Migrate from Legacy Desktop

If you already have Legacy Desktop installed, Comfy Desktop can detect and migrate it, creating a new Standalone installation in the Chooser view.

What Gets Migrated

Legacy Desktop was a single-install app. Comfy Desktop is a multi-installation manager. When you migrate:

• Workflows and settings: reused in place, so the new instance keeps the same user data.
• Custom nodes: kept in your existing custom_nodes folder. The migrated instance uses your Legacy Desktop data folder as its base directory, so it loads the same nodes, and their packages stay in the Python environment that is reused.
• Models: your existing model folder is added to the shared model directories, so every instance can read those files where they already are.
• Input files and outputs: reused in place from the existing folders.
• Python environment: your existing environment is checked and then reused. Comfy Desktop verifies that it can import torch, then installs ComfyUI’s requirements into it without replacing your PyTorch packages.
• ComfyUI version: the ComfyUI source is staged into a new managed directory, so Comfy Desktop manages updates from then on.

The migration reuses your Legacy Desktop data folder and Python environment in place rather than copying them, so you end up with one working setup rather than a second copy. If you need a pristine copy of your Legacy Desktop setup, back it up yourself before migrating.

What Migration Backs Up

Before it changes anything, Comfy Desktop copies the Legacy Desktop settings files into a dated folder inside the legacy config folder:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/ComfyUI/legacy-backup/<timestamp>/
• Windows: %APPDATA%\ComfyUI\legacy-backup\<timestamp>\

Each file is copied only if it exists:

• config.json: the Legacy Desktop app settings, including the data folder it used.
• comfy.settings.json: the ComfyUI frontend settings stored in your legacy user folder.
• extra_models_config.yaml: any extra model paths you configured in Legacy Desktop.
• window.json: the saved window size and position.

The backup holds settings only. Models, workflows, custom nodes, input files, and outputs are not copied into it, because the migrated instance keeps using them where they are. The migration also writes a snapshot of the legacy environment, with its custom nodes and installed packages, to .snapshots/ inside your legacy data folder. If a file cannot be copied, the migration notes it in the log and continues, so a failed backup does not stop the migration.

What Happens While Migration Runs

The migration shows its own progress screen and moves through these steps:

1. Back up legacy state
2. Check folder access (macOS only)
3. Validate Python environment
4. Capture snapshot
5. Allocate install folder
6. Stage ComfyUI source code
7. Install requirements
8. Carry over settings
9. Register installation

A step can stop and wait for an answer:

• Folder access needed (macOS): macOS blocked access to the Legacy Desktop folder. Grant Comfy Desktop Full Disk Access in System Settings → Privacy & Security, then start the migration again.
• Python environment looks broken: the legacy environment could not import torch. Select Adopt anyway to keep that environment, or Cancel to stop.
• ComfyUI source code unavailable: the ComfyUI source for the new instance could not be obtained. Select Retry, or Cancel and create a new instance from the dashboard instead.

The screen keeps the output of every step in a View logs panel that opens by itself when a step fails. Copy the text with the copy button there, or read the same output in the Desktop app log. A failed requirements install is reported as a warning and does not stop the migration.

What Changes After Migration

Once migration completes, your new Standalone installation works like any other Comfy Desktop installation:

• Startup — click the play button on the new installation card in the Chooser view to launch ComfyUI.
• Port — the port and any other custom startup arguments from your legacy config are carried over.
• Manage — use the Manage panel to update, snapshot, and configure the installation.
• Updates — Standalone installations can be updated independently via the Manage panel. Unlike Legacy Desktop, you no longer need to download a new build for each update.
• Multiple instances — you can have multiple Standalone installations side by side, each with its own ComfyUI version and configuration.
• Shared storage — models are shared across all Standalone installations by default. Input and output directories are pinned to the adopted legacy workspace so your existing files stay where they are.

A migrated instance does not update ComfyUI on its own. Use the Manage panel’s Update tab when you want a newer ComfyUI version.

Does My Old Link Still Work?

Legacy Desktop ran on port 8000 by default. The new installation carries over the port from your legacy config, so http://localhost:8000 should still work. If you had custom CLI arguments configured (e.g. --port 8188), those are carried over too. If you use a URL shortener, bookmark, or external integration that references the Legacy Desktop app by a different address, you may need to check the new installation’s Startup Args tab and update accordingly.

Step-by-Step Migration

Migrate from the Chooser

If you have already finished the first-run setup, or the Legacy Desktop installation is already listed in the Chooser, start the migration from the instance card:

1. Find the Legacy Desktop instance card. It carries a Migrate pill.
2. Click the pill, or open the card’s ⋮ menu and select Migrate to Standalone.
3. Review the confirmation, then select Start Migration.

A Legacy Desktop install is adopted in place, so the instance that appears is your existing setup under Comfy Desktop management. Migrating a tracked Git or portable install instead creates a new Standalone instance and leaves the tracked install in place. A pending update takes priority on those cards: they show the update pill instead of Migrate.

Troubleshooting

Legacy Desktop not detected automatically

The Legacy Desktop source is migration-only and is not listed in the New Instance picker, so it cannot be added by hand. If Comfy Desktop did not detect your Legacy Desktop installation:

1. Add the installation as a tracked instance. See Tracking an existing installation.
2. Once it appears in the Chooser, migrate it with its Migrate pill, or with Migrate to Standalone in the ⋮ menu.

Migration fails

• Read the log: select View logs in the migration window, or open the Desktop app log (app.log) in ~/Library/Logs/Comfy Desktop on macOS or %APPDATA%\Comfy Desktop\logs on Windows.
• Check the Legacy installation: the migration reads models, workflows, and custom nodes from the existing folder, so a folder that was moved or deleted stops it.
• Try again: a network problem can stop the source staging step, and a second attempt may succeed.

The migration stopped before it finished

Selecting Cancel in one of the prompts stops the run, and so does a step that fails outright. A requirements warning does not stop it. A stopped run does not add an instance to the Chooser, so start the migration again from the card’s Migrate pill. Your Legacy Desktop folder is not deleted.

Models missing after migration

Models are added to the shared model directories, not copied. If models do not show:

1. Open Desktop Settings → Storage
2. Check that your legacy models folder and any extra model paths listed in your Legacy Desktop extra_models_config.yaml are in the shared directories. If one is missing, select + Add Shared Directory and pick it.
3. In the migrated instance’s Manage panel, open the Storage tab and make sure Include Shared Directories is on.