Keep a backup and check a restore before relying on it

Download the full workspace file

The current version 2 file includes the workspace, saved import profiles, server activity and retained earlier runs, with imported activity kept separately as evidence. It does not contain your login password, recovery code or every other workspace in the account. A CSV export is not interchangeable with this recovery file. A portable full backup is limited to 30 MB; if the app reports that the export is too large, no usable file was downloaded and a checked database-level copy is needed.

1. Open the intended business from Workspaces.
2. Choose Settings & backups and find Keep another copy.
3. Select Download full backup and wait for the download result.
4. Confirm the JSON file exists in the location chosen by your browser.

Inspect a restore without applying it

Choose Choose backup to restore and select a supported JSON file no larger than 30 MB. Review before restoring shows incoming draft sales, agreements and saved runs alongside the current draft count being replaced. For a version 2 file containing import profiles, it also shows the current and incoming profile counts before allowing confirmation. Check the filename and business coverage against your backup register. Selecting a file only opens this preview. If the business or version is wrong, use Cancel restore. An archived workspace must be unarchived before a restore can change it.

Understand the replacement before confirming it

A restore replaces the editable draft, staff calculation mode, agreements, calculation settings and displayed history with the backup’s workspace data. A dated backup carries its stable staff IDs, aliases, linked draft rows and agreement dates together; an older backup without that mode restores as a flat-rule workspace. A version 2 file containing import profiles also replaces that profile set, using new local profile identifiers. Version 1 backups and older version 2 files without that section leave current profiles unchanged. Existing server activity is retained; activity uploaded inside a backup is treated as unverified imported evidence rather than being presented as an authentic event recorded by this installation.

Apply the reviewed file and verify the result

Tick I checked this backup and want to replace the current workspace data, then choose Restore this backup. The server validates the file and current revision before making the change. It first preserves the workspace being replaced and retains its closed runs. After success, inspect the expected period, flat staff rules or dated directory, draft rows and profiles. Restored history has imported provenance; bringing in a record does not independently verify its original calculations or supporting evidence.

Return to the version before a restore

Under Recovery copies, preserved snapshots are listed by time and revision. Choose Preview recovery beside the required copy, review its counts and complete the same restore confirmation. A download action also lets you keep that preserved copy separately. Earlier closed runs displays original records retained through restores, with summary and detail exports available. For a fictional check, a backup known to contain three draft rows and one closed run should show those records after restore; a filename alone is not enough verification.

Keep a recovery point you can actually reach

Store copies in a location you control and record whether a restore was checked. A project in iCloud Drive may be synchronised by your iCloud settings, but the app does not operate a hosted backup service. Its automatic pre-restore snapshot remains in the same application database, so it is not an independent copy if that database becomes unavailable. To test a portable backup without replacing your only live draft, create a separate empty test workspace and verify the supported restore there.