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Archive your old computers

Every old laptop's files, in one place you can search, without cluttering your Drive. The Archive keeps them out of the way, leaves the junk behind, skips what you already have, and can tidy folders nested five levels deep.

The Archive is a place in the Drive sidebar, next to the Trash. Anything in it stays out of My Drive, Recent, Photos and search until you ask for it. Nothing is deleted or hidden from you: open the Archive to browse it like any folder, look through its photos and videos by date, or search it.

Move a folder to the Archive

Right click any folder or file in your Drive and pick Move to Archive (it works on a whole selection too). It keeps its place: Restore from Archive puts it right back where it was, with the same path. Archive is personal, so it works on things in your own Drive, not in spaces.

Add a computer archive

In the Archive, click Add a computer archive. Name the computer and the year, like MacBook Pro and 2016: the files come in as a folder called MacBook Pro 2016, with their folders and modified dates as they were. There are two ways to bring the files:

A folder on the server (server owner). Best for big archives: copy the old computer's files onto a drive or your NAS, make that folder visible to the server, then pick it in the dialog (Browse… shows the folders the server can see). It's only read, never changed.
Zips or tars. Upload .zip, .tar or .tgz files of the computer. Big ones upload in parts and carry on if the connection drops.

With Docker, add the folder as a read-only volume of the server, then pick /archives/… in the dialog. A folder on the same machine:

shell

services:
  server:
    volumes:
      - /Volumes/Backup/old-computers:/archives:ro

A NAS share works the same way as your media folder, as a CIFS volume, but read only. Put each computer in its own folder (old-computers/MacBook Pro 2016, old-computers/Windows PC 2012) and add them one at a time.

Look before anything is copied

Every computer archive starts with a dry run. Stavo looks through everything and shows what would come in, how much the junk filter leaves out (with sizes and examples for each rule), the Git repositories it found and what's in each top folder. Change the rules and look again, then click Import now. The import runs in the background, can be paused, and carries on where it stopped if the server restarts.

The junk filter

On by default, and you can turn each rule off (or on) for any import, or in the Archive settings:

Packages: node_modules, bower_components, and vendor inside code projects.
Git history: .git folders. Your code is kept; you can keep a small note with each project's remote and branch.
Build output and tool caches: build, dist, out and target inside code projects, .next, __pycache__, .venv, .idea, .vscode and friends.
System clutter: .DS_Store, ._ files, Thumbs.db, desktop.ini, the Trash, $RECYCLE.BIN, Spotlight and other system folders.
Caches: Library/Caches, AppData/Local/Temp, and package manager caches like ~/.npm, ~/.cargo/registry, ~/.m2 and ~/.gradle.
Other hidden files (names starting with a dot), and compiled Python files.
Off unless you turn them on: installers (.dmg, .pkg, .exe, .msi) and virtual machines or disk images.
Your own patterns, one per line, like *.log or Steam.

Duplicates

Files that are already in your Drive (the exact same bytes, anywhere, the Archive included) aren't copied again. The Archive remembers where each skipped copy was, so you can always see the old structure: Copies not stored downloads the list.

Duplicates in the Archive shows every file that's there more than once, with a suggested copy to keep: the one in My Drive if there is one, then the one outside Downloads, the oldest, or the shortest path (you pick the rule). Flip any choice, then Remove all extra copies. Extra copies go to the Trash, so you can put them back for 30 days. Look-alike photos can be shown too.

Tidy an archive

Old computers are full of Desktop/go through this/Desktop/Downloads. Right click an archived folder (or open it) and pick Tidy this archive:

Flatten pointless nesting uses rules, no AI: folders named “go through this”, “New Folder”, “Untitled”, “Old” or “Stuff”, a folder inside a folder with the same name, folders that only hold one folder, and same-named folders side by side. It aims for at most three levels below the computer's folder (you can change that).
Tidy with the Assistant asks your AI provider for a plan. It sees folder names, counts, sizes and file types, never what's in your files (and file names only if you allow it). Anything it suggests that would rename, delete or reach outside the archive is left out.

Either way you see the plan first: every change with a checkbox, and the folder tree before and after. Files are never renamed and nothing is deleted. Code projects and app bundles keep their insides exactly as they are. When it's done, one click undoes the whole tidy.

Searching the Archive

The search box in the Archive only looks in the Archive. Everywhere else, search leaves archived things out until you say otherwise: the Search page has an Archived option (leave out, include, or only archived), and your choice is remembered, for the Drive's search box and the quick search too. Archived results are marked Archived. Words inside images and PDFs are found in the Archive like anywhere else.

Your Mac, iPhone and iPad

Archived folders leave Finder and the Files app, so an old computer never downloads onto your new one. They stay on the server. Turn on Sync my Archive in the Archive settings (or for one device in the app) to see them there too. Mac folder backup keeps working into archived folders. Over the network drive (WebDAV), archived things are in one Archive folder at the top instead of where they were.

Photos and videos

The Archive's Gallery shows every photo and video in it, or in the folder you're in, by the date they were taken. They stay out of the Photos timeline, memories and map, so a decade of old screenshots doesn't take over.