Backup & restore
Save your setup to one file, choose what to export and what to import, and what a backup never does.
Settings → Backup
A backup is a single .tinycast file. You choose what goes into it when you export, and separately
choose what to restore when you import. So a backup that contains everything can still restore only
your snippets.
| Category | What's included |
|---|---|
| Settings & Shortcuts | Shortcuts, custom commands, quicklinks, window layouts, rooms, custom window sizes, favorites, aliases, preferences |
| Clipboard History | Text and image clips with their images, and references to copied files |
| Snippets | Your snippet Markdown files |
| Notes | Your note Markdown files |
| Launcher Learning | Your learned launcher ranking, plus emoji and calculator history |
The launcher also has Export Backup and Import Backup commands. They always include everything, because there's no room for checkboxes in the launcher.
Read this before relying on it
The backup format can change between versions of Tinycast. A backup is only guaranteed to import into the same version that created it.
The file records which version created it. If your version of Tinycast doesn't recognize the format, it tells you instead of importing part of the file. Use backups to move your setup to another Mac or to restore after reinstalling, not as a long-term archive.
Imports always show what they did
Every import shows a summary of what changed, by category.
If the file contains custom commands, Tinycast warns you before adding them, because a file that adds shell commands without telling you is a security risk.
Imports add to what you have instead of overwriting it. Snippets and notes are added next to your existing ones, and a note with a name that's already taken gets a number added instead of replacing yours. Importing the same file twice doesn't create duplicates.
Launcher Learning is the exception. It replaces your existing data, because combining the habits of two Macs wouldn't match either one.
Copied files in clipboard history are backed up as paths, not file contents. When you import, entries for files that don't exist on the new Mac are skipped.
A backup can never turn on a capability
Some switches are never included in a backup, because turning them on means agreeing to something, not just setting a preference:
- Snippets: agreeing to keyword matching
- Extensions: agreeing to run third-party code
- Calendar: agreeing to let Tinycast read your calendar
- Auto Join Meetings and Camera Preview: agreeing to open links and turn on the camera
- Quick Actions: agreeing to let Tinycast type into other apps
- AI and MCP servers: agreeing to send text to a model and run server code
- Search text in images and PDFs: agreeing to text recognition in the background
- Dictation: agreeing to let Tinycast use your microphone
- Sync settings file: agreeing to let a file on this Mac change your settings
- Fallback order and checkboxes: these could add a shell command runner to your launcher
This means a backup someone sends you can't turn on keystroke listening, run third-party code, read your calendar, record from your microphone or contact an AI provider. You turn those features on yourself, in the app, after reading what they do. Importing snippets doesn't turn snippets on.
Other things that aren't included
| Not included | Why |
|---|---|
| Extensions: their code, data and sign-ins | They're third-party code, and their sign-ins are in the Keychain |
| AI chats, API keys, and all AI and MCP settings | Conversations and keys stay on the Mac where they were created |
| Quick Actions model, prompts, language and custom actions | An import should never change what a shortcut does to your text |
| Extension package manager and custom search paths | They're specific to this Mac, not part of your setup |
| Dictation settings, its shortcut and downloaded models | They belong to this Mac's microphone and disk |
| Palette position, auto-switch input source, calendar checkboxes, the browser for meeting links, Snippets and Notes folders | They name things on this Mac that another Mac may not have |
| Cached data, like currency rates and update checks | Tinycast downloads it again as needed |
Clipboard images are stored inside the backup by name, not by their location on your Mac. The only paths a backup includes are the locations of copied files, because that location is what the entry records.
Launch at login and Show in menu bar are read from their current state, so they're restored the way you had them.
Settings file
The Sync settings file switch in Settings → Backup → Settings File keeps a copy of your
settings in ~/.config/tinycast/settings.json. It's off by default. The beta uses
~/.config/tinycast-beta/.
While it's on, a change you make in Settings is written to the file, and an edit you save in the file applies in Tinycast right away. If the file is a symlink, it stays one, so it can live in a dotfiles repository.
The file holds your preferences, the shortcuts and aliases of apps, System Settings panes, system actions and built-in commands, and all of window management, including custom sizes, layouts and rooms. It never holds your snippets, notes, quicklinks, custom commands, MCP servers or AI connections.
If the file already exists when you turn sync on, Tinycast asks whether to Import it or Replace it with your current settings. A value Tinycast can't use keeps the current one, and a message tells you what was wrong. Turning sync off leaves the file where it is.
Like a backup, the file can't turn on Snippets, Extensions, Calendar, Auto Join Meetings, Camera Preview, Quick Actions, MCP servers, Dictation or text recognition.
Where your data is stored
Everything a backup includes is also a regular file. By default, it's in
~/Library/Application Support/com.tinycast.app/:
| What | Where |
|---|---|
| Snippets | Snippets/, or the Snippets Folder you chose |
| Notes | Notes/, or the Notes Folder you chose |
| Quicklinks | quicklinks.sqlite3, with its own JSON export |
| Clipboard history | clipboard.sqlite3, with images next to it |
| AI chats | ai-chats.sqlite3, never included in a backup |
Snippets and notes are plain Markdown files. Copying those folders works as a backup, and you can read the files without Tinycast.