HabitKit Backups: How To Restore Your Data

The backup runs a couple of seconds after the app finishes launching, and only if at least a day has passed since the last one. There is no background schedule, no server, and no account.

• Seven daily snapshots are kept. The eighth pushes out the oldest.
• They are written only when you open the app. Skip a fortnight and you have a fortnight-old newest backup, not a fresh one. The count is seven files, not seven days.
• HabitKit attempts a separate snapshot immediately before each import, and three of those are kept on their own budget, so a run of imports can never evict your week of daily history.
• The snapshots are local files. They live in HabitKit's own folder. Your operating system may include them in a device backup.

That last point is the whole reason export and import your habit data exists. An automatic backup protects your data from the app. An exported file protects it from the phone.

Open Settings, tap Data Import/Export, then tap Backups at the bottom of the screen.

The Backups link is at the bottom of Data Import/Export. Open it to see the snapshots stored on this device.

The sheet explains itself: "HabitKit automatically saves a daily backup of your data on this device. Restore one if something ever goes wrong." Before the first successful backup you may see "No backups yet. Backups are created automatically once a day." instead, which is not a fault.

Each row shows the date and time the snapshot was written, newest first, with a Restore button beside it. Pick the newest one that predates whatever went wrong.

Restoring is deliberately not a Pro feature, even though import is. A backup is a safety net for data you already had, and you can use it even when Pro is inactive.

A habit that has run its course does not have to be deleted. Archiving is the reversible option, and it is worth knowing about before you reach for the other one.

Archive from the habit card's context menu, or from the menu on the habit's detail page. Confirm "Do you really want to archive this habit?" and it is done.

Archiving flips a single flag. Nothing is deleted: completions, notes, goals, reminders and category assignments all stay exactly where they were. What changes is what you see.

• The habit leaves your overview, so its grid and streak are no longer on screen.
• Its reminders stop firing.
• It drops out of home screen widgets and out of the pickers that build them.
• It is still included in every export and every automatic backup.

Archived habits live at Settings › Archived Habits, which offers Restore and Delete permanently. Restore is a Pro feature, because restoring can put you back over the four habits the free tier allows. Delete permanently is free, and it means it: the habit and all of its completions are removed, and the only way back is a backup or an export.

If HabitKit cannot open its database when it starts, it shows a recovery screen instead of hanging on the splash. The screen says "Your data couldn't be opened", and explains that HabitKit couldn't open its database, that your habits are still stored on this device, but that the app can't read them right now.

It offers two buttons, and they are worth trying in this order.

• Try again. Closes the failed attempt and opens the database from scratch. A transient failure, such as a full disk or a file locked at the wrong moment, often clears here. Try this first, twice if you like.
• Reset and restore the latest backup. Sets the unreadable database aside and attempts to restore the newest automatic snapshot, daily or pre-import, whichever is more recent.

The unreadable database is kept on the device. However, recovery only attempts the newest saved snapshot. If there is no backup, or that backup cannot be restored, HabitKit can reopen with an empty overview. It does not automatically try each older backup.

If that happens, open Data Import/Export › Backups and try an older snapshot, or contact support. Do not uninstall the app: that removes the files which may still help recover your history.

If neither button gets you back in, HabitKit will not open, or shows an error covers what to send us so we can work out what happened. And if you are about to change devices, read move your habits to a new phone first: export a separate copy before switching phones.