Files — back up & bring back
settings › "files" — "save · back up · restore" — is where you back up the whole journal, bring a backup back, save a part of it, and bring things in.
Back up everything (free)
One file holds the whole journal: every entry, every journal, the files they hold, what waits on the burn pile, the sky's own picture, and what you've set.
- Under "back up", tap "⇓ back up everything".
- The phone's save picker opens, with the file already named zenith-journal and the date. Choose a folder.
- The page says "backing up…", then "backed up" with what it holds — such as "backed up · 21 entries · 3 journals · …" — or "that didn't back up".
Backing out of the picker does nothing. With "a backup finished" on in settings › "what it may say", a notice says so too.
Locked journals stay sealed inside the backup, their photos and files too. A backup never holds a passphrase, and a forgotten one can't be recovered. Your Google Drive is one of the folders the picker offers, so a backup can go straight there.
Bring a backup back (free)
This replaces everything here with what the backup holds.
- Under "bring a backup back", tap "⇑ install a backup" and pick the file.
- The page asks "replace everything on this phone?" — "every entry, journal, file and forgotten thing here is replaced by what the backup holds. this can't be undone."
- Tap "replace everything", or "never mind".
It says "bringing it back…", then "brought back" with what came back — or "that file isn't a journal backup". If anything goes wrong on the way, what was here is put back. A backup brought down from Google Drive comes to this same question.
There is no undo. Back up first if you may want today's journal again.
Templates and effect packs are not part of a backup; they live in the library. See Templates & effect packs (Gold).
A part of it (Gold)
One journal, everything in no journal, or a year, to one file — each entry whole, with every picture, sound and file it holds. "another journal opens it with gold."
- Under "a part of it", tap a journal's name, "loose entries", or a year (only years that have entries).
- The save picker opens with the file named after the journal or the year. Choose a place.
- It says "writing it…", then "1 journal · 12 entries" or similar. With nothing in it: "there is nothing in that to export".
A locked journal isn't offered here; a line says only a backup carries it. A hidden entry is left out. Without journal gold the heading reads "a part of it ✦ gold", with "✦ locked by gold — sharing and exporting your entries and journals", and a tap opens the Gold sheet.
Bringing a part back in combines it with what is here, and never replaces. See Bring in a file or words.
Bring one in (Gold) and bring in words
- "bring one in" — "⇑ bring one in": an entry, a journal or a part, combined with what is here (Gold).
- "bring in words" — "⇑ bring in a text or markdown file": a .txt or .md file becomes an entry, free.
Google Drive
"google drive" connects the journal to your Google Drive, so it can back itself up there and come back on a new phone — free — and, with journal gold, keep two phones in step. See Google Drive — back up, restore & sync.
The burn pile
At the foot, "the burn pile" lists what is waiting to be destroyed — entries and journals — and says each goes 30 days after it was forgotten. Each row shows its title (or "not written yet"), the day it was forgotten, and "pull it back", which says "“…” is back". Empty, it says "nothing in it. an entry or a journal you forget waits here 30 days, then goes."
"burn it all" turns into "tap again — there is no undo"; the second tap destroys everything in the pile and says "the burn pile is out". See The reliquary & the burn pile.
Ask the sky
Saving to a file and picking a file go through the phone's own pickers, and stay yours. Ask the sky can list, pull back and burn the burn pile, and — once you have connected Google Drive — back up there and restore from it. See What the sky can do — design, screens, settings & more.
See also.
Google Drive — back up, restore & sync · Bring in a file or words · The reliquary & the burn pile · What it may say — notices