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Backup & Restore

Protect your snippet collection with regular backups.

Data Location

All ZetoPad data is stored in:

~/Library/Application Support/zetopad/

Key files:

  • zetopad.db - Your snippets database
  • settings.json - Application settings
  • keymap.json - Custom keybindings

Manual Backup

Full Backup

Copy the entire folder:

Terminal window
cp -r ~/Library/Application\ Support/zetopad ~/Desktop/zetopad-backup

Database Only

Copy just the snippets:

Terminal window
cp ~/Library/Application\ Support/zetopad/zetopad.db ~/Desktop/zetopad-backup.db

Restore from Backup

  1. Quit ZetoPad
  2. Replace the data folder:
Terminal window
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/zetopad
cp -r ~/Desktop/zetopad-backup ~/Library/Application\ Support/zetopad
  1. Launch ZetoPad

Cloud Sync

ZetoPad doesn’t have built-in cloud sync, but you can use cloud storage:

iCloud Drive

Terminal window
ln -s ~/Library/Application\ Support/zetopad ~/Library/Mobile\ Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/zetopad

Dropbox

Terminal window
ln -s ~/Library/Application\ Support/zetopad ~/Dropbox/zetopad

Export Options

Export All as Markdown

Coming soon: Export all snippets as individual Markdown files.

Export as JSON

Coming soon: Export database as JSON for portability.

Import

From Markdown Files

  1. Open Settings > Import
  2. Select “Import Markdown”
  3. Choose folder containing .md files
  4. Review and confirm import

From Heynote

  1. Open Settings > Import
  2. Select “Import Heynote”
  3. Select your Heynote data file
  4. Review and confirm import

From CSV

  1. Open Settings > Import
  2. Select “Import CSV”
  3. Select your CSV file
  4. Map columns to snippet fields
  5. Review and confirm import

CSV format expected:

title,content,language,tags,folder
"Hello World","print('Hello')","python","greeting,tutorial","examples"

Automated Backup

Set up automated backups with a cron job:

Terminal window
# Edit crontab
crontab -e
# Add daily backup at 2am
0 2 * * * cp ~/Library/Application\ Support/zetopad/zetopad.db ~/Backups/zetopad-$(date +\%Y\%m\%d).db

Encrypted Backups

If you have encryption enabled, your backup file is also encrypted. You’ll need the password to restore.

For extra security, encrypt your backup:

Terminal window
# Encrypt
zip -e zetopad-backup.zip ~/Library/Application\ Support/zetopad/zetopad.db
# Decrypt
unzip zetopad-backup.zip