v2rayN is a portable application. It writes nothing to the registry and nothing to AppData. Every change you make in the interface — subscription URLs, the server list, routing rules, parameter settings — lands in the same directory as v2rayN.exe. "Backing up the config" therefore means copying a folder.

Quit first, copy second

Right-click the tray icon and choose Exit, then wait until the icon disappears before touching any files. Copying while it runs can capture a half-written config, and the new machine opens with an empty list. If you are not sure it shut down cleanly, look for the v2rayN and xray processes in Task Manager.

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What to copy

The lazy answer is the whole v2rayN folder, core binaries and geo data included. If you want something smaller, keep only the sub-directory that holds the configuration (its name varies slightly between versions — it is the one containing json or db files) and let v2rayN download the core and geo files again on the new machine.

Moving just a few servers

When you do not need the whole setup, select the entries in the server list, right-click and export the selection as share links. You get a block of vless:// or vmess:// text; on the new machine press Ctrl+V in the main window to import it. A single server can also be turned into a QR code and sent to a phone.

Three things people forget

  • Avoid spaces and non-ASCII characters in the destination path. Some builds are picky about it.
  • Turn the system proxy off on the old machine before you uninstall or retire v2rayN. Otherwise the Windows proxy setting stays behind and every browser on that machine loses internet access.
  • Update the subscription once after the move so the server list is current — see importing a subscription.