# Back Up Clarification Please **URL:** \ **Category:** Help\ **Created:** [July 19, 2024, 12:18am UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/back-up-clarification-please/5763 "2024-07-19T00:18:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![anon13523314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@anon13523314](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/anon13523314)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 12:18am UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/back-up-clarification-please/5763/1 "2024-07-19T00:18:59Z")
Version 5.1.4 MacOS Monterey Version 12.7.5 [https://www.gramps-project.org/wiki/index.php?title=How\_to\_make\_a\_backup](https://www.gramps-project.org/wiki/index.php?title=How_to_make_a_backup) The above doc gives instructions for 5.2.x and up OR up to 3.3 or later. Is my 5.1.4 version considered the 3.3 or later version? It is not mentioned. Thanks, ---
**Author:** ![Nick-Hall](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/gramps.discourse.group/nick-hall/32/95_2.png) [@Nick-Hall](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/Nick-Hall)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 12:37am UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/back-up-clarification-please/5763/2 "2024-07-19T00:37:22Z")
See the [Backing up a Family Tree](https://www.gramps-project.org/wiki/index.php/Gramps_5.1_Wiki_Manual_-_Manage_Family_Trees#Backing_up_a_Family_Tree) section in the Gramps 5.1 User Manual. ---
**Author:** ![emyoulation](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/gramps.discourse.group/emyoulation/32/67_2.png) [@emyoulation](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/emyoulation)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 12:45am UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/back-up-clarification-please/5763/3 "2024-07-19T00:45:37Z")
Yes, it is that older version’s workflow. The manual backup option from the Family Trees menu is the same. And that’s what is described. Although automation for backup and its interface existed in 5.1, the GUI changed upgraded for the 5.2 cycle. The Preferences tabs have been reorganized. So the instructions changed for the automated (backup at timed intervals and upon exit) backup. The intervals for timed backup were added for 5.0, then changed to be not be so excessively frequent in 5.2. The interaction of backup and sleeping OSes was tuned. The backup on exit is in a different tab. ---
**Author:** ![anon13523314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@anon13523314](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/anon13523314)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 12:49am UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/back-up-clarification-please/5763/4 "2024-07-19T00:49:35Z")
Thank you, Nick, for the URL to 5.1 instructions. One more question. Does the latest back up only apply to GRAMPS? So must I open each surname file and make back ups before upgrading? ---
**Author:** ![emyoulation](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/gramps.discourse.group/emyoulation/32/67_2.png) [@emyoulation](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/emyoulation)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 12:23pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/back-up-clarification-please/5763/5 "2024-07-19T12:23:08Z")
> [@anon13523314](#): > > One more question. Does the latest back up only apply to GRAMPS? This question is confusing. What else would a Gramps backup apply to than Gramps? Please restate it. > [@anon13523314](#): > > So must I open each surname file and make back ups before upgrading? The expectation is that people do NOT maintain separate Trees for each Surname line. (That approach is too hard to keep harmonized.) So if you have multiple Trees then yes, you should make backups for each tree. ---
**Author:** ![emyoulation](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/gramps.discourse.group/emyoulation/32/67_2.png) [@emyoulation](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/emyoulation)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 6:12pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/back-up-clarification-please/5763/6 "2024-07-19T18:12:36Z")
> [@Nick-Hall](#): > > See the [Backing up a Family Tree](https://www.gramps-project.org/wiki/index.php/Gramps_5.1_Wiki_Manual_-_Manage_Family_Trees#Backing_up_a_Family_Tree) section in the Gramps 5.1 User Manual Revised the introduction for the [How to make a backup](https://www.gramps-project.org/wiki/index.php/How_to_make_a_backup) article to note when the available archival were added. (When was the “Archive” feature removed from the Family Trees dialog? The [5.2 FAQ](https://www.gramps-project.org/wiki/index.php/Gramps_5.2_Wiki_Manual_-_FAQ#How_do_I_keep_backups.3F) has outdated mentions of GRDB in backup options and needs correction. And the import of old Archive files needs to be added to our data recovery processes.) Lorrie has a good question too. The workflow to process backups for a large collection of Trees is pretty onerous. It seems like a Report to do generate a CLI batch file for a collection of Trees would be one approach. That could be used to update the set of trees and would be less error prone than doing one-by-one manually. (If it had the option to suppress updating the “last accessed” timestamp, then that information would retain more value. I don’t care when a Tree was last loaded or even when it was updated to a newer schema or database backend. I only care when records were added, deleted or had field value changes.) ---
**Author:** ![anon13523314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@anon13523314](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/anon13523314)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 7:00pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/back-up-clarification-please/5763/7 "2024-07-19T19:00:22Z")
I was asking about updating the empty software without opening a surname file. ---
**Author:** ![Nick-Hall](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/gramps.discourse.group/nick-hall/32/95_2.png) [@Nick-Hall](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/Nick-Hall)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 8:24pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/back-up-clarification-please/5763/8 "2024-07-19T20:24:53Z")
> [@anon13523314](#): > > So must I open each surname file and make back ups before upgrading? Before upgrading you should backup all data that you don’t want to lose. The chance of something going wrong and corrupting your data is very small, but it is always better to be safe. It is also a good idea to backup your data before any big change. ---
**Author:** ![anon13523314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@anon13523314](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/anon13523314)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 8:36pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/back-up-clarification-please/5763/9 "2024-07-19T20:36:49Z")
I think I understand. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/gramps/original/1X/2ac1e712b7adf612e31ca08a55419f4cf37c0158.png) [@system](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/system)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 8:37pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/back-up-clarification-please/5763/10 "2024-08-18T20:37:05Z")
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