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Your data and backups

Warning

Tracer stores all of your data in your browser only. Changing browsers, computers, or even clearing up space on your harddrive can result in a loss of all of the data stored in the browser. It is not saved on a server and it is not guaranteed to stay there. Export a backup file regularly from the Import / Export page, and keep it somewhere safe.

Where your data is stored​

Your profile, clients, projects, tasks, time logs and shared configurations are all saved in your browser's local storage. Tracer saves automatically every time you make a change, so there is no save button to remember.

Because the data lives in one browser on one computer:

  • It is not available in a different browser, on a different computer, or in a private or incognito window.
  • It can be lost if you clear your browser data, if your browser removes stored site data to free up space, if a company policy clears it, or if you reinstall your browser or computer.
  • Nobody else can see it unless you send them an export file.

There is no way to recover data that the browser has removed, unless you have a backup file.

Making an export/backup​

tip

Our recommended use is saving your exports in a sharepoint folder along with the rest of your team. This will make it easy to import and analyse your team's time logs.

A good habit is to export at the end of each week, or before you clear your browser data.

  1. Click Import / Export in the sidebar.
  2. Check the summary of how many users, clients, projects, tasks and logs will be saved.
  3. Click Export to file and choose where to save the file.

The file ends in .tracer.json and contains everything in your Tracer workspace, including shared configurations you created or loaded.

Restoring from a backup​

  1. Click Import / Export in the sidebar.
  2. Under Import, click Import from file.
  3. Select your .tracer.json backup file.

A message tells you how many users, tasks and logs were loaded.

warning

Importing a backup replaces everything currently in Tracer with the contents of the file. Anything you entered after that backup was made is lost. If you are unsure, export your current data first so you can go back to it.

This is also how you move your data to a new computer or browser: export on the old one, then import on the new one.

Backups are not for sharing logs with colleagues​

The Import / Export page is meant for your own backups.

warning

If you want to add a colleague's logs to your own, do not use Import from file here, because it would replace your data with theirs. Use the Import Logs page under Analytics instead, which merges their logs into yours. See Importing logs from your team.