Windows installer option / first boot option to transfer preferences
I feel like this might have already been suggested, but I searched around and didn't find anything.
After updating blender it's kind of a pain to have to go and copy over the preferences / startup, so it would be nice if the installer had a checkbox for "transfer previous settings," during install.
I don't know if this is true, but I remember reading somewhere that it's difficult to modify the installer, so an alternative could be an option on first boot of the new version where it asks "Do you want to transfer previous settings?"
4 Comments
For a long time now (like, since 2.6x) Blender has had the ability to transfer settings from previous installs to the new one. It shows up in the splash when you first launch a new version. The latest versions of Blender also have this feature.
* @Jason van Gumster * My mistake. I've been using Blender since 2.49, so I really quickly got into the habit of copying over my preferences manually immediately after install. This means I never actually saw this message appear.
After a quick test I can confirm it works as expected and I was more or less just overlooking it.
Wait, I tried out Blender 2.82 build yesterday and it started with factory settings and gave me the preferences to set my preferred right/left click and etc. At the bottom it gave me an option, it was something like "Use previous settings", I don't recall exactly.
This is the directory where your Blender config files are stored :-
"C:\Users<UserName>\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender"
Inside this directory you'll find that there are several folders for different Blender versions such as 2.80, 2.81, etc.
All it did was create a duplicate copy all my files in the 2.81 folder inside the newly created 2.82 folder. Now, I don't know if the windows installer for Blender 2.80 gives you such an option or why it resets your preferences in the first place.
I think you missed something, but better get others opinions first before jumping to conclusions.
* @akshayxw69 * Ok, the thing is pre 2.8 Blender didn't have this feature, and since 2.8 I usually play with the preview releases a little before they come out, which automatically creates the preferences folder in AppData and voids this option, meaning I never saw this.
After deleting the 2.81 AppData folder, I started 2.81 again and finally got this option.