I’m confused about the backing up process. What I’d like to do is have a file backed up to my Scrivener Backup folder automatically, and then in addition, a second backup that I do manually to my iCloud Drive.
Right now, when I start up Scrivener, the most recent save is on iCloud. Given I sometimes forget to backup to iCloud, this is disconcerting.
Would some kind person point out where I’m going wrong—if that is the case?
Thank you.
Automatic saves, File->Save As, manual saves (File->Save), manually triggered backups (File->Back Up->Back Up now), alternative, one-off backups (File->Back Up->Back Up To…) and automatic backups (Scrivener->Preferences->Backup settings) are all sometimes called “backups”.
The preferences settings can’t be set to alternate between two locations, so you set the location you want there, and any options as to when the backups are created, and then leave it to Scrivener to create backups when the settings say they will be created.
If you want to occasionally create backups in an alternative location, I suggest using the Back Up To… menu, Typically, Scrivener will remember the last location you picked to save that one-off backup, so you can have your secondary location updated occasionally.
I don’t recommend using File->Save As to back up your work. That opens the ‘backup’ for editing, and can lead you to edit the so-called backup and then later return to the “original” where your edits are mysteriously gone.
Thanks, RDale.
To clarify: So Scrivener will be automatically backing up my working file ever few seconds to the designated folder I chose in Preferences, and when I end a work session and choose Back Up To (iCloud) a moment later before closing down, the same file that had just be automatically backed up will be copied in iCloud. Is that correct? And when I open Scrivener again next time and choose Most Recent, although the iCloud version is called up (as is the case now with me), it doesn’t matter because that is the exact copy of the file Scrivener saved automatically a moment before I mannually chose Back Up To. Okay?
Save is not the same as Backup.
Backup should use the zip alternative and is a way to keep old copies of your work, so that you can go back in time if something happens to your project.
The automatic Save saves the open project just as if you’d click Save in Word.