Automatic backups

What a backup is

Once a week Relic writes everything it holds into a single encrypted file in a folder you pick. The file is named for the day and time it was written:

relic-backup-20260910-0930.relicvault

• Every item goes in, kept and unkept, secrets included. The whole file is encrypted, so nothing in it is readable on its own.
• Only your backup passphrase opens it. That is why the folder can sit in Google Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox without handing them your items.
• Relic keeps the newest 4 files and deletes the ones older than that, so the folder never grows without end.
• Images and files that live in the cloud and are not on this computer are skipped. The summary line counts them, for example 128 items, 14 files · 3 not on this device.

The row is the last one in Settings › Vault and storage, and it looks like this once it is running.

Turning it on

1. Open the backup row

   In Relic, open Settings with the gear, go to Vault and storage, and scroll to the bottom. Turn on Back up automatically. The setup panel opens under the row.

2. Pick a folder

   Relic offers a folder called Relic Backups inside your Documents. Change opens a picker titled Choose where backups are written. A folder that Google Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox syncs is a good choice, because the file is useless to anyone without the passphrase.

3. Set a backup passphrase

   Type a passphrase in Backup passphrase and the same one in Repeat the backup passphrase. The panel says it plainly: "This passphrase is separate from your vault passphrase and never leaves this computer. If you lose it, your backup files cannot be opened."

   To: Documents›Relic Backups

   Backup passphrase

   ••••••••••••

   Repeat the backup passphrase

   ••••••••••••

4. Press Turn on

   Relic writes the first backup straight away, then one a week after that. If something is missing the panel says so: Choose a folder for your backups., Choose a backup passphrase., or Passphrases don't match.

5. Check the line under the row

   Before the first run the line under the row reads Last backed up: never. After it, it reads Last backed up with the date and a count of what went in.

After it is on

The row grows a folder path with two buttons. Change picks a different folder. Back up now runs one immediately instead of waiting for the week to be up, which is worth doing before you wipe a computer or hand it on.

Relic checks whether a backup is due when it starts and every twelve hours after, so a computer that stays on for weeks still gets its weekly file. If the folder has gone (an unplugged drive, a folder you moved) the line under the row turns red and reads "Backup folder is missing. Pick a new one in Settings."

Changing the backup passphrase

Under the status line there is a Change backup passphrase link. It opens the same panel, with the first box now reading New backup passphrase and the button reading Change passphrase.

Files written before the change still open with the passphrase they were written under. Each file carries what it needs to be opened, so an old backup and a new one can sit in the same folder and each wants its own passphrase. Once the four old files have aged out, only the new passphrase is left in use.

When backups pause

Relic keeps the key for your backups in the computer's own credential store so the weekly run never has to ask you for anything. If that entry disappears (you cleared it, you signed in as a new user, you restored the machine from an image) the status line turns red and reads "Backups are paused. Enter your backup passphrase to resume."

A box and a Resume button appear under it. Type the backup passphrase and press Resume. Relic answers Backups resumed. and picks the schedule back up, or Wrong backup passphrase. if it does not match.

A backup is a copy of what is on this computer, not a second Relic. To get the items back, see Restore from a backup. For a copy you can read yourself, see Export your vault.