Backup & Restore

Cashflow keeps your data on your device. That’s good for privacy, but it puts the responsibility for backups on you. This guide covers where backups live, how to make one, and how to restore — whether you’re recovering on the same phone or moving to a new one.

Where backups live

Cashflow can save backup files in two places:

• On your device — a backup file is written to local storage. You can move it off the device using the share sheet.
• In your cloud storage — iCloud Drive on iOS, Google Drive on Android. The file lives in your own cloud account, not ours. You control who has access.

Cloud backups use the cloud provider that ships with your phone. We don’t run a server and we don’t have a copy of your data.

What’s in a backup

A Cashflow backup contains everything the app stores:

• All accounts and their balances.
• Every transaction in every account.
• Categories.
• Scheduled transactions and their history.
• App settings.

Backups are not a partial export — they are a full snapshot of the app’s state at the moment you create them.

Make a manual backup

1. Open Cashflow and go to Settings.
2. Tap Backup.
3. Choose a destination: local file or cloud (iCloud Drive / Google Drive).
4. Confirm. The app writes the backup file and shows you the location.

A backup is fast — usually under a second for a typical register. We recommend doing one before any change that you’re unsure about (importing data, deleting an account, upgrading to a new phone).

Restore on the same device

If you need to roll back to an earlier state on the same phone:

1. Open Settings → Backup.
2. Tap Restore.
3. Pick the backup file (local or cloud).
4. Confirm. The app replaces its current data with the contents of the backup and reopens the register.

Restore on a new phone

Moving to a new device is the same flow with one extra step at the start.

1. On the old phone, make a fresh backup. Cloud (iCloud or Google Drive) is the easiest way to carry it over, but you can also share the backup file out via AirDrop, email, or any file-sharing app.
2. Install Cashflow on the new phone.
3. Open the app, go to Settings → Backup → Restore.
4. Pick the backup. If you used cloud, it will appear once you’ve signed in to the same cloud account. If you used a local file, point Cashflow at it via the file picker.
5. Confirm. The app loads your data and you’re back where you left off.

This works across the same platform (iPhone to iPhone, Android to Android). Cross-platform restores (iOS to Android or back) are not officially supported in v4 — file an issue if that’s your situation and we’ll work with you.

Tips

• Keep a recent cloud backup running. Phones get lost, dropped, and stolen. A weekly backup is enough for most people.
• Backups are tied to the app version that wrote them. A backup made by an old version restores fine into the latest version. Going the other direction (restoring a new backup into an older app) is not guaranteed to work.
• Store sensitive backups carefully. A Cashflow backup is your full financial register. Treat the file with the same care you’d give a bank statement.

If a restore fails or you can’t find your backup, contact support and include the platform, app version, and where the backup is stored.