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Home Assistant Backup⚓︎

About this guide⚓︎

Note

This is a quick guide for backing up Home Assistant instance. For a more detailed information, go to backups section in the official Home Assistant documentation.

Preparing for a Backup⚓︎

Before creating backups (especially for migration or space efficiency):

  1. Check database size: Go to Settings → System → Repairs, then, from the three‑dots menu select System Information, then under Recorder, view the Estimated Database Size and review data retention settings.

  2. Check overall used space: In the System Information panel under Home Assistant Supervisor, see your total disk usage. 

  3. Prune unused add-ons: Remove any not in use, as some consume significant space. 

  4. Consider external storage: Add and configure network storage (e.g., NAS) to offload backups from the device. 

Automatic Backups – Setup & Configuration⚓︎

  1. Navigate to backup settings: Go to Settings → System → Backups. Under “Set up backups,” click Set up backups. 

  2. Download your emergency kit: Essential for recovering encrypted backups—keep it somewhere secure. 

  3. Define your backup schedule:

    • Daily is recommended, but weekly or specific days are also possible.
    • Choose timing:
      • System optimal (Home Assistant picks best time)
      • Custom (you choose a specific time)
      • Ensure your backup destinations are accessible at the chosen time. 

  4. Enable backups before updating: You can set backups to run automatically before Home Assistant updates (you can override as needed). 

  5. Retention policy: Choose how many backups to keep (e.g. keep 7 daily backups → older than 7 days get purged automatically). 

  6. Select what to include in backups: Disabling media and shared folder is recommended to reduce size and speed up restore. Large add-ons also increase backup size. 

  7. Choose backup locations: Select from available destinations (local, cloud, NAS). For each, use the settings (cog icon) to enable or disable encryption as needed. Note: Home Assistant Cloud backups are always encrypted. 

Creating a Manual Backup⚓︎

  1. Go to Settings → System → Backups.
  2. Click Backup now, then choose Manual backup. 
  3. Select what to include (again, media and share folder are optional for size optimization). 
  4. Give the backup a name for easy identification. 
  5. Pick the backup location(s). 
  6. Download the emergency kit and keep track of which backup it belongs to. 
  7. Click Create backup to start the process. 

Downloading and Deleting Backups⚓︎

  • Download local backups:

    • Go to Show all backups, select one or more, click the three‑dots menu → Download backup. You can choose which location to download from if multiple are available. 
    • Alternatively, access the /backup folder via file share (e.g., Samba add-on), and copy the .tar files manually. 

  • Download from Home Assistant Cloud:

    • Either from Show all backups → select backup → Download from this location
    • Or log in to your Home Assistant Cloud account → Stored files → download. 

  • Delete obsolete backups:

    • From the backup list, delete individual backups via the three‑dots menu, or select multiple and delete.
    • For cloud backups, you can delete directly from the UI or your Nabu Casa account page. 

Restoring a Backup⚓︎

  • During onboarding or migration:

    • On the welcome screen, select Upload backup, then choose your backup file. 

  • On the existing system:

    • Go to Settings → System → Backups, pick the backup, choose which elements to restore (full system or select addons/config), then click Restore. 

Note: Restore time depends on your setup can take ~45 minutes for larger installations.