where are Bridge Collections stored and how do I transfer to my new Mac?

[lisann1]

I was able to save the custom-made collections from my old mac into a folder on icloud. I cannot find where Bridge accesses these on my new computer. Please advise. I'm assuming there is a folder somewhere to drag the old collections. I can find Library>Application Support> Adobe and there are Bridge extensions but not collections. Or is there an import feature that i'm missing? thanks for any help!

[Stephen Marsh · Accepted solution]

@lisann1 

* filename.collection = Smart Collection (live saved search criteria, the files and file paths are dynamically generated)

* filename.filelist = Collection (saved image files and file path locations)

Windows (the AppData directory may be hidden):

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Bridge 2021\Collections\

Mac (the user library may be hidden):

/Users/<username>/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Bridge 2021/Collections/

Once you have moved the .filelist collection files, you would need to edit the collection using the GUI in Bridge to relink missing assets, or manually update the file paths in a text editor with find/replace.

For .collection smart collection files, there is no GUI to relink so you have to use the text editor approach to update the URI info.

Links to previous Bridge forum discussions that may help with further info:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/bridge-discussions/transfering-collections/m-p/9687219

https://community.adobe.com/t5/bridge-discussions/is-it-possible-to-export-sync-bridge-collections-a...

https://community.adobe.com/t5/bridge-discussions/correct-way-to-migrate-collections/m-p/10424764

[lisann1 · Accepted solution]

Adobe helped me find them:  The collections are saved under the mac's User Library, not the System Library. After I moved the saved Collections into the file, i re-opened Bridge and they popped in, however, I will manually have to re-find each one as the original path to the images has changed. Bummer, but at least I have my colllections!

[Stephen Marsh]

Adobe helped me find them:  The collections are saved under the mac's User Library, not the System Library. 

By @lisann1

Yes, that is why I wrote:

Mac (the user library may be hidden):

/Users/<username>/Library/...

:]

[Fine Art P]

Thanks! This really helped. I'd like to add, I was able to find/replace text in all files in the folder. I used Visual Studio Code to replace text in all files at once.