> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://gerfaut-wallet.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Backup and sync
> Save every wallet you watch in an encrypted Gerfaut backup file or an animated QR code, and restore it on another phone or computer.
Seal every wallet you watch in a backup under a password of your own, as a file or an animated QR code, and restore it on another phone or computer. A backup holds descriptors, addresses and names, never a private key or a seed.
Open **Settings** > **Backup & sync**.
**Android**
**Desktop**
## Export a backup
> [!WARNING]
>
> Nobody can recover the password. Someone who copies the file can try passwords offline, so pick a long passphrase of several words.
**1. Select Export…**
Gerfaut opens `Export a backup`.
**2. Check what goes in**
When all your wallets are on the selected network, `Wallets` only counts them, such as `All wallets (1)`. Otherwise, keep `All wallets (5)` or select the option of the selected network alone, such as `Signet only (3)`. Select the `Include node settings` switch to add your backend, the certificates you accepted and the gap limit.
**3. Pick a password**
Enter it in `Password` and `Confirm password`, then select **Create backup**.
**4. Save the file or show the QR code**
Select **Save file…** to write a `.gerfaut` file, or **Save file** and **Share** on Android. **Share** hands the file to the app you pick in the share sheet, and to no other app. Select **Show QR code** to show the backup as an animated QR code.
**Android**
**Desktop**
## Restore a backup
**1. Select Restore…**
Gerfaut opens `Restore a backup`.
**2. Open the backup**
Select **Open a file…** (**Open a file** on Android) and pick the `.gerfaut` file. Or select **Scan a QR code** and keep the camera on the code until the counter reaches its total. One loop of the code is enough.
**3. Enter the password**
Select **Open backup**. When the backup does not open, Gerfaut says why:
* **`Wrong password, or the file is damaged.`:** Enter the password again. A password shorter than eight characters always reads this, since no backup is sealed under one.
* **`This is not a Gerfaut backup, or it is damaged.`:** Check that you opened a `.gerfaut` file or a Gerfaut backup QR code. The password is not in question.
* **`This backup was made with a newer version of Gerfaut. Update Gerfaut to open it.`:** Update Gerfaut on [Android](/docs/getting-started/install-android#update-gerfaut) or [desktop](/docs/getting-started/install-desktop#update-gerfaut), then open the backup again.
**4. Pick what to restore**
Gerfaut ticks every wallet this device does not watch yet, and marks the others `Already watched`. If the backup holds node settings, select the `Apply node settings` switch to take its backends and gap limit, and add the certificates it accepted. A certificate you already accepted on this device stays as it is.
**5. Select the Restore button**
It counts the wallets, such as **Restore 2 wallets**. Gerfaut adds the wallets and syncs them.
> **Restore a backup with a wallet Gerfaut cannot watch**
>
> A backup can hold a wallet Gerfaut refuses, such as one without a name or with a descriptor it cannot read. That wallet stays on the list, unticked, with `Cannot be restored` and the reason under its name.
>
> Gerfaut restores the others. The confirmation then ends with `1 left out: Cold storage`, or with a count when several are left out.
> [!NOTE]
>
> On Android, Gerfaut keeps its data out of the system backup and out of a transfer to a new phone. Keep a Gerfaut backup for a new phone.
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