Requires: nothing. Backing up and importing work in every edition, on the Free Trial, and even without a licence or an internet connection.
Status: new and lightly tested. The backup itself has been checked on a real data folder; the full move (restart, licence steps) is still being proven in daily use. Keep your old computer as it is until the new one works.
What this guide is for
You are buying a new PC, or reinstalling Windows, and you want to keep everything SOAP2 knows about you: your trades and archived trades, your accounts, your trade rules, tags, capital pools and strategy series, your settings, and the history SOAP2 has recorded for you.
SOAP2 puts all of it into one file (a backup), and puts it back on the new computer. You do not copy folders by hand and you do not touch the registry.
Important: the backup never contains your licence. That is on purpose: the file cannot be used to copy a licence to another person, and it cannot rewind a trial. Your licence stays tied to you and your key, not to the file.
What is in the file, and what is not
In the file
Trades, archived trades and accounts
Trade rules, tags, capital pools, strategy series and their settings
Your settings, saved models, chain definitions and the last results of every analysis tool
Optionally: analysis history (Hedging Flow, GEX/VEX and other recordings that keep growing), option price history (the largest part, used by Rewind and the skew look-ups), and your window layout
Never in the file
Your licence and your Tastytrade sign-in (they are protected by Windows and cannot be moved)
Trial information, logs and temporary files
Secret keys: the Cboe feed key is removed from the saved settings, so you will enter it again
Store the file like a bank statement. It holds your trades and account numbers. It is not password-protected yet.
Step 1 — Back up (old computer)
Open the SOAP menu and choose Back up / move to a new computer...
Choose what to include. The window shows how many files and roughly how large the backup will be. Unticking Option price history makes a much smaller file; that history can be recorded again later but not back-filled.
Leave Window layout ticked only if the new computer has the same monitors.
Choose where to save it (a USB drive or a cloud folder is ideal), then click Back up and check.
SOAP2 writes the file, then opens it again and checks every file in it. You should see a line such as Verified: 87 trades, 9 archived, 2 accounts... If it says the check failed, do not rely on the file: make another one. An existing backup is never overwritten, so each backup needs its own name. You can cancel at any time; nothing half-written is left behind.
Step 2 — Free this computer's seat (optional)
Your licence allows a limited number of computers (today, one). If you want the new computer to use the licence while the old one still exists, the old computer has to let go of its seat.
After a verified backup, the button Release this computer's seat... becomes available. It frees the seat on the licensing server. From the next start, SOAP2 on the old computer runs as Freeware.
You can skip this step. If the new computer finds the seat taken when you activate there, SOAP2 lists the computers using the licence and lets you free the old one right then. That also works when the old computer is broken or gone.
Step 3 — On the new computer
Install SOAP2 and start it once.
Activate your licence as usual (SOAP menu > Registration). If every seat is in use, choose the old computer in the list that appears and free its seat; the activation then continues.
Open SOAP > Back up / move to a new computer..., go to Import a backup, choose your file and click Check and import...
SOAP2 checks the file again, then tells you what it holds (date, version, number of trades and accounts) and asks you to confirm.
Close SOAP2 and start it again. The import happens at that start, before anything is loaded.
The backup replaces the data on the new computer; it is not merged with it. That is why it is meant for a freshly installed SOAP2. Whatever data was there is kept aside, not deleted, in a folder next to it named like SOAP_Data_before_import_20261028-091500.
A backup made by a newer SOAP2 than the one you run is refused. Update SOAP2 first, then import.
After the import — five minutes of checks
Activate your licence, if you have not already (SOAP menu).
Tastytrade: sign in again; your credentials are not part of the backup.
Cboe live feed key, if you use it: enter it again in the settings.
Interactive Brokers: check the host and port in the connection settings if they differ on this computer.
Window layout: if you imported it and some windows are out of sight, move them back, or import again without the layout.
Open Trades and Trade Reports and compare a few trades with your old computer.
When something goes wrong
The file fails its check. Make a new backup; do not import a file that failed.
The import did not start. A message at start-up says why and your data was left as it was.
You want to go back. Close SOAP2, rename the new data folder, and rename the ..._before_import_... folder to the original name.
The seat could not be freed. Your backup is safe. Free the old seat from the activation window on the new computer instead.
Not covered yet
Regular, automatic backups. For now a backup is something you start. A scheduled backup (weekly or monthly, keeping the last few) is planned.
Password protection of the file.
Merging two sets of trades. An import replaces.
Learn More
SOAP2 Community on Slack (SOAP section): questions and feedback. Always attach MessageLog.txt from your SOAP2 data folder.
Related guides: SOAP2 General Settings, SOAP2 Trade Log.
