Recover lost files
Michael Terry

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Unported License

# Restoring

# Scanning for Backups

Each time a new backup happens, it adds a new "snapshot" of your files. Each snapshot has its own record of files at the time of backup.

In order to browse and restore from an existing backup, we must first scan the available backups and pick one to examine.

## Fresh Install

If you haven’t used Déjà Dup on your computer before (for example, if you are working on a freshly installed system), you have to do some initial setup.

Open Backups.

Click on the Restore From a Previous Backup… button.

A restore dialog will appear asking where your backup files are stored (your Backup location).

Click Search

Wait for Déjà Dup to scan the backup location.

## Existing Install

If you are trying to restore a file from a previous backup on your computer, that’s easy too.

Open Backups.

Click on the Browse Backups button

Wait for Déjà Dup to scan the backup location.

# Restore Files

Scroll the available backup dates and click the one you want to examine. Then one of two things will happen, depending on when you first made a backup.

## Restic

If your backups were first created with a modern version of Déjà Dup (49.0 or later), it made Restic backups.

In that case, a file manager window will appear. You can open files directly or drag and drop them to the rest of your file system to restore them.

## Duplicity

If your backups were first created with an older version of Déjà Dup (48.2 or earlier), it made Duplicity backups.

In that case, you'll see a built-in file browser. Select the files you want to restore, click Restore, and choose the destination.

If you hit problems restoring, there are more drastic things you can try.