Documentation

Guides for getting the most out of Cashflow

Step-by-step walkthroughs for setting up your register, reconciling against your bank statement, scheduling recurring bills, and keeping your data safe. More guides land regularly.

Backup & Restore

Back up your Cashflow data to a local file or Dropbox, and restore on the same device or a new phone.

Updated 2026-04-18

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 always written to local storage. You can move it off the device using the share sheet. On Android, these files are scoped to the app, so uninstalling Cashflow removes them.
  • In Dropbox — if you sign in to Dropbox in Settings → Backup and turn on the Store in Dropbox toggle, a copy of each backup is also sent to your own Dropbox account. You control who has access.

Dropbox backups live in your own Dropbox account, not ours. With local and Dropbox backups, Cashflow doesn’t run a server and doesn’t keep a copy of your data — these two places stay entirely under your control. For a quick reference, see the Where are my backups stored? FAQ entry.

On Android, Cashflow 4.1.0 adds an optional third place: Cloud Backup. Unlike the local and Dropbox options above, this keeps an automatic copy in Cashflow’s cloud, tied to your Google account — so it’s the one backup that is stored on our cloud service. It’s opt-in, separate from the local and Dropbox backups described here, and has its own recovery caveats. See Cloud Backup for how it works.

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. Tap Back up now. The app writes a local backup file. If you’re signed in to Dropbox with the Store in Dropbox toggle on, a copy is also uploaded to Dropbox.
  4. The app shows you the location once the backup is written.

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 (a local file, or one from Dropbox if you’re signed in).
  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. Dropbox is the easiest way to carry it over — sign in and turn on Store in Dropbox before you back up. Otherwise, share the local 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 Dropbox, it will appear once you’ve signed in to the same Dropbox 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 Dropbox backup running. Phones get lost, dropped, and stolen, and on Android a local-only backup disappears if the app is uninstalled. Signing in to Dropbox keeps an off-device copy. 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.