Backups & Export

Your worlds are plain files, so any backup tool you already use, such as Time Machine, covers them. Realm Lore also has its own scheduled backups and several export formats.

Automated backups

Realm Lore can copy the active world to a backup folder on a schedule.

1. Open Settings > Data and find Automated Backups.
2. Set the Backup Location. Click a preset (Backups, ~/Desktop/WorldBackups or ~/Documents/WorldBackups) or type a path.
   • A path starting with / or ~ is used as is.
   • Any other path is inside Realm Lore's app data folder. The default, Backups, is ~/Library/Application Support/realm-lore/Backups.
3. Choose a Frequency: Off, or every 2, 5, 15 or 30 minutes, or every hour.
4. Choose how long to Keep History For: 7, 15, 30, 60 or 90 days, or Forever.
5. Click Save Settings.

Click Force Backup Now to make a backup straight away. The panel shows when the last backup ran.

Each backup is a full copy of the world folder, saved as:

<Backup Location>/<World>/<YYYY-MM-DD>/<HH-MM-SS>/

Backups run while Realm Lore is open, and only for the world you have open. Older days are removed once they pass the Keep History For limit.

Restore from a backup

1. Find the backup folder you want, for example Backups/My_World/2026-09-02/14-30-00.
2. Rename the time folder to the world name you'd like, for example My_World_restored.
3. In Realm Lore, click Import World in the sidebar and choose that folder.

Export a world

Open Settings > Data and use Export World:

Button	Creates	Use it for
Export ZIP Archive	A ZIP of the whole world folder, including maps and images	Moving a world to another Mac, or a single-file backup. Import it with Import ZIP Archive….
Full Backup (.json)	One JSON file with every entry, chapter, book, connection and map	Keeping a copy in a format other tools can read
Export JSON (slim)	The same JSON without maps, so it's smaller	Reading or processing your data elsewhere
Export Markdown	One Markdown document with your characters, locations, things, lore, factions, creatures and chapters	Reading or sharing your world as a single document

Realm Lore can import ZIP archives and world folders, but not the JSON files.

Other exports

• A single entry: click Export as Markdown on its page. See Wiki Entries.
• A book: click Compile on the book's page to export EPUB, PDF, HTML or Word. See Library & Writing.