How to Back Up ProPresenter and Move It to a New Computer

The booth computer won’t boot on a Saturday night. Or the church just bought a new Mac and wants last week’s setup on it by Sunday. Either way the question is the same: where does ProPresenter actually keep your songs, themes, media and macros, and how do you get a safe copy of them?

The good news is that ProPresenter keeps all of it in one folder. Once you know where that folder lives on your version, backing up or moving a whole setup takes a few minutes. Below: how to find it, protect it and move it, plus the faster way to send just one song or a set of sermon notes.

First, Figure Out Which Version You’re On

Where the folder lives depends on your ProPresenter version, so settle this before you go digging.

Before version 20: ProPresenter always stored its files in the computer’s Documents folder, in a folder called ProPresenter. That’s the setup in my original backup video.

Version 20 and later: ProPresenter added Workspaces, and the default folder moved from Documents to a new path. Older folders can still be imported. ProPresenter calls them legacy folders, and they stay where they are unless you move them yourself.

The reliable way to find the folder a workspace uses is Settings → General → Manage Workspaces. Select the workspace, then choose Open in Finder. If you can switch workspaces from a drop-down near Status in the top right, you’re on the newer system. I cover the change in Workspaces Allow for Separate USERS in ProPresenter V20 & Beyond!

That Folder Is Your Whole Setup

The operator screen shows libraries full of songs and presentations, a media bin, themes for sermon notes and worship lyrics, looks that change your outputs, and macros that switch those looks. All of that user data lives in that one folder.

I proved it the scary way in the video. With ProPresenter closed, I deleted the ProPresenter folder from Documents and reopened the app. The themes were empty, the macros were gone and the songs were missing. It’s an eerie screen, and it might be the reason you’re reading this.

Here’s what happened behind the scenes. ProPresenter keeps checking that its folder exists, because without it there’s nowhere to store songs, media or settings. When it couldn’t find the folder, it created a brand-new, empty ProPresenter folder and started using that one.

Getting the Real Folder Back

If this just happened to you, don’t delete anything else. Close ProPresenter and rename the new empty folder to something like ProPresenter empty. Then put your original ProPresenter folder back from the Trash into Documents and reopen the app.

Everything comes back the way it was. That works because, on the Documents setup, ProPresenter only looks at the folder named exactly ProPresenter. Renaming a folder takes it out of use without deleting it.

Version 20 changes that rule. A workspace folder can be named anything, so the only way to know which folders are active is the Manage Workspaces list. Check it before you rename or move anything.

Tidy Up Your Themes

Realistically, you should rarely need to touch this folder. Organizing themes is one of the few good reasons.

If your theme list has turned into one long scroll, open the Themes folder inside the ProPresenter folder. Make a new subfolder and move your existing theme folders into it. Back in ProPresenter, those themes now show up grouped under that subfolder.

For a media bin that’s gotten out of hand, version 19 added built-in tools for the job. I walk through them in ProPresenter Release of v19 | Adds Media Manager & Clean Up Media Tool.

How to Back Up ProPresenter

The simplest backup is copying the whole folder and pasting it somewhere else. An external storage drive works, and so does uploading a copy to Dropbox or Google Drive.

• Documents setup: copy Documents → ProPresenter.
• Version 20 and later: go to Settings → General → Manage Workspaces, select the workspace, click Open in Finder, and copy that folder. Back up every workspace your team actually uses.

You can also duplicate the folder where it sits and rename the copy to anything other than “ProPresenter.” I like adding “old” to the end, but a date is more useful because it tells you when the snapshot was taken. Just don’t mistake that copy for a real backup.

Unless it’s in six places, it’s not actually backed up.

That’s the mindset. A copy on the same computer protects you from a bad edit, but a dead drive takes both copies with it. Only a copy that lives off the machine protects you from that.

Two Things Not to Rely On

The Sync button. ProPresenter’s settings include a Sync option. You pick a folder, select the content types to include (I chose all five), set it to sync up to that folder and click Sync. It really does copy everything over.

The catch: in the version shown in the video, Sync couldn’t run automatically. It only backs up when someone remembers to click it, which is why I called it close to useless for backups. I’d rather copy the folder to an off-site or cloud location on a routine you’ll actually keep.

Running your library from a cloud-sync folder. Backing up to the cloud is fine. Running ProPresenter’s live files out of a cloud-synced folder is something I don’t recommend, because too many issues come up. When I made the Workspaces video, ProPresenter also had no built-in cloud storage, so you had to move the folder yourself.

Move Your Whole Setup to a New Computer

Bought a new booth computer and want it to match the old one? You’re moving the same folder.

Documents Setup

1. Copy Documents → ProPresenter from the old computer to a USB drive.
2. On the new computer, delete or rename any existing ProPresenter folder in Documents.
3. Paste your folder into Documents.
4. Open ProPresenter. Songs, themes, looks and macros come up just like they did on the old machine.

Version 20 and Later

1. On the old computer, use Manage Workspaces → Open in Finder and copy the workspace folder to a drive.
2. Copy that folder onto the new computer.
3. Open Settings → General → Manage Workspaces, click the plus, and choose Import Legacy ProPresenter Folder.
4. Select the folder, click Done, then switch to it from the workspace drop-down near Status.

Before Sunday, check the settings that don’t belong to your content. Most settings are unique to each workspace. In the Workspaces video, I pointed out that a new workspace needs its network settings reactivated and devices like MIDI set up again. Screens are different on every computer anyway.

Licensing is its own step when you change machines. How to manage Licensing in ProPresenter 7, Transfer a License, What is Pro+? covers it.

Move Just a Song or Sermon Notes

Most weeks you don’t need to move everything. You need one new song, or the pastor’s sermon notes from his laptop. Start with one question: how many items?

One Item: Show in Finder

Find the item in your library, right-click it and choose Show in Finder. That reveals the actual file, which you can AirDrop or copy to a USB stick.

Don’t see Show in Finder? You’re probably right-clicking the item inside a playlist. Choose Show in Library first, then right-click the item in the library.

Several Items: Export a Playlist

1. If the items aren’t already together, add them all to a single playlist.
2. Right-click the playlist and choose Export.
3. If graphics and videos should come along, select include media with presentation.
4. Choose a destination and save, then AirDrop the file or put it on a USB stick.

On the other computer, double-click the file and it opens in ProPresenter. The items are added to the existing library, and you get the playlist as well. If you don’t need the playlist, delete it afterward.

If a popup asks whether to write over, make a new version or use existing, the library already has items with the same names. Choose carefully. Writing over can quietly undo a fix an operator made on that computer, and the same broken slide comes back the next week.

That whole workflow, building on one computer and presenting from another, has its own video: Setup ProPresenter 7 on one computer, Present on another.

Setting up a new computer anyway? The ProPresenter Quick Start Template gives it pre-built playlists, songs and sermon notes, plus the Macros, Looks, Themes and Props to run them. It includes install guides for both Workspaces and older versions, and a transfer guide so your existing content comes with you.

Troubleshooting: “Where Did Everything Go?”

Work through these in order:

• ProPresenter opens blank. On the Documents setup, check that your folder is still named exactly ProPresenter and hasn’t been replaced by a new empty one. On version 20 and later, check which workspace is selected near Status.
• You can’t tell which folder is live. Open Manage Workspaces. Folders on that list are the ones ProPresenter is using.
• Media is missing after an import. Export the playlist again with include media with presentation selected.
• A fixed song broke again. Someone probably chose write over while importing an older copy. Pick use existing or new version when you’re not sure which copy is newer.
• Your newest backup is weeks old. Sync doesn’t run by itself, so put the folder copy on a recurring reminder.

Watch the Video

My original video shows the folder, the delete-and-restore demo, the Sync settings and both transfer methods. You can jump to the backup section or jump to transferring individual presentations. It was recorded before Workspaces, so if you’re on version 20 or later, also watch the Workspaces backup section.

The Whole Thing in One Picture

• Everything ProPresenter uses lives in one folder: Documents → ProPresenter on older versions, or the workspace folder you find through Manage Workspaces → Open in Finder on version 20 and later.
• Renaming shelves a folder on the Documents setup. On version 20 and later, the Manage Workspaces list is the only reliable guide to which folders are live.
• Back up by copying the folder somewhere off the machine. Sync is manual, and a copy on the same drive isn’t a backup.
• Move a whole setup by copying the folder, then pasting it into Documents or using Import Legacy ProPresenter Folder.
• Move a few items with Show in Finder or a playlist Export, and watch the write-over prompt.

Keep Going

• New to running the software? Start with the ProPresenter complete training guide for church.
• After a move, screens are the next thing to check: ProPresenter screen setup for church.
• For a calm way to work through anything that goes dark, see church AV troubleshooting 101.
• Want a Sunday-ready setup to install on the new machine? See the ProPresenter Quick Start Template.

More training is on the YouTube channel: youtube.com/@CrazyAmazingDesigns.