# Back up and export your data

> Your data lives in your own database. Back it up with Railway's volume backups (Pro plan) or Docker volumes, download everything as one .zip from Settings → Your data, or download single lists as spreadsheets.

Your Crewtavo's data lives in its own database and file storage, in your account. Nobody else holds a copy, Crewtavo the project included, so backups are yours to keep.

## On Railway

Railway backs up volumes on its **Pro plan**. To turn backups on, open your Crewtavo project in Railway, open the volume on the `db` service (your database) and the one on the `storage` service (photos and documents), then open **Backups** on each.

On the trial and Hobby plans, Railway doesn't offer volume backups. Download your important lists regularly instead (below).

### Files in a bucket aren't backed up

Railway never backs up storage buckets, on any plan. If your photos and files are in a bucket (installing [Drive](https://crewtavo.com/docs/connections/drive/) puts them there, or **Move files to a bucket** under **Settings → Hosting**), the storage volume's backups only cover files from before the move. A file deleted from a bucket is gone for good. Keep a copy of your own of anything you can't lose. See [Move files to a bucket](https://crewtavo.com/docs/hosting/storage/#move-files-to-a-bucket).

## With Docker

Your data is in two Docker volumes:

- `crewtavo-instance_db-data`: the database
- `crewtavo-instance_storage-data`: photos and documents

Back up both, along with the `.env.instance` file. The database is locked with the secrets in that file, so a backup without it can't be opened. With Docker, files always stay on the storage volume: moving them to a bucket is only for Crewtavos on Railway.

## The Trash

Whatever someone deletes in Crewtavo, from a plan to a visit photo or a receipt, waits in the Trash for 30 days first, on any plan and wherever your files are kept. Restore it from there if it was a mistake. See [The Trash](https://crewtavo.com/docs/connections/drive/#the-trash).

## Download all your data

An owner can download everything the business keeps in Crewtavo as one .zip file, on any plan, to keep as a copy or to take to another app. It opens on any computer, with nothing to install.

1. Open **Settings → Your data**.
2. Under **Download all your data**, choose **Download all your data**.
3. Keep the page open while the button shows its progress, like "Reading clients…". The .zip then downloads.

Inside are:

- **Spreadsheets** (`spreadsheets/`): a CSV of each kind of record, for Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers or another app's import. There's one each for clients, client contacts, properties, requests, quotes and their lines, jobs and their lines, visits, invoices and their lines, payments, expenses, the price list, the team, crews, timesheets, equipment and its log, and subcontractors. They're saved as UTF-8, so Excel shows names and accents correctly. Records name each other the way you do (the client, Job #12) and end with IDs that match from one spreadsheet to the next.
- **Files ready for Jobber** (`jobber/`): your clients, quotes, jobs and invoices laid out the way Jobber's imports read them, with a READ ME on bringing them in.
- A `READ ME.txt` saying what's where.

Photos, signed documents and messages aren't in it yet.

:::caution
It includes pay rates and subcontractors' details, so keep it somewhere safe.
:::

### Move to Jobber

1. Download your data and unzip it.
2. Open the `jobber` folder and read its READ ME.
3. In Jobber, as an admin, import the files in their numbered order: clients (with their properties), then quotes, jobs and invoices.

Jobber's imports don't take payments, a job's line items, or lost quotes. The READ ME says what comes in differently, and the spreadsheets keep all of it.

## Download your lists

You can download records as spreadsheets (CSV) any time, on any plan:

- **Clients:** **More actions → Download as spreadsheet** (**Import and export** for people who don't see invoices).
- **Price list:** **Settings → Price list → Download**.
- **Invoices**, **Timesheets** and Stripe **Deposits:** **Download as spreadsheet** in the page's menu.
- **Finance** and **Metrics:** the **Download** button under each table, and above the payments list on **Finance → Payments**.
- **Pay:** **Download** on **Timesheets → Pay**.
- **Subcontractors:** **Download CSV** on **Year-end totals** and on **Workers' comp audit**.

A spreadsheet is a copy of the records, not a full backup: it doesn't include photos or the history behind each record.

Source: https://crewtavo.com/docs/hosting/backups/ (last updated 2026-11-04)