Hey Michael, great question—this is exactly the kind of setup that saves you hours of headache when switching machines or recovering from a crash. The good news is that all of Sublime's customizations (packages, settings, snippets, shortcuts, etc.) live in a single directory, so backing everything up is straightforward once you know where to look.

Step 1: Locate Your Sublime Config Directory #

First, find the root folder where Sublime stores all its user data. The path varies by OS:

• Windows: %APPDATA%\Sublime Text 3
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Sublime Text 3
• Linux: ~/.config/sublime-text-3

You can also open this folder directly from Sublime: go to Preferences > Browse Packages, then navigate up one level (the Packages folder is inside the config directory we need).

Step 2: Back Up the Entire Directory #

There are two reliable ways to back this up, depending on your preference:

Option 1: Manual Cloud/External Backup #

• Close Sublime Text first (to avoid file locking issues)
• Copy the entire config directory to a cloud storage service (Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive) or an external drive
• This gives you a full snapshot of every customization you’ve made

Option 2: Git Version Control (Recommended) #

For more control (and the ability to track changes to your config over time), use Git to version the directory:

1. Initialize a Git repo inside the config directory:

   cd /path/to/your/sublime-config-folder
   git init
   

2. Create a .gitignore file to exclude temporary files that don’t need backing up:

   Cache/
   Local/
   

3. Commit all your files:

   git add .
   git commit -m "Initial Sublime config backup"
   

4. Push the repo to a remote Git host for off-site storage

Step 3: Restore/Migrate to a New Machine #

For Manual Backups #

• Install Sublime Text 3 on the new machine, then close it immediately
• Replace the default config directory (from Step 1) with your backed-up copy
• Launch Sublime: it will load all your packages, settings, snippets, and themes automatically. Package Control will even check for any missing packages and install them if needed.

For Git Backups #

• Install Sublime Text 3 on the new machine, close it
• Delete the default config directory (or rename it as a backup)
• Clone your Git repo into the config directory path:

  git clone https://your-repo-url.git /path/to/sublime-config-folder
  

• Launch Sublime—everything will be exactly as you left it.

Bonus: Why This Works Better Than Package-Only Installation #

The method you found for bulk-installing packages is great for quickly setting up packages, but it misses all the critical customizations that make your Sublime setup yours:

• Your personalized Preferences.sublime-settings (font sizes, tab widths, color schemes)
• Custom keyboard shortcuts (Default (OS).sublime-keymap)
• User-created code snippets (all .sublime-snippet files in the User folder)
• Theme-specific settings, package customizations (like LSP configurations), and even your open project history

By backing up the entire config directory, you capture every last detail of your setup.

Give this a try—once you have this system in place, moving to a new machine or recovering from a crash will be a total breeze. Let me know if you run into any small issues getting it set up!

内容的提问来源于stack exchange，提问作者Michael D