SketchUp: Exporting & Importing User Settings

When you make changes to your preferences, SketchUp saves your preferences automatically. If you work on your 3D models on two different computers or are upgrading from one computer to another, you can export your preferences from one copy of SketchUp and import them into another. This section explains how to export and import preferences for your current operating system.

Note: On Windows the only preferences which can be exported are the File Location & Shortcuts settings, on the Mac OS the only settings which are backed up are the Shortcuts settings.

To export your preferences in Microsoft Windows, follow these steps:

1. Select Window > Preferences.
2. Select Files in the sidebar on the left.
3. Click the Export button. The Export Preferences dialog box appears.
4. Navigate to the folder where you want to save the preferences file. The file is called Preferences.dat by default but you can rename it if you like.
5. (Optional) By default, your keyboard shortcuts and file locations are both exported in the same file. If you don’t want to export either of these, click the Options button to open the Export Preferences Options dialog box. Deselect the Shortcuts or File Locations checkboxes and click OK when you’re done.
6. In the Export Preferences dialog box, click the Export button, and the preferences file is saved to the location you specified. You can now save the file to your new or other computer and import your preferences into another copy of SketchUp.

When you’re ready to import your preferences into SketchUp on another computer, follow these steps:

1. Select Window > Preferences.
2. Select Files in the sidebar on the left.
3. Click the Import button.
4. Navigate to the location on your computer where you saved the exported preferences file and select the file.
5. (Optional) Click the Options button and, in the Import Preferences Options dialog box, deselect the Shortcuts or File Locations checkbox if you don’t want to import keyboard shortcuts or file locations. Click OK when you’re done.
6. Click the Import button, and your preferences are imported into SketchUp.

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Mac

On Mac OS X, you can save your keyboard shortcuts file to your new or other computer. Your keyboard shortcuts are automatically saved in the following location: MachintoshHD/Users/[User name]/Library/Application Support/SketchUp #/SketchUp/Shortcuts.plist

Simply copy the file to the same location on another Mac, and your shortcuts will work.