Your data, backup and export

Todowl stores your data on our own servers, in a Postgres database, and gives you a way to take a copy whenever you want.

Where it lives

Every table that holds user content carries a user id column and is protected by row level security. The rule is the same everywhere: a row is readable and writable only by the account that owns it. Isolation is enforced by the database itself rather than by application code remembering to filter, which is the difference between a rule and a hope.

Todowl runs on infrastructure we operate. It is not built on a third party backend platform, and your content is not sold, shared or used to train anything.

Downloading a backup

Open Settings, go to Backup and restore, and export. Todowl gathers your data and downloads a single JSON file named for the date, for example todowl-backup-2026-08-23.json.

The export covers your habits and their daily logs, and the finance tables: transactions, income sources, expense categories, monthly budgets, subscriptions and debts.

Restoring a backup

The same screen can read a backup file back in. It asks for confirmation first, because loading a backup replaces what is currently there rather than merging with it.

The most common sensible use is moving between accounts, or rolling back after you have made a mess of your categories.

What the backup does not include

Be precise about this, because a backup you trust wrongly is worse than no backup:

• Attachments and pasted images in descriptions and notes are not part of the JSON file.
• Preferences kept on the device, such as some interface settings, are not included.
• Savings goals are stored in your browser’s local storage rather than on the server, so they are not in the export either. See Planning screens in progress.

Keeping your own copy

If your Todowl data matters to you, export it occasionally and keep the file somewhere you already back up. It costs a few seconds and it is the only copy that is entirely under your control.

Deleting everything

There is no self-service wipe today. Closing the account and removing its data is handled by us on request; see Deleting your account.