What we are trying to do

You can use the Backup All tool to create a single "archive.xxxx.nthd" file that contains all of the raw Note Taker HD data from your iPad, including folders and their contents, templates, tags, settings, the File-Import "folder", and backgrounds. It does not include other backup or "save" files.

You then need to get that file onto a personal computer or cloud service in case data is lost on the iPad for some reason. There are a variety of different ways to do this.

How to do it

On your iPad, in Note Taker HD, go to the list of folders and select the Backup All tool. You will be given the option of choosing a "Target" for the backup. If you only have a little bit of data (it will tell you how much at this point), for example just a very few megabytes that would fit in an email, you can either select "Email File" or "Open In". Open In is for sending the output to a cloud service like DropBox. If the file will be large, or you just want to use the basic way of doing this, select "File".

Press the "Start" button to create the backup.

If you are doing a file backup, a notice will display the name of the file created in the form of "archive.xxxx.nthd" ("xxxx" is a date/time when it was done). If you used the other targets you should be taken to mail or a list of apps to Open In.

File Backup

If you backed up to a file, connect your iPad to your personal computer with iTunes and go to the File Sharing for Note Taker HD. (Click on the row for your iPad on the left in the Devices section. Click on the "Apps" tab above the main area about your iPad (two over from the "Summary" tab). Scroll down to the "File Sharing" section. Click on Note Taker HD in that list. After a number of seconds or so you should see a listing of the files and directories in the main Note Taker HD Documents directory.)

Select the "archive.xxxx.nthd" file with the latest backup. Use the "Save to..." button below the list of files in iTunes to save that file somewhere on your personal computer (such as the Desktop). This operation may take many seconds, depending upon the size of the file.

Restoring from File Backup

To recover the data in the future, connect the iPad to iTunes and display its File Sharing Documents.

Use the "Add..." button to add to the iPad the "archive.xxxx.nthd" file you saved before. That operation may take many seconds depending upon the size of the file.

Eject the iPad from iTunes. Run Note Taker HD.

When viewing the list of folders, use the "Restore All" tool. You should see the "archive.xxxx.nthd" file listed. Select it and press the Done button. You will be asked to confirm that you wish to erase all the current data and replace it with the backed up data. If you confirm "Yes" the files will be restored to the iPad.

Restoring from Email or Open In Backup

If you backed up to a to email or a cloud app, on the iPad go to that email or cloud app and select the "archive.xxxx.nthd" file and "Open In" to Note Taker HD.

Note Taker HD should start and offer you to restore from that file. Follow the instructions there. If the file is too big for transferring between the two apps, you may need to transfer the file to a personal computer and then follow the restoring instructions for it above.

Check that it worked

Check to make sure that you restored what you wanted, especially if you plan to delete the backup. It is best to save the backup for future protection, and make periodic backups as you add new valuable notes.

Note that you can always save and transfer just a selected group of docs using the "Save To" tool.

See the Help topic titled "Backup and Restore" for more information.

Raw Data Backup

Another form of backup is to use iTunes File Sharing as above but Select All of the files and folders and then copy all of it to a directory on your personal computer. That data can also be used to restore, but the restoration is not as straightforward (in fact, it can be quite tedious if you have a lot of folders). This is more of a "belt and suspenders" extra backup. If you do need to restore from it, and you are familiar with technical details about file copying on a personal computer, please see Copying Data Back Into iTunes for Note Taker HD. Otherwise, please contact Software Garden support.