Backup and restore¶

Songcards stores its working library locally. A full backup is the recovery copy you create and keep yourself.

The basic rule is simple:

The app holds the working copy. The backup file protects the library.

There is no Songcards cloud library that can restore lost local data for you.

Create a full backup¶

Open Backup & data and export a full backup.

A full backup is the format intended for protecting and moving the Songcards library. New backups created by Songcards 0.0.8 identify the application version and contain Songcards in the current format.

Keep backups somewhere separate from the working machine when the catalogue matters. A backup that exists only on the same failed or lost computer is not much of a backup.

A sensible habit is to create a fresh backup after meaningful catalogue work and before:

• restoring another backup;
• reinstalling or changing the application;
• moving the library between machines;
• making a change where you would care about getting the earlier state back.

Restore with Merge¶

Merge restores backup data without first clearing the current local library.

Use Merge when you want to bring backup content into the working library rather than deliberately replace the whole library.

Merge and Replace are different recovery actions. Do not choose between them casually when the library matters; make a fresh backup first.

Restore with Replace¶

Replace removes the current local library before restoring the selected backup.

Use Replace when the selected backup is intended to become the library you are working from.

Do not use Replace merely because it sounds like a cleaner import. It is a destructive restore mode by design.

Older backups¶

Songcards 0.0.8 supports the migration path for supported older Songcards data, including 0.0.7 backups.

When an older supported backup is imported, Songcards updates its Songcard records for the current application rather than modifying the original backup file.

Keep the original backup until you have confirmed that the restored library contains what you expected.

Backup is not the same as export¶

A full backup is for recovery of the Songcards library.

Other export formats — such as portable Songcards, Markdown or catalogue ZIP export — are useful for portability and other workflows, but should not replace a full backup unless a format is explicitly intended to restore the complete library.

See Import & export for those formats.

If something goes wrong¶

Do not keep trying different restore modes against your only copy of important data.

Keep the original backup untouched, create copies when testing a recovery path, and contact Songcards support if the file is not behaving as expected.

HugByte cannot reconstruct local Songcard data that was never backed up.

Next: Import & Export.