Manually Sync Your Ghost Browser Data to Another Computer

Note: We've released and expanded on Private Data Sync throughout 2020. Therefore you likely do not need to use this manual method any longer. 

Manually "sync" all of your Ghost Browser Data

If there is a data type that does not yet automatically sync but you would like it to sync, you can use the following manual sync process and be sure to let us know what data types you want to auto-sync. 
Please note that any Identities or Workspaces you have set up on the second computer to which you're transferring data to will be erased and replaced with the data from the first computer. This process does not add the data to the setup on the second computer, it replaces it. If the transfer is unsuccessful, there is a way to undo it as listed in the instructions below.

It's possible to copy your data from a Mac to a Windows computer successfully. However, it does not work to copy data from a Windows to a Mac.

Table of Contents:

Windows Instructions

From the first computer that has the Ghost Browser data
  1. Make sure that you have fully quit Ghost Browser. Click the three-dot browser menu in the upper right hand corner of the browser and select Exit.
  2. Copy the whole "User Data" folder from C:\Users<username>\AppData\Local\GhostBrowser\User Data and paste it to your desktop.

    Note: If you use Windows Explorer for files navigation then be sure to show hidden files and folders in the finder. The "AppData" folder is a hidden folder and you won't be able to see it by default. To show hidden folders please open the Windows Explorer window, click the View menu item and check the "Hidden items" box in the toolbar.

    Note:     To drastically reduce the size of the file before moving on to the next step, within the "User Data" folder you just saved to your desktop, delete the following folders from each of your profile folders (for example the Default, Profile 1, Profile 2, System Profile, Guest Profile): GPUCache, File System. 

  3. On the desktop, right-click on the folder and select Compress "User Data" from the menu.
  4. Either email or store your User Data folder on an external drive/cloud storage service so you can access it from the computer to which you want to transfer your Ghost Browser data.
On the second computer that you want to transfer Ghost Browser data to
  1. Make sure that you have fully quit Ghost Browser by clicking the three-dot browser menu in the upper right corner of the browser and select Exit.
  2. Go to the folder in C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\GhostBrowser and rename "User Data" folder in it to “User Data.orig”. (This is done as a backup in case something doesn't work quite right.)

    Note: If you use Windows Explorer for files navigation then be sure to show hidden files and folders in the finder. The Ghost Browser data folder is a hidden folder and you won't be able to see it by default. To show hidden folders please open the Windows Explorer window, click the View menu item and check the "Hidden items" box in the toolbar at the top of the window. 
  3. Paste the "User Data" folder from the first computer in this location.
  4. Open Ghost Browser to see if the data transferred successfully. If it did, you should see all of your Workspaces (and all tabs and Identities in them), extensions, bookmarks, Identities and proxies from your other computer. (For security reasons, your cookies do not transfer.)

Additional Password Export for Those Updating Windows OS

If you're doing a complete system update on Windows, some users have reported that their saved passwords did not transfer. We believe this is due to an extra security level in the Windows update. Therefore we recommend that you follow the additional instructions below to ensure your passwords are saved prior to updating your operating system.

  1. Paste the following in the address bar to turn on password import/export: ghost://flags/#PasswordImport
  2. Enable password import/export as seen in the below screenshot. 04f15822f02b70087571ec7a03a1215d.png
  3. Paste the following in the address bar to get to the passwords page in the browser settings: ghost://settings/passwords
  4. To the right of the "Saved Passwords" heading click the 3 dots menu and select Export Passwords as seen in the screenshot below. This will download a non-secure, non-encrypted file of your passwords, please take care with this file! 17ea71424df2c27d7745cf6fc95b6b10.png
  5. After your system update is complete and you have reinstated your browser settings from the instructions above, import the non-encrypted password file you just downloaded from the step above but this time select "Import".3c02ee557b16035cb8b5de3243d040a1.png

If the data did NOT transfer successfully

  1. Go to the folder C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\GhostBrowser
  2. Delete the folder labeled User Data.
  3. Rename the UserData.orig folder to User Data. (This will restore the previous data settings on your computer.)
  4. Try again.
  5. If it still doesn't work please contact us for help.

Mac Instructions

From the computer that has the Ghost Browser data
  1. Make sure that you have fully quit Ghost Browser by selecting Ghost Browser > Quit Ghost Browser from the menu bar, or press Cmd + Q on your keyboard.
  2. In the dock, right-click on the Finder and select Go to Folder. 

  3. Enter the following folder location and hit enter:  ~/Library/ApplicationSupport/

  4. Copy the whole "Ghost Browser" folder found in that location and paste it on your desktop.

    Note: To drastically reduce the size of the file 

    before moving on to the next step, 

    within the Ghost Browser folder you just saved to your desktop, delete the following folders from each of your profile folders 

    (for example the Default, Profile 1, Profile 2, System Profile, Guest Profile)

    : GPUCache, File System. 

  5. On the desktop, right-click on the folder and select Compress "Ghost Browser" from the menu. 
  6. Either email or store your Ghost Browser folder on a removable drive/cloud storage service in order to access it on the computer to which you want to transfer the data.
On the computer that you want to transfer your Ghost Browser data to
  1. Make sure that you have fully quit Ghost Browser by clicking Ghost Browser > Quit Ghost Browser from the menu bar, or press Cmd + Q on your keyboard.
  2. In the dock, right-click on the Finder and select Go to Folder. 

  3. Enter the following folder location and hit enter:  ~/Library/ApplicationSupport/

  4. Find the folder labeled Ghost Browser and rename it to “GhostBrowserOrig”. (This is done as a backup in case something doesn't work quite right.)
  5. Paste the GhostBrowser folder from the first computer in this same location.
  6. Open Ghost Browser to see if the data transferred successfully. If it did, you should see all of your Workspaces (and all tabs and Identities in them), extensions, bookmarks, Identities and proxies from your other computer. (For security reasons, your cookies do not transfer.)

If the data did NOT transfer successfully

  1. Go back to the Finder > Go to Folder > ~/Library/ApplicationSupport/ folder.
  2. Delete the folder labeled GhostBrowser.
  3. Then rename the folder labeled GhostBrowserOrig to GhostBrowser. (This will restore the previous data settings on your computer.)
  4. Try again.
  5. If it still doesn't work please contact us for help.

Need help?  Contact us.