Export, backup and restore

What it is

Export and backup in Lipi give you a copy of your data in files you control. Download your data produces a full JSON backup of your account and a CSV of every transaction. Restore from backup brings a JSON backup back later. It is a simple way to export expenses to CSV and keep a safety copy of your personal finance records.

What problem it solves

Your money history should not be trapped in one app. A CSV opens in Excel or Google Sheets, so you can share a year of transactions with an accountant or run your own sums. A JSON backup is a full safety copy you can keep on your computer or in your own cloud drive, and restore if you move to a new phone or need to undo a mess.

How it works

1. Open Settings and choose Your data. You see three rows: Import from a spreadsheet, Download your data and Restore from backup.
2. Choose Download your data. It says “Your full backup as JSON, plus your transactions as CSV.” Pick Backup (JSON) for everything in one portable file, or Transactions (CSV) for every transaction, ready for a spreadsheet.
3. Save the file somewhere safe, such as your computer or a cloud drive you own.
4. To bring a backup back, choose Restore from backup and select the JSON file you downloaded earlier.
5. Choose how to restore. Replace everything wipes your current data first. Merge matches by name and skips anything already in Lipi. When it finishes Lipi shows a result such as “Backup restored” with the number of accounts, categories, transactions and transfers.

Details and rules

• Premium only. Export is a Premium feature, and restore uses the same gate as import.
• The CSV holds transactions. The JSON backup holds the whole account.
• Merge uses names to match, and skips duplicates by account, day, amount and type.
• Replace everything deletes current data before restoring. Download a fresh backup first if you are not sure.
• Bank loans and people ledgers have their own Export CSV and Export PDF in the row menu. PDF needs internet.
• The Your data screen has no PDF export for all transactions today.
• Separately from your downloads, Lipi keeps its own regular server backups for disaster recovery. These are not something you download.
• Amounts in the CSV are exact decimal figures, and each row keeps its account and category, so a spreadsheet pivot table works straight away.
• A restore also returns your accounts and categories, not only transactions, so you can rebuild a whole setup on a new phone.
• Deleting your account is a different path from export. Download your data first if you want a copy.

Works with

• Import transactions from CSV
• Security and privacy
• Reports and summaries
• Loans

Ask an AI assistant

With Premium, ask “Give me all my transactions for 2025 as a CSV for my accountant.” The assistant calls export_transactions_csv and returns the rows as CSV text. The lipi-year-end-pack skill uses it to prepare a year-end summary. See AI skills.