Storage & backup

Organizer is local-first: there's no account and no server. Your data never leaves your device unless you export it. This page explains where it's kept, how to switch, and how to keep it safe.

Two storage modes

When you first open Organizer you choose one of these. You can change later in Settings → Storage without losing data.

Browser storage

Your timelines are saved inside this browser (using IndexedDB) on this device.

• ✅ Fastest to start — nothing to set up.
• ✅ Works fully offline.
• ⚠️ Tied to this browser on this device. It is not synced to other machines, and clearing your browser's site data will remove it. Keep exports as your safety net.

Folder on your computer

Organizer reads and writes your data in a folder you pick (using your browser's File System Access support).

• ✅ Your data lives as real files you can see, back up, and sync with your own tools (Dropbox, OneDrive, a USB stick, git…).
• ✅ Easy to keep multiple separate workspaces — just point at different folders.
• ⚠️ Requires a browser that supports folder access (most desktop Chromium-based browsers).

When you're in folder mode, your current workspace is shown under Settings → Storage — open Settings to switch to another folder or workspace.

Switching storage

Go to Settings → Storage → Reset to return to the storage-selection screen and pick a different option.

Your data is never deleted by switching

Resetting only changes which location Organizer reads from. Choose the same option again and your timelines are exactly where you left them. To move data between locations, use Export then Import.

Backing up with Export / Import

No matter which mode you use, Export is how you make a portable backup.

Export

Settings → Backup → Export downloads all your data — timelines, entries, and attachments — as a single JSON file. Keep it somewhere safe.

Organizer shows a gentle "No backup · Export now" nudge in the header if you're on browser storage and haven't exported in over a week.

Import

Settings → Backup → Import, choose a previously exported .json file, then pick how to bring it in:

• Replace all data — wipes current data and restores the file exactly. Use when recovering a backup or moving to a new device.
• Merge (skip duplicates) — adds anything from the file that you don't already have, leaving your existing data untouched. Use to combine two sets of timelines.

WARNING

Replace all data is destructive — it discards whatever is currently stored. If in doubt, export your current data first, then import.

Syncing folders across devices with Syncthing

Because folder mode stores your data as real files, any file-sync tool can keep those files in step across several computers. Syncthing is a great fit: it's free, open-source, and syncs directly between your own devices — peer-to-peer, with no third-party cloud in the middle.

This gives you Organizer on, say, a laptop and a desktop, both reading and writing the same workspace.

One-time setup

1. Install Syncthing on each device (see the Syncthing downloads).
2. On the first device, pick (or create) the folder you use for Organizer's folder storage, and add it as a shared folder in Syncthing.
3. Pair your devices by exchanging their Device IDs, then share that folder with the other device(s).
4. On each other device, accept the shared folder and point it at a local path. Then open Organizer there, choose Folder storage, and pick that same synced folder.

That's it — edits on one device land as files, Syncthing copies them across, and Organizer picks them up.

How Organizer handles incoming changes

Organizer watches the active workspace for changes that arrive from another device. When it notices the files were updated elsewhere, it shows an "Edited in another window" prompt; click Merge in changes to load the latest version and keep working. A note you happen to have open in the editor is never lost — if it also changed on the other device, the other version is kept beside it as a clearly-marked duplicate.

Avoid editing the same workspace on two devices at once

Syncthing copies files device-to-device, so a moment of overlap while both are online is fine. But to keep things tidy, let one device finish syncing before you start editing on another — especially after a device has been offline.

Syncing is not a backup

A sync tool faithfully copies your changes — including deletions — to every device. It is not a substitute for backups. Keep periodic Exports as your real safety net.

Moving to a new device

1. On the old device: Settings → Backup → Export.
2. Transfer the JSON file to the new device.
3. On the new device: open Organizer, choose a storage location, then Settings → Backup → Import → Replace all data.