Backup & Restore

Penpoint protects your work with automatic backups and gives you full control over when and where your books are saved. Backups are saved as .penpoint files containing your entire book: all characters, locations, items, chapters, notes, and settings.

All backup and storage settings are located in Settings > Storage & Backups. For encrypted cloud backup and multi-device sync, see Penpoint Cloud.

Your Note Templates aren't part of any one book, so book backups don't include them. They stay on this computer, and with Penpoint Cloud they're also kept on your other computers.

Automatic Backups

Penpoint automatically backs up your books to protect against accidental data loss. All automatic backups are saved in a dedicated backup folder alongside your book files.

When Backups Happen

• Opening a book: Penpoint always creates a backup when you open a book, creating a restore point before any changes
• Closing a book: If enabled, Penpoint saves a backup when you close or switch away from a book
• While working: Penpoint periodically saves backups at your chosen interval (every 5–60 minutes)

Backup Settings

In Settings > Storage & Backups, the Automatic Backups section lets you configure:

• Create backup when closing a book: Toggle this on to save a backup each time you close or switch away from a book. Opening a book always creates a backup regardless of this setting.
• Perform backups every X minutes: How often Penpoint saves backups while you're working (5–60 minutes)
• Keep backups from the last X days: How many days of backups to retain (1–365)

Recent backups are kept in full. Older backups are automatically thinned to one per day to save space.

Secondary Backup

For additional protection, you can save a second copy of all your backups to a different location. The ideal setup is to point your secondary backup at a cloud-synced folder like Dropbox, OneDrive, or iCloud: this gives you automatic offsite protection without any extra effort.

In Settings > Storage & Backups, find the Secondary Backup section to enable this feature and choose your backup folder.

Why use a secondary backup?

• Protect against hardware failure: If your hard drive dies, your backups are safely stored somewhere else
• Automatic cloud sync: Point it at a Dropbox, OneDrive, or iCloud folder and your backups upload automatically
• Access from multiple computers: Your backup files are available wherever your cloud folder syncs
• Zero risk to your active work: Secondary Backup only copies finished backup files, so it never interferes with your book while you're writing

Why Not Just Store My Books in a Cloud Folder?

It's tempting to move your entire book storage into Dropbox or OneDrive so everything syncs automatically. We strongly recommend against this. Cloud sync services work by watching for file changes and uploading them in the background. Penpoint's database writes to its files frequently while you work. This can cause the sync service to upload a half-written file, leading to data corruption or loss. The risk is even higher if you open Penpoint on two computers at the same time.

Secondary Backup is the safe alternative. Your books stay on your local hard drive where Penpoint can write to them without interference, and finished backup snapshots are copied to your cloud folder. You get cloud protection without the risk.

Manual Backups

In addition to automatic backups, you can create backups yourself at any time. There are two ways to do this:

• Backup Now: Creates an instant backup that goes into your backup history (the same list you see when restoring). You can find this in the Saved indicator in the toolbar while the book is open. With Penpoint Cloud active this row reads Sync now, and one press saves the backup here and sends the book to your cloud.
• Export Backup: Saves a .penpoint file to a location you choose, like your desktop or a USB drive. Useful for sharing your book with others or keeping a named copy at an important milestone. You can find this in the Saved indicator or in Settings > Storage & Backups.

When exporting, Penpoint suggests your book's title as the filename, but you can call it anything you like as long as it still ends with .penpoint.

Restoring from a Backup

There are three ways to restore a backup. If you're not sure which to use:

• Something went wrong and you want to go back?: Use Restore from Backup History to roll back to a previous version
• Have a .penpoint file from someone else, another computer, or an exported copy?: Use Import a Book File to bring it in as a new book
• Want to completely replace your current book with a backup file?: Use Restore from File

Import a Book File

Brings a .penpoint file into your library as a book, without affecting any of your existing books. It's the easiest way to open a book someone shared, or to move one between computers: double-click the file, or use Import Book… from the Your Books screen. If it's a book you already have, Penpoint offers to update your copy or keep both, and tells you which version is newer.

See Importing a Book for the full walkthrough.

Restore from Backup History

Restore a specific book to a previous automatic backup directly from its backup history. You can access this from three places:

• Your Books: Click the menu on a book and select Restore from Backup...
• Settings: Go to Settings > Storage & Backups and click Browse Previous Backups
• Saved indicator: Click the Saved indicator in the toolbar and choose Restore from Backup

All three open the same backup browser where you can see your full backup history with timestamps and backup types. Select the backup you want and click Continue. You'll then choose how to restore:

• Restore as New Book: Creates a separate copy from the backup. Your current book stays untouched.
• Overwrite Current Book: Replaces your current book with the backup. A safety backup is created first, so you can undo it if needed.

Restore from File (Replace Current Book)

Replaces your current book with a .penpoint backup file from your computer. This is useful if you have a backup from another device or shared by someone else.

• Open the book you want to replace
• Navigate to Settings > Storage & Backups
• Click Or restore from an external file in the Restore from Backup section
• Choose your .penpoint file and confirm

Penpoint creates a safety backup of your current book before replacing it, so you can undo this if needed. The app will reload automatically after restoration completes.

Storage Location

In Settings > Storage & Backups, the Storage Location section shows where your books are stored on this computer.

• Click Browse for Location to select a new folder
• Click Move to New Location to move all your books
• Penpoint will restart automatically after migration

If you're using a custom location, you can click Reset to System Default to move your books back to the default folder.

Cloud Storage Warning

Penpoint will warn you if your storage location is inside a cloud-synced folder (Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, or iCloud). Storing your active book database in a cloud folder can cause data corruption or loss, especially if Penpoint is open on more than one computer at the same time.

Backup Tips

• Use descriptive names for manual backups: Include dates or milestones (e.g., "MyNovel-Draft1-Complete.penpoint")
• Enable Secondary Backup: Point it at a cloud-synced folder for automatic offsite protection
• Consider Penpoint Cloud: Encrypted cloud backup with unlimited version history and optional multi-device sync
• Check your backup settings: Ensure automatic backups are configured to match your workflow
• Share with others: Send .penpoint files to beta readers or collaborators
• Test restoration: Occasionally restore a backup as a new book to verify your backups work

Troubleshooting

My backup file won't open

Ensure the file has the .penpoint extension and hasn't been renamed incorrectly.

The restored book is missing recent changes

Backups are snapshots from when they were created. Check if you have a more recent backup by using the Restore from Backup... option on the book's context menu in Your Books.

I accidentally replaced my book

Penpoint creates a safety backup before every restore, so you can get your book back. Open the backup browser (from the Saved indicator, Settings, or the book's context menu in Your Books) and look for the Safety backup entry at the top of the list: that's your book from right before the restore happened. Select it and restore to undo the change.

Where are my automatic backups stored?

Automatic backups are saved in a folder next to your book files. If you moved your storage location, the backups folder moved with it.