Cloud Sync
Use Gubbins on more than one device? Cloud sync keeps them in step — through storage you own and control, not a Gubbins server. There is no Gubbins account and no Gubbins backend; sync goes through your folder or your drive.
Where to find it: the Sync screen (in the menu, when the module is enabled).
Gubbins is provider-agnostic. You choose where the shared copy lives:
- A local folder — via your browser's File System Access, sync through a folder that's itself synced by Dropbox, OneDrive, a NAS, or similar.
- Google Drive — a backend-less, in-browser sign-in that stores the data in an app-private folder on your own Drive.
Each device reads and writes the shared copy, so your inventory follows you between them.
ℹ️ Note The Google Drive option only appears if whoever built the copy of Gubbins you're using configured it with a Google sign-in identifier. If you don't see it, that build didn't include one — the local-folder option and backups work regardless.
When two devices change things independently, Gubbins reconciles per item, per field — not as one big all-or-nothing overwrite. If you edit one thing on your phone while another device edits something else, both changes are kept. It's only when the same field of the same thing is changed on two devices before they sync that Gubbins has to pick one, and it does so with last-write-wins — the most recent change prevails — so syncing is safe without you refereeing every difference.
Some things are identified by their name rather than by which device made them — tags, contacts, and custom fields. If you add a tag called Bolts on your phone while your laptop is offline, and the laptop adds its own Bolts too, syncing does not leave you with two identical tags: Gubbins recognises them as the same thing and merges them into one.
Nothing is lost in the merge. The surviving tag carries both devices' items, a merged contact keeps the checkout history from either side, and a merged custom field keeps the values recorded on both. The same applies to a value entered twice for one field, or a specification added to the same item on two devices — the more recent entry is kept, by the same last-write-wins rule as above.
ℹ️ Note Matching ignores capitalisation, so Bolts and bolts are treated as one name — exactly as they are when you type a duplicate on a single device.
Last-write-wins means one side's change to that same field is set aside. So you never lose that work silently, Gubbins notices when an edit you made since your last sync is overwritten this way and lists it for you.
When it happens, a Conflicts section appears on the Sync screen. Open Review… to see each one side by side — your version next to the version that was kept — and choose:
- Keep current — accept the version that won; the note is cleared.
- Use my version — put your edit back. It syncs to your other devices on the next sync.
The same applies if another device deleted something you'd just edited: it's listed so you can restore your version instead of losing it.
ℹ️ Note This review list is per device — it shows the edits this device lost. Only genuine same-field clashes appear; a device simply catching up on newer changes is not a conflict and is never listed.
💡 Tip The local-folder option is the most flexible: point it at any folder your existing cloud tool already syncs, and Gubbins rides on top of the service you already trust.
ℹ️ Note Sync moves your data through storage you control. Gubbins never sees it — there's no server in the middle. The Google Drive option uses Google's own sign-in and stays within an app-private folder. See Privacy & security.
ℹ️ Note Sync keeps devices continuously in step. A backup is a point-in-time copy you can restore from. They complement each other — sync for day-to-day, backups for safety and history.
- Backup & restore — point-in-time copies.
- How your data is stored — the local-first model.
- Storage triage — keeping storage healthy.