TimeTrackerby Knudsen Software Systems

Help

Backups and restore

Set up automatic backups to a folder you choose, and restore your data from a backup.

On this page
  1. Choose a backup folder
  2. Choose how often to back up
  3. Choose how many backups to keep
  4. Back up now
  5. Restore from a backup
  6. Undo an import
  7. If Windows blocks the backup folder

At a glance

  • Backups are off until you choose a folder. Setting them up takes a minute.
  • Choose how often to back up and how many copies to keep.
  • Back up now makes a complete copy straight away.
  • Restoring replaces all your data, but your current data is copied aside first, so you can undo it.

All your TimeTracker data is kept in one file on your computer. If that computer is lost, stolen or breaks, so is your data, unless you have a backup. TimeTracker can make backups for you automatically. Each backup is a complete copy of your data.

Choose a backup folder

  1. Open Settings → Backups.
  2. Choose the folder where backups should go. The browse button beside the folder opens a folder chooser.
  3. Set how often to back up and how many copies to keep (see below).
  4. Press Save backup settings.
Settings, Backups page with the backup folder, how often to back up, how many copies to keep, and the Save backup settings and Back up now buttons.
All the backup settings on one page.

The folder must be set for the schedule to do anything. TimeTracker checks the folder when you save.

Setting What it does
Backup folder Where backups go. Nothing is backed up until it is set.
How often A number and a unit, minutes or hours: from every 5 minutes to once a week. 0 turns automatic backups off.
Copies to keep When there are more than this, the oldest backups TimeTracker made are deleted first.

Choose how often to back up

You choose how often TimeTracker makes a backup automatically: a number and a unit, minutes or hours. It can be anything from every 5 minutes to once a week. Set the number to 0 to turn automatic backups off.

Choose how many backups to keep

You also choose how many copies to keep, as a plain number. When there are more than that, the oldest ones TimeTracker made are deleted first.

Back up now

To make a complete backup straight away, open Settings → Backups and press Back up now, beside Save backup settings.

Restore from a backup

  1. Open Settings → Data.
  2. Press Import data….
  3. Pick the backup you want to restore.
  4. Confirm.
Settings, Data page showing where the data lives and the Import data button.
Import data replaces everything with the backup's data.

Before it imports the backup, TimeTracker copies your current data aside. It doesn’t simply overwrite it, so an import can be undone (see below).

If TimeTracker shows a message about an import on this page, you can close it once you have read it.

Undo an import

Before an import replaces anything, TimeTracker saves your current data as a file named timetracker-before-import- plus the date and time in UTC, for example timetracker-before-import-20261107-150405.db.

It sits in your data folder, beside timetracker.db. Settings → Data shows where that folder is, and the confirmation message after an import names the full path.

  1. Open Settings → Data and press Import data….
  2. Pick the timetracker-before-import-… file.
  3. Confirm. This makes its own before-import copy first, so you can change your mind again.

If Windows blocks the backup folder

Some antivirus settings, including Windows’ “Controlled folder access”, stop programs from writing to folders such as Documents and Desktop. If that is switched on, TimeTracker may not be able to save backups there.