[GNC] Logs and Backups

[David T.]

... And as most long time subscribers to this list will note, the developers and the general user group have emphasized that it is the user's responsibility to provide necessary backups using proper backup tools.

GnuCash's log files and backups provide a modicum of recourse in the event of a catastrophic failure, but users should be in the habit of creating reliable backups separately. 

Tom, you missed Ken's point about the creation of backup files, which is that their creation is dependent on user activity (how and when the user opens GnuCash), whereas the setting is strictly calendar based. We could go on and on about how GnuCash manages these files, or we could spend the time identifying a proper backup program that preserves user data in the way we seek to have it preserved. I suggest engaging in the latter. 

David T.



On June 19, 2026 9:44:12 AM GMT+05:30, Tom Route36 <tom.route36 at gmail.com> wrote:
>Hi Ken,
>
>The number of backups you have is dependent on your Auto-Save Time Interval and how long GnuCash is open (and also depends on if you're manually doing saves).  If you set the Auto-Save Interval to zero, then you've disabled Auto-Save, and the number of backups will be totally determined by you -- whenever you decide to do a save.
>
>BTW, I'm not sure that you need to be concerned about limiting backups.  I have over 30 years worth of data in my GnuCash data file; and it's only 11 MB in size.  So disk space isn't really an issue.  I have my backup retention time set to 21 days; and currently I have about 90 backups.  For me, having multiple backups is more reassuring than a bother.  Just my opinion.
>
>Tom
>
>
>On 06/18/2026 07:48 PM, Ken Pyzik wrote:
>> OK - I think I may have found the answer to my own question.  In the EDIT>>Preferences>>General, there is a setting to Retain Logs/Backup files with three options - Never, For X number of days or Forever.  The default appears to be 30 days.  Now this is interesting.
>> 
>> If this is true - which I believe it is - this means that if you go into Gnucash every day, you can end up with up to 30 or 31 logs and backup files.  So, someone could assume that they could just change it to 3 days and that would be fine.  However, if you do NOT open Gnucash everyday - but instead open it up once a week, you would need keep the logs for 21 days in order to have 3 backups.  By the same token, if you are someone who only opens Gnucash once a month - or only once every couple of months, you would need to keep the files for up to 60 or 90 days in order to get 3 full backups.
>> 
>> I am guessing that this is the behavior and that it has probably been this way forever.  I am also guessing that if you only want 3 backups definitively - you have to adjust the days accordingly to the way you use the system - i.e., how often you open and work with the files.  And if you go into the system multiple times a day - you could end up with A LOT of backups and logs files.
>> 
>> Is this behavior correct?  If yes, would changing it to be a definitive number be difficult?  I assuming it is, otherwise I would have thought it would have been changed by now.
>> 
>> Ken
>> ________________________________
>> From: gnucash-user<gnucash-user-bounces+pyz01=outlook.com at gnucash.org> on behalf of Ken Pyzik<pyz01 at outlook.com>
>> Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2026 6:05 PM
>> To: Gnucash Users<gnucash-user at gnucash.org>
>> Subject: [GNC] Logs and Backups
>> 
>> This may have been mentioned in the past - and if so - sorry for the repeat.  However, I noticed today 10 ".log" and 10 ".<<date>>.gnucash" files.  So, I am assuming that gnucash is keeping 10 transaction and log file backups.  Is this correct?  If so, is this the default and if it is the default, can this be changed to only 2 or 3? Thanks for the reply.
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