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Sift

Backup and restore

Backup and restore is where you save your Sift library to one file, choose automatic backups, and open other libraries. To open it, go to Settings > Backup and restore.

Come here to save a backup before a big change, or to restore one. A backup holds your tags, ratings, People, collections, settings and confirmed faces, never your media files.

The Backup and restore pane in Settings

On this pane

Section titled “On this pane”

The pane draws these groups, in this order:

  • Save a backup now: Save a backup saves your whole library as one file in the backup folder. Sift never deletes it by itself.
  • Automatic backups: how many to keep, how long to keep them, and the backup folder. Each saves the moment it changes. How often they run is chosen in Settings > Tasks and Activity.
  • Restore from a backup: Choose a backup file replaces your whole Sift library with what is in the file. Your media files aren’t touched.
  • Libraries: Sift opens one library at a time. Open restarts Sift on another library, for everyone using it.

Rows the pane draws by hand

Section titled “Rows the pane draws by hand”
  • Backups Sift leaves alone: backups you saved, or whose names don’t say which library made them. Delete deletes one.
  • New library: Create and open starts an empty library with you as its admin.
  • Duplicate this library: Duplicate creates a second library from this one, with the same Users and passwords.
  • Migrate from Stash: Choose picks Stash’s database, and Read it reads a copy. Nothing changes until you say so.
  • Import a database file: Choose a file makes a backup or a Sift database into a new library of its own.

The menu on another library offers Open this one when Sift starts, Open the last one used instead, Remove from this list and Delete.

Every setting

Section titled “Every setting”

Backups to keep

Section titled “Backups to keep”

Older automatic backups of this library are deleted once there are more than this. Backups you save yourself, and other libraries’ backups, are never deleted.

Sift only deletes a backup whose name shows it came from this library. Backups made by an older version of Sift don’t show that, so they stay until you remove them.

Delete automatic backups after

Section titled “Delete automatic backups after”

Automatic backups of this library older than this are deleted after the next automatic backup. Backups you save yourself are never deleted.

Leave it empty to keep automatic backups however old they are; the number above still applies.

Backup folder

Section titled “Backup folder”

Choose a folder on another drive, outside your libraries. With none chosen, backups are kept in the same folder as Sift’s own data.

Include detected face pictures

Section titled “Include detected face pictures”

Adds the image of every face Sift has detected, which makes each backup larger. The faces you confirmed are always included.

Identify now finds these faces again from your media, so they aren’t needed to get your library back.