As a result of sandboxing differences between the Omni Store and Mac App Store versions of OmniFocus, your data lives in a slightly different location during a trial than it does if you purchase the app from the Mac App Store. Here’s how to migrate your data!
Migrate with a free Omni Sync Server sync account
If you still have the OmniFocus trial installed and the trial period hasn’t expired, the easiest way to migrate your data from the trial to your Mac App Store copy is to do so via sync.
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If you haven’t already, you’ll want to request an account on our sync server. Point your web browser to https://sync.omnigroup.com.
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Enter your email address into the field in the middle of that page, then press the Sign Up button.
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The server will send an email with more instructions. Follow them and set up your trial copy to sync with our server, then make sure it completes at least one sync with our server.
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Select OmniFocus > Preferences from the trial version’s menu bar, then switch to the Synchronization tab.
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Click the Send settings via email button. Address the email to yourself and send it.
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Drag the trial copy of OmniFocus to the trash. This won’t affect your data, but it’ll make the following steps easier.
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Install OmniFocus from the Mac App Store.
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Locate the email you sent yourself in step 5, and click the
omnifocus:///link in the body of the email. -
The Mac App Store copy of OmniFocus will now open and ask if you want to replace your sync settings. Let it do so, then enter the password for your sync account when it’s requested. It’ll pull down the data from our server — and since you have sync enabled, if anything happens to your Mac or copy of the app in the future, you’ve got an additional copy of your data stored on the server to help you recover!
If your trial has expired, you can either get in touch with us by phone or email, or use the next set of steps to manipulate the database without using any sync method.
Migrate by moving the database via the Finder
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Quit any copies of OmniFocus that are open.
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Open a new Finder window.
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From the menu bar, select Go > Go to Folder. Enter the following file path, then click Go:
~/Library/Containers/com.omnigroup.OmniFocus3/Data/Library/Application Support/OmniFocus -
Locate the OmniFocus.ofocus file in this folder, and move it to your Desktop. If you archived data during the trial or would like to move over the automatic backups, you may also move the Backups folder and Archive.ofocus-archive file as well.
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Close that Finder window, then again head to the menu bar and select Go > Go to Folder. This time, you’ll use a different file path. You’ll notice that this container folder now has .MacAppStore in the name, to distinguish between our direct version of the app and the MAS version:
~/Library/Containers/com.omnigroup.OmniFocus3.MacAppStore/Data/Library/Application Support/OmniFocus -
Drag the OmniFocus.ofocus file in this folder to the Trash (don’t empty it until you’re done with this process). Then, drag the OmniFocus.ofocus file that’s on your desktop into the new Mac App Store container. Repeat this process for any other files you moved from the old container to the desktop (Archive, Backups folder).
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Reopen the Mac App Store copy of OmniFocus. You should now see your data from the trial version at home in your Mac App Store copy of OmniFocus.
