Backup and Restore

Backup & restore

A backup is a single portable file containing your whole Gubbins — data, images and settings — that you can keep safe and restore from later. It's your insurance against a lost device or a browser wiping its storage.

Where to find it: the backup & restore tools (Sync / Data & storage areas).

What's in a backup

A backup is one portable .zip that bundles:

• A version-guarded JSON snapshot of your data.
• An exact copy of the .sqlite database.
• Full-resolution images.
• Your device settings — as much or as little of them as you choose (see below).

So restoring gives you back not just your items but the whole app state.

Choosing which settings travel

Settings aren't all-or-nothing. Tick App settings & preferences when creating a backup and a list of settings groups appears underneath — appearance, language and units, item cards, dashboard, alerts, keyboard shortcuts, scanning, printed catalogue, reports, saved searches, and a This device group. Tick only the groups you want the file to carry (or use Select all / Select none).

Restoring works the same way in reverse: after you pick a backup file, Gubbins lists the groups that file actually contains and lets you choose which ones to apply here. Anything you leave unticked is left exactly as it is on this device — restoring your theme won't disturb your thresholds, and vice versa.

ℹ️ Note This device — the bridge address, kiosk mode, a connected scale and any prompts you've dismissed — is off by default at both ends, because it usually describes one particular machine rather than how you like Gubbins to work. Tick it when creating and when restoring if you're rebuilding the same device.

💡 Tip Your bridge access token is never included in a backup, whatever you tick, so a .zip you share or store elsewhere can't leak it. You'll re-enter it on the restored device.

Restoring: Merge or Replace

There are two ways to restore:

• Merge — bring the backup's data into your current inventory without destroying what's there. Non-destructive.
• Replace — wipe the current data and restore the backup exactly. Destructive.

⚠️ Heads-up Replace overwrites everything currently in Gubbins. It's deliberately well-guarded — an automatic restore-point is taken first, you get an impact preview and a storage-space check, and you must type-to-confirm — but it is destructive. When in doubt, Merge.

💡 Tip Take a backup before any big change — a large import, a bulk edit, or a Replace restore. The automatic restore-point has your back, but your own recent .zip is the surest safety net.

Only restore files you trust

A backup file describes changes to make to your inventory — including which entries to remove — so restoring one hands it a good deal of authority over your data. Gubbins checks a file over before applying any of it, and refuses the whole file if it doesn't look like a genuine Gubbins backup: if it isn't valid, was made by a newer version, or refers to data that isn't part of Gubbins, nothing is restored and your current inventory is left untouched.

A file can also be a genuine Gubbins database and still be damaged — a download that was cut off part-way, a copy taken from a failing drive, or a cloud file that never finished syncing. Before restoring a raw .sqlite database or a full .zip archive from the recovery screen, Gubbins checks for exactly that: it confirms the file is complete, then opens it to check the data inside is intact. If something is wrong it says what, and nothing is overwritten.

You can still go ahead — a damaged copy is sometimes all that's left, and most of the records in one are usually still readable — but it takes a second, deliberate confirmation. Either way, Gubbins downloads a copy of your current database first, so a restore that turns out wrong can be undone.

⚠️ Heads-up Those checks are a safety net, not a substitute for judgement. Treat a backup like any other file you'd open: restore from your own archives, or from someone you trust. The same goes for a Cloud sync folder shared with other people — anyone who can write to it can put a file there for your devices to pick up.

The weekly reminder (mobile)

On a phone or tablet without Cloud sync connected, Gubbins shows a "Time for a weekly backup" banner once a week, with a Download archive button that saves a full .zip to your device. It's a nudge to keep a safety net where continuous auto-save isn't available.

Gubbins always tells you how it went: a confirmation naming the downloaded .zip when the archive succeeds, or — if it couldn't be created — a message saying so, with a Try again button. The reminder stays put until a backup has actually been taken.

💡 Tip Not ready right now? Dismiss the banner with its ✕ and it stays hidden for a week — it only comes back if you still haven't taken a backup by then. Downloading an archive (or connecting Cloud sync) clears it too.

Backup vs sync

ℹ️ Note A backup is a point-in-time copy you keep. Cloud sync keeps devices continuously in step. Use both: sync for everyday, backups for safety and history.

Related pages

• Cloud sync — continuous multi-device sync.
• Export & import — open-format exports.
• Storage triage — reclaiming space.