How to Transfer LINE Chat History to a New MacBook: Keep Your LINE Desktop Messages on Mac

Just switched to a new MacBook, signed in to LINE Desktop, and suddenly your old chat history is gone?

You may still see the full conversation history on your phone, but on your Mac, older messages, files, links, images, and work discussions may be missing. If you use LINE for work, this can be a serious problem.

This guide explains two common ways to keep or move your LINE Desktop chat history when switching to a new Mac:

1. Use Apple’s built-in Migration Assistant
2. Manually move the LINE data folder from the old Mac to the new Mac

Before you start, remember this: manually moving the LINE folder is not an officially guaranteed LINE backup method. Folder locations may vary depending on your LINE version, installation source, and macOS version. Always make a backup first.

Why does LINE chat history disappear on a new Mac?

LINE is mainly tied to your phone. The Mac desktop version works more like an additional device.

When you install LINE Desktop on a new Mac and sign in again, LINE may sync recent data, but some older local data, cached files, images, and desktop chat history may still be stored on your old Mac.

That is why you may see this situation:

• Your phone still has the old messages
• LINE Desktop on the new Mac only shows recent conversations
• Older chat history, images, files, or links are missing on the new Mac

To keep more of your old desktop history, you need to move the old Mac’s LINE data to the new Mac.

Method 1: Use Migration Assistant to move everything to the new Mac

If you want your new Mac to feel almost exactly like your old Mac, the easiest method is Apple’s built-in Migration Assistant.

This method is best for people who:

• Just bought a new MacBook
• Do not want to reinstall every app manually
• Want to move the old Mac user account, apps, files, and settings
• Do not want to search for hidden LINE folders manually

How to use Migration Assistant

Make sure both Macs are nearby and connected to a stable network.

1. On the new Mac, open Migration Assistant
2. If you cannot find it, press Command + Space and search for Migration Assistant
3. Choose From a Mac, Time Machine backup, or startup disk
4. Open Migration Assistant on the old Mac as well
5. Follow the on-screen instructions to transfer data from the old Mac to the new Mac

After the migration is complete, your new Mac will have your old user account, apps, and related settings. This is usually the easiest option for beginners.

Method 2: Manually move the LINE data folder

If you want to keep your new Mac clean and avoid bringing over everything from the old Mac, you can try manually moving the LINE data folder.

This method is best for people who:

• Prefer a clean install on the new Mac
• Do not want to migrate all old apps and settings
• Only want to preserve LINE Desktop data
• Are comfortable backing up and replacing folders manually

Before you start:

• Back up the LINE folder from the old Mac
• Back up the existing LINE folder on the new Mac
• Make sure LINE is fully closed on both Macs
• Understand that this method may not work for every version

Step 1: Fully quit LINE on both Macs

Before moving any folders, make sure LINE is completely closed.

On both the old and new Mac:

1. Open LINE
2. Press Command + Q
3. Make sure LINE is no longer running in the background

If LINE is still running, the files may not copy correctly, or the app may behave unexpectedly after the transfer.

Step 2: Find the LINE data folder on the old Mac

Open Finder on the old Mac.

The LINE data folder is inside the user Library area, but you usually will not see the final folder immediately after opening the first Containers folder. You need to go deeper into the LINE folder.

Method A: Open Library from Finder

1. Open Finder
2. Click Go in the menu bar
3. Hold the Option key
4. Click Library
5. Open Containers
6. Find LINE
7. Then continue into:

Data → Library → Containers → jp.naver.line

In other words, after entering the first Containers folder, follow this path:

LINE → Data → Library → Containers → jp.naver.line

The jp.naver.line folder is the key folder you want to copy to the new Mac.

Method B: Go directly to the first Containers folder

You can also press:

Command + Shift + G

Then enter:

~/Library/Containers/

This opens the first Containers folder.

From there, continue into:

LINE → Data → Library → Containers → jp.naver.line

Important: do not paste the entire nested path as one command. The safest way is to first open ~/Library/Containers/, then manually go into the LINE folder and continue through the nested folders.

If you see jp.naver.line, you have found the LINE Desktop data container.

Step 3: Copy the jp.naver.line folder to an external drive

After you find jp.naver.line, copy the entire folder to an external drive or USB flash drive.

Do not cut or move the original folder. Copy it.

You can:

1. Right-click jp.naver.line
2. Choose Copy
3. Paste it into your external drive or USB flash drive

If you have a lot of LINE messages, images, and files, this folder may be large. Wait until the copy is fully complete.

Step 4: Install LINE on the new Mac, but do not open it yet

On the new Mac, install LINE first.

Ideally, both the old and new Mac should use the same installation source, such as the Mac App Store version of LINE.

After installing LINE, do not open it yet.

If you already opened LINE, press Command + Q to fully quit it.

Step 5: Back up the existing LINE folder on the new Mac

On the new Mac, open Finder and press:

Command + Shift + G

Enter:

~/Library/Containers/

After entering the first Containers folder, go to:

LINE → Data → Library → Containers

If there is already a jp.naver.line folder, rename it first, for example:

jp.naver.line.backup

This gives you a fallback. If the transfer does not work, you can restore the original folder.

Step 6: Put the old LINE folder into the new Mac

Take the jp.naver.line folder copied from the old Mac and place it into this location on the new Mac:

LINE → Data → Library → Containers

That means you first open the first Containers folder, then go into:

LINE → Data → Library → Containers

Then place the old jp.naver.line folder there.

If macOS asks whether you want to replace the existing folder, make sure you have already backed up the original folder on the new Mac, then choose to replace it.

Step 7: Open LINE and complete login verification

After the folder is in place, open LINE on the new Mac.

When signing in for the first time or after reinstalling LINE, LINE may ask you to enter a verification code shown on the computer screen into the LINE app on your phone. This is normal.

Keep your phone nearby and make sure LINE on your phone is working.

After signing in, check:

• Whether old chat history appears
• Whether group conversations look correct
• Whether images and files can be opened
• Whether searching old messages works

If the old data does not appear, do not delete anything immediately. Quit LINE, check the folder location again, and make sure the data was placed in the correct folder.

What if I cannot find jp.naver.line?

If you cannot find jp.naver.line under LINE → Data → Library → Containers, there are several possible reasons:

1. Your LINE app was not installed from the Mac App Store
2. Your LINE version uses a different folder name or location
3. You are looking inside the wrong macOS user account
4. LINE has not been opened or signed in on that Mac yet
5. Your LINE data may be stored under an Application Support related folder instead

If you only see LINE in the first Containers folder, that is normal. Keep going into:

LINE → Data → Library → Containers → jp.naver.line

To reduce the chance of failure, try to use the same LINE installation source and similar LINE versions on both Macs.

Things to check before transferring

Before you start, make sure:

• LINE still works on the old Mac
• LINE still works on your phone
• You have backed up the old Mac’s LINE folder
• You have backed up the new Mac’s existing LINE folder
• You have not already used LINE heavily on the new Mac
• The LINE versions on both Macs are as similar as possible
• Your external drive has enough storage space

If LINE contains important work conversations, consider making a full backup with Migration Assistant or Time Machine before manually moving folders.

Which method should you use?

Method	Best for	Pros	Cons
Migration Assistant	Users who want to move the whole old Mac environment	Easiest option; moves apps and settings together	May also bring old settings and clutter to the new Mac
Manual LINE folder transfer	Users who want a clean new Mac	Moves only LINE-related data	Requires finding hidden folders and may not work for every version

For most users, I recommend trying Migration Assistant first.

If you are comfortable with macOS folders and backups, then you can try the manual method.

Summary

If your LINE Desktop chat history disappears after switching to a new MacBook, it does not necessarily mean your account is broken. It usually means the new Mac does not have the old Mac’s local LINE data.

The easiest method is to use Apple’s Migration Assistant to move your old Mac user account, apps, and settings to the new Mac.

If you want to keep the new Mac clean, you can try manually copying the jp.naver.line folder, but always back up first and make sure both Macs use the same LINE installation source and a similar LINE version.

Before your next MacBook upgrade, remember to include LINE Desktop data in your backup checklist.