Data Management in SavePoint
With SavePoint, your data belongs to you, fully and always, and the Data Management tools are how you stay in control. This guide covers backing up and restoring your database, exporting your data to CSV so you are never locked in, and safely resetting or deleting data when you need a fresh start. Everything happens on your own device, giving you the freedom to move, archive, or clear your information on your terms and nobody else's.
The Data Management tab in Settings (Settings → Data Management) provides tools for backing up and restoring your database, exporting data to CSV files, and resetting or deleting all data. These features give you control over your database without requiring technical database knowledge.
Access all data management functions from Settings → Data Management Tab. This section covers manual backup/restore, CSV exports, data resets, and account deletion.
💾 Manual Backup & Restore
Create manual backups on demand or restore from existing backup files. This is separate from the automated backup system configured in the Preferences tab.
Create Backup: Manually create a backup of your entire database
- One-Click Backup: Click "Create Backup" to save complete database copy with timestamp
- Backup Location: Choose where to save the backup file (default: SavePoint/backups folder)
- Filename Format: Backups named as "SavePoint_Backup_YYYY-MM-DD_HHMMSS.db"
- Complete Database: Includes all transactions, accounts, budgets, settings, categories, merchant mappings, and user profile
- Use Cases: Before major changes, before software updates, before data cleanup operations, or for manual archival
Restore Backup: Replace current database with a previously saved backup
- File Selection: Browse to select backup file to restore
- Confirmation Required: System warns that restore will replace ALL current data
- Automatic Current Backup: Before restore, SavePoint automatically backs up your current database
- Complete Replacement: Restore replaces entire database - all current data is replaced with backup contents
- Post-Restore: Application automatically reloads with restored data
Critical: Restore is not a merge - it completely replaces your current database. Any transactions, accounts, or changes made since the backup was created will be lost unless you create a backup of your current data first. The system does create an automatic backup before restore, but verify this backup exists before proceeding.
💾 Automated Local Backup Settings (REPEATED FROM PREFERENCES)
Configure automated backup frequency and location. Backups run automatically based on your frequency setting and save complete copies of your database to the location you specify.
Backup Frequency: Set when SavePoint automatically creates backup copies of your database
- Daily: Backup created once per day (recommended for active daily use)
- Weekly: Backup created once per week (suitable for weekly financial reviews)
- Monthly: Backup created once per month (minimal protection, not recommended for active use)
- On-Startup: Backup created each time you open SavePoint (recommended if you open it infrequently)
- On-Exit: Backup created each time you close SavePoint (captures all changes from session)
- Automatic Retention: System keeps your 10 most recent automatic backups and permanently deletes older ones using fs.unlinkSync() to save disk space
Backup Location: Select where automatic backups are saved
- Default Location: SavePoint/backups folder in your user directory
- Custom Location: Any folder on your computer, external drive, or network location
- Cloud Storage Integration: A cloud storage option will be available as an add-on for the Online-Capable version of the software
- Path Validation: SavePoint verifies the location is writable before enabling backups
Backup Status: View when backups last ran and whether they succeeded
- Last Backup Date/Time: Shows when the most recent automatic backup completed
- Success/Failure Status: Indicates if the last backup worked or if there were errors
- Error Details: If backup failed, shows specific error (e.g., "disk full", "location not accessible")
- Next Scheduled Backup: Displays when the next automatic backup will occur based on your frequency setting
Active Users: Use "Daily" frequency with backup location set to a folder on your computer (or cloud-synced folder if using Online-Capable version).
Weekly Users: Use "On-Startup" frequency so you get a backup every time you use the app, regardless of how much time has passed.
Redundancy: While Preferences tab configures one automatic backup location, you can also create additional manual backups using the Data Management tab to store in multiple locations.
Network Locations: If you set backup location to a network drive or NAS, backups will fail when you're offline or the network is unavailable.
External Drives: If backup location is on an external USB drive, backups only work when the drive is connected. You'll see errors if you launch SavePoint without the drive attached.
Permanent Deletion: When automatic cleanup removes old backups (beyond 10 most recent), files are permanently deleted, and not moved to Recycle Bin.
📤 CSV Data Export
Export your financial data to CSV files for analysis in Excel, Google Sheets, or other tools. Each export type creates a separate CSV file with relevant data.
Export Transactions: Export all transaction data to CSV
- Columns Included: Date, Description, Category, Amount, Account, Type (Income/Expense), Notes
- All Transactions: Exports complete transaction history across all accounts
- Filename: "SavePoint_Transactions_YYYY-MM-DD.csv"
- Use Cases: Tax preparation, external analysis, importing to other software, long-term archival
Export Accounts: Export account configuration and current balances
- Columns Included: Account Name, Account Type, Asset Class, Current Balance, Currency, Institution
- Active & Inactive: Includes both active and archived accounts
- Filename: "SavePoint_Accounts_YYYY-MM-DD.csv"
- Use Cases: Account inventory, external reporting, net worth snapshots
Export Budgets: Export budget configuration and performance data
- Columns Included: Budget Name, Category, Budgeted Amount, Spent Amount, Remaining, Period (Monthly/Weekly/etc.)
- All Budget Periods: Includes current and historical budget data
- Filename: "SavePoint_Budgets_YYYY-MM-DD.csv"
- Use Cases: Budget analysis, spending pattern review, annual budget planning
Export Daily Balances: Export historical account balance data over time
- Columns Included: Date, Account Name, Balance, Change from Previous Day
- Daily Snapshots: One row per account per day with balance recorded
- Filename: "SavePoint_DailyBalances_YYYY-MM-DD.csv"
- Use Cases: Net worth charts in external tools, balance trend analysis, historical account tracking
Regular Exports for Backup: While database backups are essential, CSV exports provide human-readable backups that can be opened even if SavePoint isn't available. Export quarterly for long-term archival.
Tax Preparation: Export transactions at year-end, then use Excel/Sheets to filter by category for tax deduction documentation.
External Analysis: Daily Balances export is perfect for creating custom net worth charts or running statistical analysis in Python/R.
🔄 Data Reset Options
Two different reset options with very different behaviors. Use these when you want to start fresh while optionally preserving certain configuration data.
Clear All Data: Removes transaction and financial data but preserves configuration
- What Gets Deleted:
- All transactions (income and expenses)
- All account balances and account data
- All budgets and budget tracking data
- All FIRE planning income plans and scenarios
- What Gets KEPT:
- Account types and asset classes configuration
- Income and expense categories (your custom categories remain)
- Merchant mapping patterns
- Exchange rate history
- User preferences and settings
- Use Case: When you want to start fresh with transactions but keep all your configuration (categories, account types, merchant patterns). Example: New year reset, switching from test data to real data, or managing a new client database (for advisors).
Reset to Defaults: Complete reset removing ALL data and restoring factory defaults
- What Gets Deleted:
- All custom categories (reset to SavePoint defaults)
- All transactions
- All accounts and account types
- All exchange rate history
- All budgets and FIRE plans
- What Gets KEPT:
- User account/profile (name, email, profile picture)
- What Gets RESET:
- All preferences return to default values (theme, date format, language, etc.)
- What Gets RESTORED:
- Default categories (SavePoint's built-in income/expense categories)
- Default account types and asset classes
- Default system settings
- Use Case: Complete fresh start as if you just installed SavePoint. Example: Starting completely over after testing, or troubleshooting issues by returning to clean state.
Clear All Data: Keeps your configuration (categories, account types, merchant patterns) but deletes financial data. Choose this if you want to keep your customizations.
Reset to Defaults: Deletes EVERYTHING including your custom configuration and resets all settings. Choose this only for a complete fresh start.
Both Are Permanent: Neither operation can be undone. Always create a backup before using either reset option.
⚠️ Account Deletion
Permanently delete your entire account and all associated data. This is the most destructive operation in SavePoint.
What Gets Permanently Deleted:
- Account Types & Asset Classes configuration
- All financial accounts and balances
- All budget data and budget lines
- All budgets
- All categories (income and expense)
- All daily balance snapshots
- All FIRE planning income plans and scenarios
- All merchant mapping patterns
- All transactions
- All exchange rate history
- All user sessions
- User profile (name, email, picture)
- User preferences and settings
- User credentials (password, security questions)
Hard Delete - No Recovery:
- Immediate Deletion: Data is deleted immediately from the database, not moved to trash
- No Undo: This operation cannot be undone or reversed
- No Recovery: Once deleted, data cannot be recovered even with database tools
- Confirmation Required: System requires multiple confirmations before executing
When to Use Account Deletion:
- Permanently stopping use of SavePoint and want to ensure no data remains
- Privacy concerns and need to ensure complete data removal
- Selling or giving away computer and need to clear financial data
- Database has become corrupted beyond repair
THIS CANNOT BE UNDONE: Account deletion permanently erases all data with no possibility of recovery. Unlike "Reset to Defaults" which restores default settings, account deletion leaves you with a completely empty database requiring fresh user setup.
Create Backup First: If there's any chance you might need this data in the future, create a backup before deletion. Once deleted, the data is gone forever.
Alternative Options: Consider "Reset to Defaults" if you just want a fresh start, or simply create a new database file if you want to preserve the old data.
Weekly Backup Test: Verify automated backups are running by checking the backup location folder. Count the backup files - should have up to 10 if using daily backups.
Quarterly Restore Test: Actually restore a backup to verify it works. Create a manual backup of your current database first, then restore an older backup, verify it opens correctly, then restore your current backup to get back to present.
Document Import Mappings: Keep a text file or screenshot showing which CSV columns map to which SavePoint fields for each bank you import from. Saves time on every future import.
Regular Exports for Archival: Export your data quarterly as CSV files. Store these in a separate location from your database backups. If SavePoint becomes unavailable years from now, CSV files will still be readable.