How to migrate data from OF3 to OF4

OmniFocus
1

Hello all,
I’ve update today from OF3 to OF4.
I have received a huge shock, I’ve lost all my data from OF3.
After the huge shock… I’ve started to look a bit more in detail, and I’ve seen that my old database is still there in ~/Library/Containers/com.omnigroup.OmniFocus3/Data/Library/Application Support/OmniFocus/OmniFocus.ofocus.
But for some reasons OF4 doesn’t see it, doesn’t ask for migrating/importing them.
I’ve checked the documentation of OF4, and looked also in all the menus, and I have seen anything remotly to what I want/need.
Well, yes there is a entry in the “File” menu that says “Migrate Database…” but it is in gray…

Is that something that some of you have experienced, or can help me to import them in OF4?
If not, then I will restore OF3 and wait until OF4 is more “mature”.

I’m not using the sync possibility, so only local database. And I am using the App from OmniGroup website, not the AppStore.

Thank you in advance,

Regards,
Alessandro

2

Ok, I don’t know if that is correct or not, but I’ve simply stopped OF4, removed everything from the data directory. Then copy the content of OF3 data directory to the OF4 data directory, and then started again OF4.

Now everything is back…

Is it normal, that I should do that kind of manual step? What should I be aware of? Will this break OF4?

Lots of questions :-D Sorry!!!

3

Do you use a sync server? If you do, you can just set up OF4 to sync and get all your data.

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4

Apparently when I write “I’m not using the sync possibility, so only local database” it is not clear enough.
So I will try to be clearer.

I am not using the Sync Service.
I am only using a local database.

5

Sorry for not seeing that!

6

Were you able to solve this? I am stuck with the same issue. I was shocked.

7

OmniFocus 4 and OmniFocus 3 are independent apps, so their data isn’t synchronized unless you’ve set them up to sync.

Since you’re not syncing, you’ll want to export your latest data from OmniFocus 3 and import it into OmniFocus 4. The easiest way to do that is to restore a backup from v3. For step by step instructions, see the “Upgrading on a Mac Without Syncing” section of the OmniFocus 4 manual:

https://support.omnigroup.com/documentation/omnifocus/mac/4.0.4/en/managing-your-data/#upgrading-on-a-mac-without-syncing

8

I just stumbled across this issue too; thanks to the OP for raising it here, so I could instantly know how to resolve it.
To OmniGroup: really, really unimpressed that there is no warning in the Sync screen on first startup to tell those of us who run locally-only about this issue, and a pointer to what to do about it. And that the material in the manual is not a whole lot more obvious – I did a quick search through it before coming here, and only once I read @kcase’s post above did I find the relevant section in the manual.

9

Thank you for the feedback!

In the upcoming 4.3 release (now in TestFlight), choosing to skip syncing during setup will offer to import data from previous versions of OmniFocus.

(And the process itself is much simpler: choose between “Import Data” and “Create Database”.)

10

Apologies that this is an old thread- I had a related question and this seems to be the freshest topic. Can I run OF3 on my older macbook, then upgrade to OF4 on my iphone and newer macbook, then sync all three devices ? Or is this not supported?

11

Yes, that’s a supported scenario.

(We spent a fair bit of time making it easier to set up syncing on v4, so the set up process is a bit different. But the current v4.5 release is fully sync-compatible with v3.)

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