How often should I make a new backup?
Backup & export · Help center · Current as of 2026-10-10
Short answer
After every batch of changes worth not repeating, and before anything risky such as changing devices or deleting entries in bulk. There is no automatic backup in KeyNesta today, so the only backup you have is one you sat down and made. A backup holds what existed when you made it and knows nothing about what you added afterwards.
A practical rhythm
- After a migration, once the imported entries have been checked against the old app.
- After adding anything you could not re-enrol easily — the accounts where losing the code means a support ticket.
- Before changing devices, before a bulk delete, and before wiping a phone.
- Otherwise, on a schedule you will actually keep. Monthly that happens beats weekly that does not.
Each file is named with the date it was made, so successive backups sit side by side rather than overwriting one another. Keep the previous one: a backup made after an accidental deletion contains the deletion.
Sync is not a backup
Sync copies the current state, including mistakes. Delete an entry on one device and the deletion travels, which is exactly what you want from sync and exactly what you do not want from a backup. The pair works because they fail differently: sync protects you from losing a device, a backup file protects you from a bad change, a lost account, or KeyNesta itself going away.
Automatic backups are not built
Automatic cloud backups are on the list for a paid tier, which means they do not exist and no date is being quoted. Until they do, the manual file is the whole story, and it is worth putting a reminder somewhere. Backup and sync together walks through the full cycle including a device move.
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