Help Center / goCORA Account & Security / Backing up & restoring

Backing up & restoring

In the app: Settings › goCORA Settings › Accounts

goCORA keeps everything on your device, encrypted with a key that only exists on that device. A backup has two parts, and you need both to restore onto a new or reset device:

Both are in Settings › goCORA Settings › Accounts. You must be signed in to a goCORA account with a verified email — items marked 🔒 are locked until you are.

The Accounts menu with backup and restore options
Backup and restore live in the Accounts menu.
Backup PIN or password screen
Protect the backup with a PIN or password.
Restore database screen with one switch per item
Choose exactly what to restore.

Screens are illustrated with the Android layout; Windows and iOS show the same screens with native styling. Red numbers on a picture match the numbered list or the numbers in the caption for that picture.

Making a backup

  1. Tap Backup Encryption Key.
  2. Enter a PIN or password (at least 4 non-space characters) twice. You'll need it to restore — if you forget it, the backup can't be recovered. Leaving it blank protects the backup with your account email only; goCORA asks you to confirm that weaker choice.
  3. Choose where to save the file (for example cloud storage or a USB drive).
  4. Repeat with Backup Database.

Restoring

Restoring overwrites the matching data on this device, and goCORA must be restarted afterwards. Restoring only an encryption key makes your current data unusable — only do that when you're about to restore a database made with that key.
  1. On a new device, first tap Restore Encryption Key, enter the backup's PIN/password, pick the key file and confirm.
  2. Tap Restore database. On the Restore screen switch on only what you want back: Accounts (with passwords), Tags, Contacts, Mailboxes (downloaded mail for all accounts), Trusted Image Senders, Blacklist, AI Autonomy, AI Summary Cache (previously generated summaries, extracted details and attachment analyses, so re-opening a message or attachment you already asked the AI about shows it instantly instead of asking the AI provider again) and Settings (theme, language, sign-in requirement, privacy/confirmation options).
  3. Tap Restore Now, enter the PIN/password, and pick the backup file.
  4. Close goCORA completely and open it again.

Your email itself always stays on your mail server — a restored account downloads anything missing when it syncs.