Home Assistant backup and restore: a practical checklist

In Home Assistant, open Settings → System → Backups and configure automatic backups. The recommended profile creates a daily full backup, keeps the latest three, and syncs a copy to Home Assistant Cloud if you are signed in. Media, the share folder, and local apps are excluded by default to reduce archive size and restore time. Review the included data to make sure it fits your setup.

If you have a NAS or network share, add it as a backup location. Confirm that the automatic process writes a copy there instead of storing everything only on the Home Assistant device. After the first run, check the backup list for its date, size, and status. A configured schedule alone does not prove that a backup was created and synchronized successfully.

If the Home Assistant device fails, local files on it may become inaccessible with the system. Keep at least one copy somewhere else, such as network storage; an off-site copy can also help protect against theft, fire, or a problem affecting your home network. This follows the practical 3-2-1 rule: multiple copies, different media, and one copy outside the primary location.

Home Assistant Cloud stores the latest backup up to 5 GB and always encrypts it. For other locations, check the encryption and access settings. Do not keep your only backup on the same SSD, SD card, or mini PC that runs Home Assistant.

Home Assistant backups are encrypted by default. During setup, download the Backup Emergency Kit and store it securely apart from the backup files, for example in a password manager and in offline storage. An archive without the correct key may be impossible to decrypt after the server is lost or replaced.

The key belongs to the backup and the system that created it. If you changed the key or restored settings from an older backup, check which emergency kit matches each archive. Do not keep the only copy of the key inside Home Assistant: an emergency could make it inaccessible along with the server.

Confirm that a backup appears on a second storage location and that you can download it. For a hands-on test, use a spare device or an isolated virtual machine rather than your live home system: restoring can stop the system and replace its configuration. Check that the archive is accepted, the key decrypts it, and the integrations, automations, and dashboards you rely on are present.

Write down a short recovery sequence: where the backups are, where the key is stored, how to connect the backup drive, and which devices may need to be authorized again. Revisit the instructions after major Home Assistant changes. A few minutes of testing can tell you whether a backup is actually usable when you need it.