Backup & Restore

Narratorr automatically backs up its database on a schedule. Backups capture the complete database (books, settings, history, everything) as a compressed zip file.

Automated Backups

Configure in Settings > System.

Setting	Description
Backup Interval	How often to create a backup, in minutes. Range: 60–43,200 (1 hour to 30 days). Default: 10,080 (weekly).
Backup Retention	Number of backups to keep. Older backups are automatically pruned. Range: 1–100. Default: 7.

Backups are stored in config/backups/ (in Docker, this is inside the /config volume).

What Gets Backed Up

Each backup is a zip file containing a consistent SQLite snapshot of your database. This includes:

All books, authors, and series data
Settings and configuration
Download history and event history
Blacklist entries
Import list configuration
Notification configuration
User accounts

Library audio files are not included in backups — only the database. Back up your library volume separately.

Manual Backup

Trigger a backup manually from System > Backups > Create Backup. This creates an immediate backup regardless of the schedule.

Downloading Backups

From System > Backups, download any backup file to store off-site. This is recommended — if your config volume is lost, the backups stored inside it are lost too.

Restoring from Backup

Restore is a two-step process to prevent accidental data loss:

Upload — select a backup zip file. Narratorr extracts and validates it:
- Checks it contains a valid SQLite database
- Verifies the migration count is compatible (can’t restore a backup from a newer version)
Confirm — review the validation results and confirm. The pending restore has a 5-minute window — if you don’t confirm in time, it expires and you need to re-upload.

After confirmation, Narratorr stages the restore file and restarts. On startup, it swaps the backup database in and runs any pending migrations.