Here’s how to restore a backup of your to-dos.

Restore your to-dos from Things Cloud

If you are storing your to-dos in Things Cloud, it’s easy to get them back. This is the fastest method, especially if you have just installed Things on a new device or had to reset your current device.

Restore your to-dos from a local backup

If you are not using Things Cloud, or have made accidental changes which you need to roll back, you can restore a local backup of your database on your Mac. Things for Mac backs up your to-dos every 24 hours while it’s running.

The following instructions are for Things 3.17.4 or later. If you’re using an older version of Things, please update the app.

  1. Disconnect your Mac from the internet.
  2. On your Mac, quit Things.
  3. In your Dock, click Finder.
  4. In the menu bar at the top of your screen, click Go → Go to Folder.
  5. Paste the following path into the sheet that appears: ~/Library/Group Containers/JLMPQHK86H.com.culturedcode.ThingsMac/
  6. Hit the Return key.
  7. Open the folder ThingsData-xxxxx.
  8. Rename Things Database.thingsdatabase to Things Database.thingsdatabase.old
  9. Go into the /Backups folder.
  10. Find the backup you’d like to use and select it.
  11. Copy the backup by hitting ⌘ Cmd C.
  12. Go back by clicking the < button in the top-left corner of the Finder window.
  13. Paste the backup file by hitting ⌘ Cmd V.
  14. Rename the backup to Things Database.thingsdatabase
  15. Launch Things. Your backed up data should be visible.
  16. In the menu bar at the top of your screen, click Things → Settings → Things Cloud.
  17. If Things Cloud is on, turn it OFF by clicking the switch.
  18. Reconnect your Mac to the internet.
  19. If you were using Things Cloud, turn it back on. You have to select the option Keep only the to-dos from this device when you reconnect – otherwise Things Cloud will overwrite the data you just restored.

If you’re restoring a backup for the beta version of Things, the file path in step 5 will be slightly different. Instead of com.culturedcode.ThingsMac it will be com.culturedcode.ThingsMac.beta.

Backups on other devices

Things for iPhone and Things for iPad don’t create automatic backups for you like Things for Mac does. On your iOS devices, download your data from Things Cloud to restore your to-dos.

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