Keep your data safe in the Life Goals App

Make your backup today, not the day you need it

10 minutes today protect a year of planning. This guide covers five things in the Goals & Progress Life Goals App. They are the save file, installed copy, calendar export, print layout and reset. Your plan stays in one browser on one device, and a browser cleanup can erase it.

Where you are in the journey

You have a year of entries and numbers you can read, after Read your Insights and share your Wall of Wins. Next comes the phone tour, Find your way around the Life Goals App on your phone.

What you will learn

• Where the app keeps your plan, and what goes into a save file.
• How to move your plan to a second device.
• Why an installed copy protects your data on an iPhone.
• How to put your check-ins in your calendar, and what a printed plan is for.
• How to reset everything without losing your year by accident.

Where the app keeps your plan

The Life Goals App writes your plan to this browser on this device as you type. There is no account and no server copy, which our goal setting app comparison names as the trade. Nobody can restore your plan for you.

On a computer, a pill at the bottom right shows Saved on this device · Not backed up yet. Press it for What gets saved?: your values, purpose, strengths, life areas, vision, goals, milestones, habits and every day, week, month and quarter entry. On a phone the card at the top of Your data says the same.

Cloud backup through Dropbox is switched off in this version, so Dropbox (not available yet) cannot be pressed. The privacy statement says the same. A save file is your backup today.

Four copies come out of the app. One brings a plan back.

| What you make | What it brings back | |—|—| | Save file | your whole plan, on any device | | Installed copy | nothing; it holds the plan on one device | | Calendar file | your check-in times, not your plan | | Printed plan or PDF | a record to read, never loaded back |

Download a save file, and load it back

A save file is one file in your downloads with your whole plan in it.

1. On a phone, tap More, then Download save file. On a computer, press it in the top bar.
2. Look in your downloads for a file that ends in .save.

Both save file rows sit in the More sheet, under Your data.

Move the file the same day to a place you back up, such as a cloud folder or a second device. The name of each file ends with the date and the time.

On the day you need it, load the file back.

1. Press Load save file and pick your .save file.
2. Read the Confirm load window: the save date, and 8 counts from inside the file.
3. Press Save first to download the plan you have now, or Replace my data to go on.

Step 2 matters most, so read the counts.

A load replaces everything and merges nothing. Cancel backs out with nothing changed. Ctrl+Z takes the old plan back while that tab is open, and after that only another save file helps.

If your plan is already gone, try the other browsers on that device and the installed icon. Each keeps its own copy.

The same file moves your plan to a second device: download it on one, load it on the other. Your phone and your computer keep separate storage, so nothing syncs.

Check that Remind me to download it is on in Settings, under Your data. It starts on.

You then get one reminder on your first change of the day, and one when you set your plan. A card shows Download backup after 7 days with no file.

Install the app, and why that matters on an iPhone

Safari, and every browser on an iPhone or iPad, deletes stored website data after about 7 days without a visit. No website can switch that off. An installed copy gets storage of its own, which Safari does not clean up.

Safari has no Install app button, so you move your plan across yourself. Download a save file, add the app to your home screen from the Safari share menu, then open the new icon and load the file. The app’s phone page lists the same steps. The new icon starts empty, and deleting it deletes its storage too.

On an Android phone or a computer, Install app appears in Settings, under Your data, when your browser can install it. That copy shares the browser’s storage, so a cleanup still removes it.

Put your check-ins in your calendar

The Weekly reflection nudge works only while the app is open. A calendar reminder reaches you with the app closed.

1. Open Settings, then Reminders.
2. Press Reminder calendar, then press Get started.
3. Step through the 7 cadences and switch each one on or off.
4. On the Settings step, set Calendar name and Generate for.
5. Press Download .ics file, then open the file in your calendar app.

The 7 cadences are Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Annual, Habits and Milestones. The last step counts the events first, so you see the number before you download.

The example plan makes 76 events for 12 months. Calendar apps skip an event they already have, so delete the old calendar first.

Print your plan, or save it as a PDF

A printed plan is a copy you can read, and the app cannot load it back.

1. Tap More, then Download plan as PDF.
2. Untick what you do not want under Sections.
3. Pick a period or a custom range under Date range.
4. Press Open print dialog.
5. Pick a printer, or choose Save as PDF.

Steps 2 and 3 are in one window.

The sections run from the values card to the Wall of Wins. Every step on a computer has Print / Save PDF of its own. For blank pages, use the Life Goals Worksheets.

Reset everything, and know what goes

A reset clears everything the app stores in this browser.

1. Open Settings, then Your data.
2. On a computer, go to Danger zone. On a phone, tap the Reset all data heading.
3. Tick I understand these actions are permanent.
4. Press the Reset all data button under the tick.
5. In the window that opens, press Download backup first. The window stays open.
6. Type reset in the box, then press Reset everything.

The Reset all data? window counts what it clears before you type anything.

That count comes from the example plan; yours shows your numbers. Keep my data closes it with nothing changed.

Ctrl+Z undoes a reset while the tab is open. Once you close the tab it is gone, so take the backup in step 5.

Try these tips and tricks

• Download a save file before you change browser, clear your browsing data or update the computer.
• On a phone, do both: install the app and keep a file on a computer.
• On a computer, Ctrl+S downloads a save file and Ctrl+O opens the picker. On a Mac, use Cmd.

Key takeaways

• The app keeps your plan in one browser on one device, and no server has a copy.
• A save file is the only copy that brings a plan back, while Dropbox stays switched off.
• A load replaces everything, so read Confirm load and press Save first when in doubt.
• A reset counts what it clears, and closing the tab makes it final.

The app’s own recipe, save, load, print and reset your data, shows these steps too. Open the app now and press Download save file. Put the file where you back up anyway.