A Book Tracker backup is a full-fidelity snapshot of your library. Restoring one brings everything back exactly as it was: books, authors, reading statuses, progress, notes, quotes, positions, tags, series, smart lists, ratings, purchases, custom covers: every detail.
This guide covers both common scenarios:
- Restoring a backup after a problem, a fresh install, or to undo bulk changes.
- Recovering deleted books (which is just a special case of restoring).
If you need to create a backup first, see How to back up your Book Tracker library.
Before you restore: important warnings
Read this section once, even if you’re in a hurry.
- Restoring replaces your current library with the contents of the chosen backup. Anything you added or changed after that backup was created will be lost.
- If iCloud sync is enabled, the restore propagates. When you restore on one device, the restored library will sync to all your other devices signed into the same Apple ID. This is what you want when you’re recovering data on a single iCloud setup, but be aware it’s not local.
- Take a manual backup first. Before any restore, tap Backup to capture the current state. That way you can always roll back if the chosen backup isn’t what you expected.
Use cases: when to restore
| Scenario | What to do |
|---|---|
| You accidentally deleted a book today | Restore from the most recent automatic backup. |
| You deleted a book a few days ago | Restore from the automatic backup of that day (kept for as long as your rotation allows. Default 7 days). |
| You did a bulk edit / import that went wrong | Restore from the manual backup you took before the change. |
| You’re moving to a new device | Restore on the new device from your iCloud Drive backups, or from an exported backup file you saved before. |
| The app is misbehaving and you want a clean state | Restore the most recent good backup. |
How to restore on iPhone or iPad
- Open Book Tracker → Settings → Backup & Restore.
- You’ll see the list of available backups, automatic ones plus any manual backups, each labeled with date and time.
- Tap the backup you want to restore.
- Tap Restore and confirm.
- Wait for the app to reload. Your library will appear exactly as it was when that backup was created.
How to restore on Mac
- Open Book Tracker → Settings → Backup & Restore (from the menu bar).
- Select the backup you want to restore.
- Click Restore and confirm.
- The app will reload with the restored library.
Restoring from an exported backup file
If you previously exported a backup to Files, AirDrop, iCloud Drive, or an external disk, you can import it on any device:
- Open Book Tracker → Settings → Backup & Restore.
- Tap Select File.
- Choose the exported
.zipbackup file. - Confirm to restore.
This is the standard way to move a library between two different Apple IDs, since iCloud Drive backups don’t cross Apple ID boundaries.
What happens to books added after the backup?
They are not preserved. The backup captures the library at a single moment in time, so anything added or modified afterwards is replaced when you restore.
If you’ve added books between the last backup and now and you want to keep them:
- Create a manual backup first (this captures your current state including the new books).
- Then restore the older backup if you really want to roll back.
- If you change your mind, restore the manual backup you just made to come back to the present.
After restoring
- Open your main screens to confirm books, reading statuses, notes, and quotes are back.
- If you use iCloud sync, give it a few minutes to propagate to your other devices.
- If one of your devices doesn’t update, open Book Tracker on it so it reconnects. See How to fix iCloud sync problems.
Best practices
- Take a manual backup before every restore, in case you change your mind.
- When recovering a single deleted book, pick the backup closest to the deletion to minimize the loss of other recent changes.
- After a successful restore, create a fresh backup of the restored state, so you don’t depend on the source backup any longer.
- If your rotation is set to 7 days and you only realize a deletion later, this is the moment you’ll want a longer rotation in the future. See the backup tutorial for changing the limit.