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Jimmy Pautz edited this page Oct 23, 2026 · 3 revisions

Usage

Device Backup & Restore integrates directly into KOReader's menu, offering an intuitive experience designed specifically for e-ink displays.

The Backup & Restore Menu

You can open the plugin at any time from Tools → Device Backup & Restore:

  • Create Backup: Select components and create a new backup archive.
  • Restore Backup: Choose an existing backup to restore on your device.
  • Beam to Device: Wirelessly send a backup to another e-reader using a temporary 6-character code.
  • Receive via Beam Code: Download and apply a backup sent wirelessly from another device.
  • Manage Backups: Browse, inspect, or delete your existing backups.
  • Undo Last Restore: Revert your reader immediately back to how it was before your last restore.
  • Backup & Restore Settings: Customize backup folders, storage limits, and preferences.

1. Creating a Backup

Creating a backup takes just a few taps:

  1. Tap Tools → Device Backup & Restore → Create Backup.
  2. Choose your components: Use the checkboxes to choose what you want to include:
    • Core Settings: Your reader preferences, Profiles, QuickMenus, gestures, tap zones, menus, and UI layout.
    • User Plugins: Community plugins you've installed (KOReader's built-in plugins are kept separate to keep backups small and quick).
    • User Patches & Style Tweaks: Any custom patches and CSS style tweaks you use.
    • Custom Fonts & Icons: Any custom e-reader fonts installed in fonts and custom UI icons in icons.
    • Screensavers & Wallpapers: Custom sleep-screen images and wallpapers.
    • Reading History & Statistics: Your reading logs, book list history, and statistics.
    • Book Progress & Notes (Optional): Bookmarks, highlights, and page positions for all opened books.
    • Dictionaries & OCR (Optional): Installed dictionary files and OCR packages.
  3. (Optional) Enter a custom name or label for the backup (for example, My_Kobo_Setup).
  4. Tap Create Backup. Your archive is saved directly to your backup folder!

2. Restoring a Backup

Restoring your setup is just as simple:

  1. Tap Tools → Device Backup & Restore → Restore Backup.
  2. Select a backup from your list, or tap Browse Folder to choose an archive anywhere on your storage or SD card.
  3. Inspect the archive: A detail sheet appears showing:
    • When the backup was created
    • What device it was originally created on
    • Total file size
    • Exactly which components are included
  4. Select components to restore: You can restore everything, or uncheck items you don't need (for instance, restoring only your custom fonts and reading settings).
  5. Tap Restore Now. KOReader will safely restore your files and prompt you to restart.

3. Safe Cross-Device Migration

One of the best features of Device Backup & Restore is how easy it makes moving between different e-reader models.

If you create a backup on a Kindle Paperwhite and restore it on a Kobo Clara (or an Android e-reader):

  • The plugin automatically detects that the hardware has changed.
  • Physical hardware settings (like screen resolution, frontlight warmth curves, e-ink dithering, and internal file paths) are automatically adjusted to fit your new device.
  • Your reader boots up cleanly with your preferred menus, fonts, and gestures—without display glitches or boot issues.

4. Sharing Profiles & QuickMenus Between Devices

Profiles and QuickMenus are a great way to personalize KOReader, and they are fully preserved and portable:

  • Native Profiles & QuickMenus: In KOReader, QuickMenus are built on top of the Profiles system (a profile configured with "Show as QuickMenu"). All profiles, actions, and QuickMenus are saved in koreader/settings/profiles.lua, while gesture assignments (such as two-finger taps or corner swipes) are stored in koreader/settings/gestures.lua. Both are included automatically under Core Settings.
  • Community QuickMenu Plugin: If you use the standalone quickmenu.koplugin, it is stored in plugins/ and is backed up under User Plugins, with its settings preserved under Core Settings.

What settings might need slight adjustment across devices?

When migrating Profiles or QuickMenus between different hardware models:

  1. Frontlight Warmth: If a profile includes actions to adjust warm/amber light, and your target device only has standard white frontlight (or no light), that specific action will simply have no effect on the target hardware.
  2. Physical Buttons vs. Touch Gestures: If a QuickMenu was mapped to a physical page turn button on a device with buttons (such as a Kobo Libra or Kindle Oasis) and restored onto a touchscreen-only device (such as a Paperwhite or Kobo Clara), you will need to re-bind that QuickMenu to a touch gesture or corner tap in Gesture Manager.
  3. Screen Resolution & DPI: Profile actions containing fixed pixel margins or font sizes may look slightly larger or smaller on screens with different dimensions or pixel densities.
  4. Fixed File/Folder Paths: If a profile or menu action opens a specific file path on storage, remember that root mount points differ across platforms (/mnt/onboard on Kobo, /mnt/us on Kindle, /storage/emulated/0 on Android).

5. Scheduled Backup Reminders

To help protect your reading progress and configurations without maintenance, you can set recurring backup reminders:

  • Thoughtful Timing (No Freezes): Compressing backup archives takes significant processing power on e-ink hardware. Instead of silently running in the background and freezing page turns mid-sentence, the plugin waits a short grace period after waking the device, checks if a backup is due, and shows a prompt.
  • Three Actions:
    • Backup Now: Starts an immediate one-tap backup with the progress bar.
    • Later: Snoozes the reminder for 24 hours so you can read without disruption.
    • Open Settings: Takes you directly to backup settings to adjust schedules or change components.
  • Dedicated Component Selection: Scheduled backups can use a distinct component list from manual backups. You can keep scheduled backups quick and lightweight with just your settings and reading stats, or include fonts and plugins.

6. Automatic Cloud Sync

If you have a cloud storage service connected (Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, WebDAV, FTP, or SFTP):

  • Automatic Uploads: Enable Upload to Cloud on Completion or Upload to Cloud on Creation in settings to automatically upload backups to your cloud account whenever WiFi is connected.
  • Nested Folder Organization: Backups can be sent to customized folder structures (such as backups/koreader/kindle), keeping multiple devices neatly separated in your cloud drive.
  • For complete setup instructions, see 8.-Cloud-Storage.

Typical Workflow

  1. Before big changes or updates: Make a quick backup of your settings and plugins.
  2. When getting a new e-reader: Back up your old device, beam it wirelessly or copy the backup file over, and tap restore.
  3. If you ever want to revert: Tap Undo Last Restore to return your reader to its previous state with a single tap.

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