Backup & restore

Backups protect against mistakes, corruption, device loss, and key loss. Sync alone is not a backup because it can propagate deletion or unwanted changes.

Create a portable workspace backup

1. Open Settings → Backup & restore.
2. Choose the workspace export action.
3. Save the resulting file somewhere outside the active workspace directory.
4. Copy it to storage with independent failure characteristics, such as an encrypted external disk or trusted backup destination.
5. Periodically test that a copy can be selected and read by the restore flow.

A workspace backup is different from exporting one Object to Markdown or another presentation format. Use the workspace format when you intend to recover Lar structure and body documents.

Restore or merge a backup

1. Preserve the current workspace before attempting recovery.
2. Open Settings → Backup & restore.
3. Select the backup file.
4. Review whether the operation creates, restores, or merges data.
5. Allow indexing and body hydration to finish before judging the result.

The import path preserves compatible workspace changes. It should not be used as a substitute for inspecting an untrusted file in an isolated environment.

Scheduled exports

If scheduled export is enabled, verify the destination still exists and is protected. A portable plaintext export may be readable outside Lar even when the active desktop database is encrypted; the warning in Settings describes the selected format’s exposure.

Before destructive troubleshooting

• Do not delete local workspace data or security credentials to “start fresh.”
• Do not clear browser site data until a verified export exists.
• Keep recovery-failed files intact for diagnosis.
• Distinguish Trash recovery, deleted-workspace recovery, and backup restoration; they solve different problems.

See Import & export for moving content between tools and Troubleshooting for failure-specific checks.