New Device Setup & Migration Checklist

New Device Setup & Migration Checklist — Switch phone or laptop without losing anything: the pre-switch inventory, the authenticator problem, what does not transfer, the first hour on the new device, and the seven-day rule before you wipe the old one.

A new phone or laptop goes wrong in the same handful of ways every time, and every one of them is a sequencing problem rather than a technical one. This pack is the sequence, as printable A4 pages you work down with a pen. It starts before you buy — storage you actually use, accessories that still fit, licences that will need re-buying, how long the model will keep receiving security updates — and then takes the inventory of what is genuinely on the old device: accounts, apps, files, photos, messages, and the authenticator app that most people forget until it is too late. There is a full page on that, early and deliberately, because authenticator entries are usually left out of ordinary backups by design, and a phone restored from a backup can come back with the app installed and empty. From there: a backup-first checklist that ends with restoring a real file to prove the backup works, phone-to-phone migration on the same platform and across platforms, a laptop-to-laptop page, and a two-page list of the things that do not transfer whatever route you take — authenticator secrets, licence activations, browser sessions, files outside the sync folder, printer setup, VPN profiles and the rest. Then the first hour on the new device, an app reinstall list, a settings-to-restore page, and the seven-day rule: keep the old device, in a drawer, charged, until a verification checklist is fully ticked. Only then does the pack cover signing out in the right order, the factory reset, removing the SIM and memory card, trade-in and recycling, and a proper handover page for passing a device to a family member. No password, PIN or code is recorded anywhere in the pack, and no click paths are given — settings are described by what they do, so the pages stay useful when the menus move.

What's inside

• BEFORE YOU BUY: storage you actually use, memory for your real workload, accessories and ports, licences that need re-buying, support windows, battery and repairability — plus a written buying decision
• THE PRE-SWITCH INVENTORY: everything genuinely on the old device, and an account list that records the service, the login email and the 2FA method — never the credential
• THE AUTHENTICATOR PAGE: why authenticator entries are usually not in your backup, the order to move them in, and a list page to tick each one off as it is tested
• BACKUP FIRST: a twelve-point checklist that ends with restoring a real file, because an untested backup is a hope
• PHONE TO PHONE: the same-platform running order, and a separate page for crossing between platforms with what does and does not survive
• LAPTOP TO LAPTOP: application lists, licence deactivation, the files that live outside the sync folder, and when a fresh install beats a migration
• WHAT DOES NOT TRANSFER: 16 categories across two pages — what, why, and what to do instead
• THE FIRST HOUR: 15 things to do on the new device before you get comfortable — updates, lock, encryption, backups, find-my-device, 2FA on email first
• WORKING PAGES: an app reinstall list, a settings-to-restore table, a migration-day running order and a migration log
• THE SEVEN-DAY RULE: why the old device stays in a drawer, with a 16-line verification checklist to tick before anything is wiped
• SECURE WIPE AND DISPOSAL: signing out before resetting, removing SIM and memory card, trade-in terms, and recycling — pointing to your local rules rather than asserting them
• HANDOVER: passing a device to a family member properly, with a handover record page
• TROUBLESHOOTING: the seven ways migrations actually fail, and what to do about each

How it works

The PDF guide walks you through step by step, with ready-to-use wording you can adapt.

Specifications

• Format: PDF guide + read-me
• Works in: Word, Google Docs, LibreOffice
• License: full rights — use, edit, rebrand & resell
• Updates: free for life

Full rights

Sold with full rights: use it personally or with clients, edit anything, and even rebrand and resell it — keep 100% of the income, no attribution required. Customise before reselling (marketplaces reject identical duplicates).

Please note

Productivity and digital-organisation templates for personal and business use. Example entries are illustrations to adapt to your own setup. Never record passwords, PINs, one-time codes or full card numbers in these files — keep secrets in a dedicated password manager. Any security checklist here is general good practice, not a security audit or professional IT advice. Digital download — delivered instantly, so all sales are final; future updates are free.