Taking a copy of configuration to put on my other computer

Hello,

I’m not entirely sure if simply copying the saved layout files to another system would work, since Fences also stores details like desktop resolution, icon positions, and monitor setup. Doing so might even result in corrupted or unusable backups. That said, there may be specific steps within Fences itself to handle this more reliably.

To be certain, I’ve forwarded your question to the Fences Development Team who will be able to help further. Please keep an eye on this thread for updates. We truly appreciate your feedback and patience.

Thank you,

Basj,

Stardock Community  Assistant

Hi kool4kats, thanks for the question.

A couple questions in return. Sounds like you're looking for live sync, but, trying to get started just getting the settings to transfer from machine to machine.

(1) which version of Fences? The registry data for icon group membership is tied to its absolete path, so if the desktop dir is different it won't map in older versions – but starting around v5.8, it detects this, and should automatically switch out the changed diretory. We'll have to make sure that works when loading from a backup, but the local settings are in "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Fences". We're considering good ways to perhaps have just a plain right click → export settings so that you don't have to crawl into backups folder.

(2) sync is something we're actively considering. some limitations we've seen so far:

- If hosted in places like OneDrive, OneDrive may show notifications saying the config file was modified when you rearrange things, as OneDrive doesn't know it's not a user-facing file. You'd be able to point Fences at the location of your choosing and it would save it there. OneDrive would be the default, if desktop is already located there.
- We'd only be able to sync the existence-of/titles and basic properties of groups in addition to icon membership/order, but would not be able to sync the layout of the groups themselves. Too many complications and would be pretty issue-prone of a concept as result so we're not considering that for now. You would be able to "copy" your layouts from another machine, but, the positions would then diverge from there. The groups themselves and their contents/order would sync however, so just, the layout would not stay in sync; you'd have to keep that up to date yourself, if you made changes.

How does this sound, in terms of meeting your needs?

Thanks for a very comprehensive reply. I don't feel confident about editing the registry so a simple mechanism to extract settings to an export file on the source computer and a corresponding import function on the target computer and vice versa would be perfect.

The file copy was right, it just needs one more step at the other end. Dropping a backup into the folder does not apply it. Fences only picks it up when you restore it from the configuration app, which is why the target machine looked unchanged.

On that machine, right-click an empty part of the desktop and choose "Configure Fences". On Windows 11 you may need "Show more options" first.

Then look for "Restore a backup", or "Restore Snapshot" under Layout features and Snapshots on older versions. Your copied file should be in the list, clicking it shows a preview of the layout, and confirming applies it. No registry work involved.

One thing to do before you restore, since the URLs are the point. A layout backup stores the arrangement, which icons belong to which fence and where they sit, referenced by path. It does not bring the shortcut files themselves. Copy your .url shortcuts onto the target machine's desktop first, or the restored layout has nothing to place.

The backups live in C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Stardock\Fences\Backups on both machines.

Thanks, Haalee, I'll check it out！

Hi again kool4kats,

Yes as shared, which version of Fences you're using will be relevant to whether the restore from backup will work, if your desktop directories are not the same on both PCs. If the same, Fences 3 & 4 will work, if different, Fences 5 and 6 will adapt the settings. You can always change it up manually as well. Official instructions are here: https://support.stardock.com/space/SHC/1331494954/Transferring+Fences+Settings+to+a+Another+Computer

Let us know if you're looking for real-time sync, of if you're just looking to do this one time copy over. If realtime sync, please see previous post for some questions about how you might expect it to work, as we are currently considering adding this (with certain limitations). If just wanting one time copy, then yes just restoring the backup should do 👍