending on your operating system (see Table 2.1, “Application Settings Locations”, Table 2.2, “Saved Reports Locations”, and Table 2.3, “Online Banking Settings Locations”). To back up and transfer your entire installation, you must copy these folders as well.

	Note
	On Unix and Mac OSX, these folders will generally not display in the file manager. You must set the file manager to show hidden files and folders to see them.

	Tip
	On Unix and Mac OSX, the ~ symbol means the home folder.