---
id: privacy-safety.do-my-settings-move-to-a-new-mac
url: https://storagestudio.us/faq/privacy-safety/do-my-settings-move-to-a-new-mac
category: "Privacy & safety"
subcategory: "Accounts, passwords and keys"
question: "Why do I have to re-enter my account details on a new Mac?"
alt_questions:
  - "My cloud accounts didn't come across to my new Mac"
  - "Can I copy Storage Studio's credentials to another Mac?"
  - "storage studio migrate settings new mac"
  - "Why can't another Mac read my saved passwords?"
  - "Migration Assistant and Storage Studio passwords"
short_answer: "Your saved secrets and some private settings are encrypted so only the original Mac can read them. A copy on another computer is unreadable by design, so a new Mac asks you to enter them again."
tags: ["new mac", "credentials", "encryption"]
related: ["https://storagestudio.us/faq/cloud-accounts/where-are-my-cloud-passwords-and-keys-stored"]
applies_to: "all"
last_reviewed: 2026-10-01
---

# Why do I have to re-enter my account details on a new Mac?

Because your saved secrets and a few private settings are encrypted so that **only the Mac they were saved on** can read them. That's deliberate: a copy of the file on another computer — or in someone else's hands — is unreadable.

Reinstalling on the same Mac restores everything cleanly. On a different Mac, Storage Studio simply asks you to enter those details again.