Taking your desktop with you: from Windows to Linux Mint without losing your files

Taking your desktop with you: from Windows to Linux Mint without losing your files

Making a backup is not optional preparation, it is the only step you must not skip. Copy all your work files from the C drive to an external drive, USB stick, or network location. Do this manually and without compression. The latter sounds cumbersome, but a compressed archive that gets corrupted halfway through is an extra problem you do not need.

Requirements

• Windows 10 or 11 with access to an administrator account
• Linux Mint 21.3 or 22 (ISO file)
• External drive, USB stick, or network location for the backup
• USB stick of at least 8 GB for the installation media
• A computer with UEFI and GPT partition scheme (see step 7)

Step 1: Make a backup in Windows

Open File Explorer and copy your entire user folder — Documents, Downloads, Desktop, Pictures — to the external drive. Leave nothing behind that you cannot afford to lose. Then check whether the files on the external drive actually open. A backup you have not checked is not a backup, but a suspicion.

Step 2: Shut down Windows completely

Shut down Windows via Shut down. Not via Sleep, not via fast startup mode. Windows then leaves the NTFS partition in a "frozen" state, causing Linux Mint to be unable to mount the partition correctly. You can then read, but writing fails with cryptic error messages. In Windows 10 and 11, you can disable fast startup via Control Panel → Power Options → Choose what the power buttons do.

Step 3: Install Linux Mint

Boot the computer from the USB stick with Linux Mint. In the installation screen, choose "Something else" — not the automatic option that replaces Windows. That option wipes your entire disk without prior warning. Manually assign a partition for Linux Mint, or use free space on the disk. Leave the Windows partition alone.

Step 4: Mount the Windows partition

After installation, Linux Mint recognizes the NTFS partition automatically. You will find it in the file manager under "Devices" or via the path /media/windows. Click on it to mount the partition. You will then see your old Windows folders: Documents, Downloads, Desktop. Linux Mint can read and write NTFS by default, as long as Windows was shut down cleanly.

Step 5: Copy, do not move

Copy your files from the Windows partition or external drive to your Home folder in Linux. Moving is tempting — it saves a step — but moving means deleting. If the copy fails halfway through due to a broken cable or a full disk, you have lost the original. Copy first, check afterward, and only delete the original once you are sure everything is complete.

Step 6: Leave work files on the Windows partition (optional)

You can also choose to leave work files on the Windows partition and open them from Linux via /media/windows. This works fine for documents, spreadsheets, and images. The advantage is that you can access the same files from both operating systems. The disadvantage: you depend on the partition being mounted correctly, and Linux configuration files with specific permissions cannot be stored there. For regular files, it is safe.

Step 7: Check the partition scheme

If your disk still works with MBR (Master Boot Record) and you want to keep Windows, convert to GPT (GUID Partition Table) before installing Linux. GPT works better with UEFI, supports larger disks, and is more reliable. In Windows, you can do this with the built-in tool mbr2gpt:

mbr2gpt.exe /convert /allowFullOS

This requires an administrator command prompt and a system that supports UEFI. It takes some preparation, but prevents you from later getting stuck on a partition scheme that offers no room for multiple operating systems.

Step 8: Transfer the Thunderbird profile

For Thunderbird users: your email profile is located in Windows at C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles. Copy this folder to Linux, to ~/.thunderbird/. Then start Thunderbird in Linux, open the Profile Manager, and point it to the new location. Your folders, filters, and settings are preserved, and you do not need to download anything again. This requires some skill, but saves you hours of reconfiguring accounts.

Verification

Open the file manager in Linux Mint and navigate to /media/windows. Check whether your Windows folders appear and whether you can open a test file. Then create a new file on the partition and open it again. If that works, writing to NTFS is functioning correctly.

Common problems

1. The partition is mounted read-only

This almost always happens because Windows was not fully shut down. Reboot into Windows, disable fast startup via Control Panel → Power Options, and then shut down via Shut down.

2. Files are missing after installation

Check whether you selected the correct partition in the file manager. Linux Mint shows multiple partitions; the Windows partition is usually the largest with the NTFS file system. If you have the backup on an external drive, you can always fall back on that as well.

3. Thunderbird starts with an empty profile

The profile folder must be in the right place: ~/.thunderbird/. Check that the folder name matches what the Profile Manager expects, and that you have copied the files, not moved them.

Migrating files is part of the switch. You also need to replace software — Office with LibreOffice, Photoshop with GIMP — but your files themselves remain compatible. A .docx-file that works in Windows also opens in Linux Mint. A .jpg or .mp3 is just a file. That is the power of open standards and the fact that Linux Mint is built on interoperability.

You can keep using the Windows partition as storage space after the migration, or clean it up once you are sure everything is in place. The choice depends on your confidence in the switch and your need to occasionally still work in Windows. As long as you do not delete the partition, you always have a way back. And that is exactly what a migration should be: a way forward, with a door that is still open.