Back Up Options

Follow the motto of a famous sneaker company and Just Do It.

Scrivener offers many different backup settings that can be customized in two locations.

1. Project Settings in the menus dropdown Project>Project Settings>Backup

2. In the Options Panel there are multiple settings we will review which are system wide. File>Options>Backup and File>Options>General>Startup

In Project Settings

Here you can have project specific Backup options for a single project in Project>Project Settings>Project Backup. May want to avoid the exclude from automatic backups options in this panel. This could lead to less backups available if there is a problem.

You can use a custom backup folder for a project, but may be less confusing to have all your backups in one folder, especially if storing zip backups on a cloud service. Zip project backups are a single file and much less prone to errors if stored on the cloud.

Settings boxed in red are Project specific and not system wide.

In the Options Panel

General>Startup

Note: On my laptop only, if I close the lid, this seems to prevent the automatic quit process. This can be important to prevent data loss that rarely occurs if Scrivener projects are constantly open. Also, if sharing a project with others, then choosing an automatic quit interval forces the program to backup when you stop working, and sync to the appropriate cloud service you are sharing. In this situation, a short time like 15 minutes may make sense.

General>Saving

Backup

Note: When Scrivener Program Updates occur, this CHANGES the DEFAULT SAVE LOCATION

So after every update you may need to reset the Backup folder in the Backup pane of the Options panel..

Make sure to check the current backup location after the update.

Most of the choices above are obvious, but make sure you turn on automatic backups. This forces automatic saving of your work.

Usually you want an automatic backup when closing the program, if using an iPad or iPhone, and you want to backup before syncing with your device.

The affect of the combination of checking the automatic quit option and backup on close options, is that doing both ensures your project will be backed up that day even if you forget.

Check the backup before syncing option even if you have no mobile devices. Then you have the setting active, if in the future you want to work with Scrivener on the iphone or ipad. This setting protects you from potential syncing problems with backups in the future.

Compress automatic backups as zip files, this saves the whole project in one file. Outside of Dropbox, this is the form that should be used to share projects on any other cloud service to prevent data loss.

Using dates in your backups gives another tool to pick the correct backup to open from a group of backups for a project, using the date to find the most recent copy. This will also include a time stamp which can be very helpful when sharing projects.

You must decide how many backups to keep. Keeping a larger number helps if the project becomes corrupted and increases the chance you can go back in time to an uncorrupted file. You even have the option to retain every copy, but this can consume a lot of storage space.

Choose a backup locally, or on a cloud service. Ideally the cloud service should retain a local copy on your computer as well.

These automatic settings are crucial to ensure regular backups of your projects to prevent data loss, but you should consider establishing a backup philosophy. A popular one is 3-2-1.

3. Have at least 3 backups of your project

2. Store these backups in at least two different places.

1. One Copy should be offsite for disaster recovery.

Where to save your Project?

1. Your main option is your computer/device. However, hard drives fail, become corrupted, fires can destroy, or ransomware can infect your computer, so you need other options.

2. An external hard drive or USB key. (a 32 gig USB key is inexpensive and should hold as many projects as you need)

3. A cloud solution. What if you had your computer stolen or destroyed in a fire. A cloud solution will still have you protected. Only Dropbox works well with project folders. All other cloud services can have problems with the numerous files in an uncompressed project. Store your project as a compressed zip file on any cloud service other than Dropbox for added security. Zip files are treated as a single file by cloud services and have a much smaller chance of data corruption.

Backup Rules

Never save an open project with the source files and backups in the same folder.

Enable automatic quit so your project is saved every day. (Should backup when stop working for the day, if automatic backups not set.)

Backup files in more than one place, ALWAYS.

Validate the backups work, by opening occasionally.

Here is a helpful L&L link https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/what-is-your-backup-strategy/132732

Never have Scrivener open on two devices at the same time as this will lead to errors.

With any cloud backup, make sure the project has finished syncing to the cloud before shutting down your computer or opening the file at another location.

Syncing versus Backup

Syncing creates a mirror of the file and/or folder. If you make an error when syncing, it will propagate to your mirrored files.

Backups (ideally .zips) will preserve the history, allowing you to go back before the error. (note: zips also can’t be accidentally opened as projects which prevents accidents of a backup zip overwriting your .scriv file.)

Backup Rules For Cloud Services (Slower is better)

Yes, this method is more involved than direct syncing but MUCH safer.

1. Never store the Project Folder in any folder on your chosen cloud service.

2. Set your backup options for Scrivener (File>Options>Backup) to the same location on all your computers. This backup folder should be in a folder that is stored on your cloud service.

I suggest you set your configuration as follows:

Turn on automatic backups (yes)

Back up on project close (yes)

Back up with each manual save (yes)

Back up before updating from mobile device (yes-only for IOS version)

Compress as zip files (yes-take less space)

Use date in name (yes)

Set Retain backup files to 25 if you have the storage or consider 10 if not as much room. (For Windows you have the option to keep all backups if space is not an issue.) Once you have backed up to designated number of backups then you start overwriting older project backups. (Example with 25 backups- at the 26th backup, Scrivener will delete your first backup. You will only have the 25 most recent backups retained this way)

Scrivener tip -if a problem develops with a project, then AFTER the FIRST episode, copy and put aside 10 of the most recent backups. Place them in a different folder as a backup while attempting to resolve your problem.

3. All of your cloud backups should be zip files for stability. Transferring one single file rather than an open folder with hundreds if not thousands of files is much safer and unlikely to run into problems.

4. Enable backups with dates to allow easier identification of your latest backup between various machines.

5. The other backup settings between machines should be identical. If two different machines have different numbers for the maximum number of backups, then the smaller number will become the default option for both machines.

6. Do not shut down a computer till the newly saved project file(s) have completed uploading, or open on the other computer till backup has finished downloading.

7. Now extract the zipped project file to a local folder on your target computer that is separate from the backup folder.

8. ****** For most people, it will be less confusing to replace or remove the older project folder from the local working area on that computer, before copying/extracting the zip backup. Then the project folder is fresh and based on the latest backup. The workflow described in step eight will ensure that you only ever have one working copy of the project on your computer at once. This reduces confusion over which copy is the latest and keeps your working area organized. It also ensures that the integrity of your backup folder is not damaged.

One Exception: If you use an iPad/iPhone with a PC then the project folder must be stored on Dropbox and the iPad/iPhone linked to Dropbox as well.