FAQ

HearthVault keeps safe, private copies of your folders on your own drives, with no cloud. It also proves that a backup can be restored, and can back up between the computers in your home with the Family Mesh add-on.

Click Add backup, tick the folders (or use the quick-pick categories), choose how and when to keep it, where to save it, and run your first backup. It takes about a minute.

Yes. In Add backup, use the quick-add buttons for Documents, Pictures, Desktop, Downloads, Music, and Videos. One click adds, another removes.

Versions (time machine) keeps dated history, so you can go back to an earlier date. Mirror keeps one exact copy (deletions are mirrored). Incremental only adds and updates, and never deletes.

Yes. In Where to back up, add extra copies (for example an external disk and a second drive). Each run mirrors to all of them at once, which is how you reach the 3-2-1 gold standard. If a drive is unplugged, that copy is skipped and the rest continue.

Yes, to your own cloud. In Where to back up, choose a OneDrive, Dropbox, or Google Drive folder, and your cloud app uploads the backup. Best for small folders that fit your free space; Mirror is recommended for the cloud. We are not involved in, or responsible for, that cloud connection.

Set the schedule to Continuously and HearthVault backs up shortly after your files change, with no fixed time.

Open Restore (or the Restore button on a backup card), tick what you want back, and choose where. By default it returns to its original place.

For a Versions backup, pick a date on the timeline in Restore. Restoring an older date never deletes your newer backups.

Yes. Backups are saved as plain files in their folders. Open the backup folder in File Explorer and copy them. A recovery card inside explains how. There is no lock-in.

Family Mesh is a one-time paid add-on that keeps an automatic, encrypted copy on another computer in your home, alongside your local backup. A tiny receiver runs on the other PC with the key already inside, so there is nothing to type. Copies travel only over your home network, never the internet.

If a backup would change or delete an unusual number of files at once, HearthVault pauses and asks you first, protecting your last good copy.

HearthVault never touches your existing backups. It asks what to do: restore the folder, point it to a new location, or stop. Your backups stay safe.

Yes. Your files never leave your home. There is no cloud, no accounts, and nothing is sent anywhere. See the Privacy Policy for details.