Why does copying our UI layouts and hotbars from character to character need to be...

[Daeriion_Aeradiir]

It's not difficult or convoluted. The Server Backup allows you to upload your character configuration settings (as well as crossbars, hotbars and UI) of which you can download onto other characters or devices.

https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/game_manual/config/

Just CTRL+F Server Backup Function for the how-to.

You can literally upload your characters UI settings by clicking the gear icon at the loggin screen and selecting upload and then download those settings amongst any of your alts across all platforms.

Dont tell me you didnt know about this

Due to the fact that system backups character specific data such as friends list/triple triad cards & character specific macros, you cannot export the data to a different character, only bringing it back to the same character as before.
You could have taken the 1min to easily see this in-game before suggesting this as a solution when its completely irrelevant to the OP's problem.

But yes OP, it's extremely annoying to swap settings between characters. The best way I've found is to sort your character folder location by date modified, and whenever you create a new character, it will be the lowest / highest (depending on ascending/descending) on the list. For finding older characters, you can go in-game on that character, create a brand new macro in their character specific macro window, logout so the files update, then go into the FF14 character folder location and search 'Macro'. The file with the latest modification date will be that character, then you can right click -> open file location and it should take you right to that folder of that character.

For finding your main you want to copy settings from, do the same macro trick as above, but once you find the character folder for your main, create a text file named after your character in that folder. then instead of having to do the whole macro thing in the future, you can just search the text file name and it will locate your main's folder to skip a step.

This is with Windows 10, if you run 11 I dunno if anything might have changed.

[NekoMataMata]

You can literally upload your characters UI settings by clicking the gear icon at the loggin screen and selecting upload and then download those settings amongst any of your alts across all platforms.

Dont tell me you didnt know about this

Imagine being this arrogant and being wrong at the same time.

The server backup does not allow you to import one character's settings with a different characters settings that you had previously backed up.

Don't tell me you didn't know about this.

[DixieBellOCE]

So difficult?

Seriously. The only way of doing it is this convoluted way of going into the game folder, figuring out which folder belongs to which characters, and copy-pasting everything over. Which wouldn't be bad if the folders were named after the charters instead of just being CHR with a string of numbers and letters after them. Oh and if you made characters that you messed around with and then deleted because you didn't want to actually play with them, then those files are there too, and you have to check them as well.

Or maybe just let us use the character settings backup to backup new character's settings with our older characters?

Maybe I'm missing something and there's some easier way, but right now it's so annoying. You'd think something like this would be top priority because most people want to play games, rather than fight with the UI.

Because ALT gameplay is not something the game is designed around.
The game is designed to be played on one character, it is not a limitation but a blessing.

ALT characters just take time away from progressing your main character.

[Rongway]

The only way of doing it is this convoluted way of going into the game folder, figuring out which folder belongs to which characters, and copy-pasting everything over. Which wouldn't be bad if the folders were named after the charters instead of just being CHR with a string of numbers and letters after them.

Create a shortcut to the character folder by name once you've figured out which is which.

Oh and if you made characters that you messed around with and then deleted because you didn't want to actually play with them, then those files are there too, and you have to check them as well.

Go into Details view

Then check the "Date created" column. Supposing you made multiple characters on the same day before deciding on a keeper, the last one on that day will be the one to keep and the rest can be deleted.

Maybe I'm missing something and there's some easier way, but right now it's so annoying. You'd think something like this would be top priority because most people want to play games, rather than fight with the UI.

No, you're right, it is super annoying. While workarounds exist, they exist only for PC players as far as I know, and even then your average PC user isn't PC user enough to know how to do all of this without supervision. There really should be a simple one button solution in the game that lets you copy settings across characters, or even to designate one of your characters as the default on whom all new characters should be built.