Description of Issue
I want to move my Suitcase Fusion 7 font vault from one Mac to another, or to another user account on the same Mac.
Description of Environment
This article applies to Suitcase Fusion 7 and later on all supported versions of Mac OS.
How to Resolve the Issue
NOTE: The instructions below refer to the “source Mac” and “destination Mac”. If you are moving Suitcase Fusion 7 between user accounts, the source Mac and destination Mac will be the same computer.
Confirm the versions of Suitcase Fusion and Mac OS
If you are moving from an older Mac to a newer Mac, make sure that Suitcase Fusion 7 is supported on the version of Mac OS on the destination Mac.
You can go to your My Products page to get the latest installer for Suitcase Fusion 7.
Which option do I use?
If you are using Suitcase Fusion’s TypeSync feature to sync your font library to your Extensis account, your fonts and sets will be automatically synced with your new font library when you sign in to Suitcase Fusion using the same Extensis account.
If you aren’t using TypeSync or don’t have access to the internet, you can create a backup file in Suitcase Fusion and restore it on the new computer. For more information, see How do I archive my Font Vault? in the Suitcase Fusion online help. To use a Suitcase Fusion backup, see “Moving your font vault using a Suitcase Fusion backup” below.
If you can’t make a backup file or need to restore your font vault from a third-party backup, such as Time Machine, see “Moving your Suitcase Fusion font vault by hand” below.
Moving your font vault using a Suitcase Fusion backup
NOTE: You can use a backup made in an older version of Suitcase Fusion, but you will lose any changes made after the backup was created. Backups created in Suitcase Fusion 7 will not work with Suitcase Fusion 6.
Suitcase Fusion backup files have a .macbackup extension and are saved in the Documents folder on your source Mac by default. Copy the .macbackup file to the destination Mac.
If Suitcase Fusion 7 is not installed then run the installer, open Suitcase Fusion, then log in to your Extensis account.
- Go to File > Font Vault Archive > Restore. Suitcase will warn you that restoring from a backup will cause Suitcase Fusion to restart. Click Restore.
- Locate your Suitcase Fusion backup and click Open. Suitcase Fusion 7 will restore your backup and restart.
Moving your Suitcase Fusion font vault by hand
Make sure that the version of Suitcase Fusion on the destination Mac is the same as or greater than the version on the source Mac. We do not support using a font vault from a newer version of Suitcase Fusion in an older version: a vault created in Suitcase Fusion 7 is not supported in Suitcase Fusion 7.
NOTE: These instructions assume the font vault is in the default location and the font vault is named “Suitcase Fusion.fontvault”. If the font vault name or location in Suitcase Fusion Preferences is different on the source Mac, make note of the differences.
If you are restoring your font vault from Time Machine or a third-party backup, you can skip to “Preparing the font vault on the destination Mac”.
Preparing the font vault on the source Mac
Open Suitcase Fusion 7 and go to Suitcase Fusion > Preferences. Make note of the Font Vault Location; by default, the vault is at ~/Library/Extensis/Suitcase Fusion/Suitcase Fusion.fontvault. (In Mac OS, “~” refers to the user’s home folder.)
Click “Stop Suitcase Fusion Type Core”; Suitcase Fusion will warn you that fonts will not be available until the type core is started again. Click “Stop Type Core”.
Go to /Users/username/Library/Extensis/Suitcase Fusion/. Select the Suitcase Fusion.fontvault, then go to File > Compress “Suitcase Fusion.fontvault”. Copy the Suitcase Fusion.fontvault.zip file to the destination Mac.
NOTE: By default, the user’s Library folder is not visible in the Finder. To reach the Library folder, hold the Option key down and click on the Go menu in the Finder; there will now be a “Library” menu option with no keyboard shortcut.
Selecting “Library” takes you to the user’s Library folder.
Preparing the font vault on the destination Mac
Unzip the Suitcase Fusion.fontvault.zip file from the source Mac. If Suitcase Fusion 7 is running on the new Mac, go to Suitcase Fusion > Preferences and stop the type core as described above.
If the font vault isn’t in the default location, you can make note of it so you can remove the unneeded vault later, then go to /Users/username/Library/Preferences/ and drag the com.extenis.SuitcaseFusion.db file to the Trash.
Go to /Users/username/Library/Extensis/Suitcase Fusion/. If Suitcase Fusion has not been installed yet, you may need to create the Extensis and Suitcase Fusion folders. If Suitcase Fusion 7 is already installed and there is an existing vault, drag that vault to the Trash. Drag the Suitcase Fusion.fontvault you copied from the source Mac into the Suitcase Fusion folder.
If Suitcase Fusion is not been installed in the destination Mac, you can install it now. Open Suitcase Fusion and sign in using your Extensis account.
Learn more about Suitcase Fusion.