Is Laplink PCmover Ultimate 11 Worth It?
By Daniel Kruger, consumer tech · updated 2026-07-25
Worth it if you'd rather move your PC than rebuild it
Worth it, if you're not starting fresh with a new OS ecosystem
around $45price at time of review — check Amazon for current
- Worth it ifYou're moving from an old Windows PC to a new one and want settings, logins, and apps to come with you
- Skip it ifYou're switching to a Mac or a different platform where a Windows-to-Windows transfer doesn't apply
Amazon shoppers rate it 4 out of 5 across 6,579 ratings. That is their number, not ours.
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You've got the new PC out of the box, screen glowing, completely empty. The old one sits next to it with years of installed programs, saved logins, and folder structures you don't remember building but definitely rely on. Somewhere in the back of your head is the real cost of a new computer: not the price tag, the weekend you're about to lose reinstalling everything.
Here's the part the box doesn't explain well. PCmover isn't a backup tool and it isn't cloning your hard drive, it's actually inventorying both machines, working out which installed applications, files, and settings exist on the old one, then reconstructing that same setup on the new one, registry entries and all, so programs open already licensed and configured instead of needing a fresh install from scratch. That's the whole trick: reinstalling software from an installer just gets you the program, it doesn't get you your settings, your saved passwords, your file associations. PCmover moves the working state, not just the files. The connection itself can happen over the included Ethernet cable, over your network, or through Wi-Fi Direct, and an AI Assistant looks at both machines first and tells you plainly what's moving over and what isn't, so you're not guessing. You can also hand-pick specific apps or folders and skip the rest, and there's an undo if something lands wrong. It works across Windows versions going back to XP, which matters if the old machine has been sitting untouched for a while.
So you're not really buying a cable or a piece of transfer software, you're buying back the weekend you'd otherwise spend reinstalling, re-signing-in, and re-finding settings you forgot you'd customized. The cable is just the fastest route between two machines; the actual product is the reconstruction happening on the other end.
Worth it if
- You're moving from an old Windows PC to a new one and want settings, logins, and apps to come with you
- You'd rather spend a license fee than a weekend reinstalling everything by hand
- You want to pick and choose exactly what transfers instead of an all-or-nothing move
Skip it if
- You're switching to a Mac or a different platform where a Windows-to-Windows transfer doesn't apply
- You're intentionally doing a clean install to start fresh
- You only need to move one or two programs you could reinstall quickly yourself
Not for anyone doing a clean install on purpose or switching away from Windows entirely.
If you're replacing an old Windows PC with a new one and want your programs and settings to just show up, this is a quiet yes; it does the boring, tedious part for you. If you're switching to a Mac, wiping to a clean install on purpose, or only moving one or two apps you could reinstall in ten minutes anyway, save the money and do it by hand.
Check price on Amazon · around $45 or Add it to your Amazon cart to sit on it
Before you go
What is the difference between PCmover Professional and PCmover Ultimate?
Ultimate adds the ability to transfer over a direct cable or network connection with higher-speed options and includes SafeErase for wiping the old PC afterward, while Professional is generally built around network-only transfers.
How many times can I use Laplink PCmover?
One license covers unlimited transfer attempts, but only from one specific source computer to one specific destination computer; moving a different pair of machines requires another license.
Does PCmover transfer everything?
It moves applications, files, and settings it recognizes as transferable, and the AI Assistant shows you what qualifies before you commit, but not every program transfers perfectly and some may need reactivation or a partial reinstall.
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