Guide: Account Migration

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WAFRN users may wish to move their accounts from one location on the web to another. This may be a move into WAFRN, out of WAFRN, or between WAFRN instances. This guide aims to provide information about the different methods of performing account migrations in different contexts.

This guide was last updated on October 22th, 2026, corresponding with desktop web build v2026.10.02-DEV.

[Fedi] [Cohost] [ATproto/Bluesky] [Migrating out of WAFRN]

Fediverse to WAFRN

If you're coming from another Fediverse instance, WAFRN can import your followers from your previous account and mark your previous alias. You can do this by going to "Settings", then to the "Account" submenu.

The sidebar and settings menu, showing the steps to migrate your account. The first cursor is selecting the "Settings" option on the menu, the second is selecting the "Account" submenu, the third is pointing to the "Previous alias" box under the "Account migration" section, and the fourth cursor is selecting the "Import followers" option.

To mark your account with a previous alias, enter your previous alias in the box, then hit "save". That's it! This will writes a record to your profile that allows your previous instance to "validate" your migration. You have to login into your previous instance to input your current handle and point your followers to your new account. The exact location for this setting varies from software to software.

You can download a CSV with your follows list from the Fediverse account you're migrating from, usually available in the settings. To import your follows, click "Import Follows". This will take you to a new page, which will prompt you to upload the CSV.

You're all set up!

Currently it is not possible to import your posts from your previous Fediverse account to WAFRN.

Cohost to WAFRN

If you have an export of your Cohost account, WAFRN has the infrastructure to re-create the posts from the export.

To do this, inquire with your instance admin. At this time, there is no user-side import feature, but the instance admin should be able to do it.

Cohost posts all load onto WAFRN first. If you want them to federate out to the Fediverse and Bluesky, you will need to click the post menu, and click "Force refederate". This is done on a post-by-post basis, and it's not possible to do it all at once.

If your WAFRN has Bluesky enabled, it will display a badge below the post that says "Archived from [date], [time]". This is a Bluesky-side requirement, it doesn't affect anything else.

ATproto to WAFRN

ATproto/Bluesky users can move their account to WAFRN. This part of the guide is a quick summary, and a more step-by-step guide is being worked on.

To move an existing ATproto account to connect to WAFRN, you will need to completely destroy your existing WAFRN-linked Bluesky account, if it exists. You can do this by pressing the button on the "Migrate from Bluesky" page.

The second step of the "Migrate from Bluesky" page, showing a button that says "Delete bsky associated account and get invite code." The cursor is selecting the button. Text around the button says, "First off, we must unlink (and delete) your previous linked bluesky account. This is the Wafrn-hosted one, if you have one. This will also give you an "invite code", that we'll use in the next steps to move over your existing account. Please write it down! Got the code? Alright, on to the next step."

The button will also generate an invite code, which will be needed for the migration. You can also follow along with the instructions on the "Migrate from Bluesky page" - the "next" button does not check if you have actually completed the previous step, so you can page through as you like to get the information you need.

We're gonna summarize the PDS MOOver migration flow in this guide.

  1. You will authenticate with your current account. The website will redirect you to "Sign in with Bluesky" and it is safe to authorize.
  2. Input your PDS address. If you're unsure, check your instance documentation or ask your admin.
  3. Create an account on the new PDS.
    1. The email will default to the one associated with your current account, but can be changed.
    2. You can set your new handle. This can be changed later.
    3. Set your password.
    4. Paste the invite code you generated in "Account" > "Bluesky" > "Migrate Bluesky".
  4. Authorize the migration and generate recovery keys.
    1. Paste the PLC Token you received on your email.
    2. It is VERY IMPORTANT to generate a recovery key before or during this step.
    3. You can opt in to PDS Moover automatic backups of your account.
  5. Keep your tab open until the migration process has finished.
  6. Be sure do download your new recovery keys as well.

If you only plan to use our PDS, that's it! You can now log in to any ATproto service, including Bluesky, using your new handle and passwords.

If you wish to synch your Bluesky and WAFRN accounts, there's a few extra steps:

After logging in with your new handle on Bluesky, go to "Settings", "Privacy and Security," and "App Passwords". Inside this page, click "Add App Password".

The Bluesky Settings > Privacy and Security page, with the cursor selecting "App passwords".

Once you have that information, go back to the "Migrate from Bluesky" page – step 4, enter your new handle and the App Password. Then, press "Link account".

For additional reading, here is the PDS MOOver's overall explanation of how it works and the risks: https://pdsmoover.com/info

This page contains the official warning from the default PDS implementation about the risks.: https://github.com/bluesky-social/pds/blob/5aeb1a41477f1112fc7793d6be1c833b9292e83c/ACCOUNT_MIGRATION.md#%EF%B8%8F-warning-%EF%B8%8F-%EF%B8%8F

ATproto migrations are able to move your posts, follows, followers and any other record on your PDS without any issues! Bluesky posts backfilled to WAFRN can be visible on the Fediverse, but they won't display as "new" posts to your followers. Instead, the posts will appear in the order of their original date, so they'll be there if someone scrolls way back on your profile.

If you're missing posts or follows, you can go to "Settings" > "Bluesky" > "Enable / Re-enable Bluesky" to force a synchronization of your profile. WAFRN doesn't move follow from accounts that have been deleted or blocked, so there might be a discrepancy in your follower number from Bluesky.

Migrations can take some time to straighten out, so you may notice some missing notifications after you've moved. It should sort itself out after a few days at maximum, but if it doesn't, contact your WAFRN administrator.

If you have trouble with this process, contact your WAFRN administrator.

WAFRN to WAFRN

Much like the Fediverse-to-WAFRN migration, there is not currently a way to port your posts over to a new account on the Fedi side on your own. You can, however, contact the administrator of your "original" server to export your posts, and the administrator of your "destination" server to import your posts. This method works, but relies on communicating with both people and obtaining/transmitting those files.

If you decide to only migrate your ATproto archive, the federated posts can be imported in the new instance but will fail to display posts longer than Bluesky character limit (300 characters) and WAFRN formatting (HTML, CSS, Markdown and inline media).

Before you begin, you need to create your new profile on your new server. Make sure the account is approved and ready to go. For the purposes of these instructions, the account you are moving away from will be called the "old account," and the account you are moving to will be called the "new account."

The WAFRN settings screen, with most of the irrelevant options blurred out. The first step is a cursor clicking on the "Settings" in the left-hand sidebar. The second step is clicking on the "Account" submenu. The third step is clicking into the "Previous Alias" box under "Account Migration"

On your new account, go to the "Settings" > "Account" submenu, and find the "Account Migration" section. In the "previous alias" box, type the handle of your old account. Click "Save Settings".

The "Migrate out" dialogue, with help text stating, "You need to first create an alias on the new fedi account you are moving to." The text entry box below says "New account (without the @)"

Then, on your old account, go to "Settings" > "Account" > "Migrate Account", and click "Migrate Out". Scroll right on the top bar until you get to the "Migrate out" tab. Enter the handle of your new account. Click "Migrate".

A brown banner on a WAFRN profile, with an airplane taking off. Text reads, "This user has moved to a new account:" with the new handle blurred out.

WAFRN will move your followers over to the new account, and mark your old account with a banner that tells people you've moved accounts, and where to find you now.

Your following needs to be moved manually. On your "old account" go to "Settings" > "Account" > "Account Migration". You will find an "Export follows" button, where you can download a .CSV of your follows. On your "new account", you will upload this .CSV using the "Import follows" button.

You're all set up!

WAFRN to Fediverse

Migrating a WAFRN account to another Fediverse instance follows the same basic structure as the WAFRN-to-WAFRN migration above. WAFRN will offer you autocomplete options in the "previous alias" box as well as the "Migrate out" dialogue from across the Fediverse. If for some reason you can't get it to work with your server/platform, contact your WAFRN administrator.

WAFRN to ATproto

WAFRN gives you full control of the ATproto side of your account. If you decide you don't want to use WAFRN anymore, you can unlink the ATproto account from your WAFRN account and just use it as a regular ATproto account. Or, if you prefer, you can use the PDS MOOver to take that ATproto account elsewhere.

To delete the app password, login to Bluesky with your WAFRN-Bluesky credentials. Go to "Settings", "Privacy and Security," and "App Passwords". There will be an entry on this page for your WAFRN app. You can delete it.

You can continue using this account as-is, but your account will still be on your WAFRN server. If you want to be fully disconnected from your WAFRN server, you'll need to migrate out, either to base Bluesky* or to another PDS.
Bluesky currently only accepts the migration of accounts that were initially created ON Bluesky. If your account was created on WAFRN you will need to move to a different PDS.

Finally, please be aware that when you do this, it will create an error message on WAFRN. The error would not prevent you from using WAFRN for an ActivityPub-only account, but you might find it annoying. If you want to fix the error message, you'll need to contact your WAFRN admin.

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