Blender addon: PowerBackup
Introducing PowerBackup
PowerBackup is a tool for backing up and restoring your Blender and addon preferences.
Video by Ponte Ryuurui
What does PowerBackup do?
It backs up chosen Blender and addon preferences to json files inside an archive, and lets you choose which items you want to restore.
When loading an addon's preferences, it'll enable the addon for you.
It can backup and restore your preferences in just a few clicks.
Couldn't I do this manually?
Yes and no.
You can manually copy userpref.blend and startup.blend from appdata, which will contain all of your preferences.
But if you want to restore some preferences while leaving others intact, you'll need this tool.
Who is this for?
This tool, like the other products in its line, is the most useful for power users: people who use addons, or otherwise customize their blender experience.
Why did you make this?
Setting up preferences and addons can take a lot of time, which I would rather spend modeling.
Testimonials
"PowerBackup is not just any addon, it is a way to save up tens of thousands of dollars on therapy bills."
Michael Semprevivo (MindsEye69)
"It's a time saver and I love it! A must have."
Documentation
In the panel you'll find a path box and two buttons.
In the path box you can set the default folder for the file browser to open in.
The buttons are Backup and Restore, which do as they say.
In preferences you'll find the same path box as in the panel, a checkbox, and a text box.
The checkbox is an option, enabled by default, which saves your userpref.blend file inside each backup, so it can be restored manually just in case the regular restore somehow fails.
The text box is for the panel category, which tab of the sidebar the PowerBackup panel should go, default PowerSave.
When you click Backup or Restore, a file browser will open.
On the right side of the file browser, you should see a bunch of options.
If not, click the button with the gear icon in the top right, and they should show up.
These options consist of two categories:
Blender Preferences
- Editing / Animation
- Experimental
- Filepaths / Save & Load
- Input / Navigation
- Keymap
- System
- Themes
- Interface / Viewport
- Startup File
Some preferences share the same tickbox, this is because under the hood, they're the same.
Addon Preferences
- For Backup: a list of all enabled addons.
- For Restore: a list of all installed addons present in the selected backup file.
This includes addons that have no preferences, so that it at least can enable the addons.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I access this tool?
Either from the sidebar like all other addons, or from PowerSave's popover panel in the 3D view.
Does this support my OS?
It just uses Python and the Blender Python API, so it should work everywhere.
Where did my compositor settings go?
These are not part of preferences, but stored inside your startup file.
To see them after restoring a backup, start a new file.
What do I do if restoring fails?
You can open a .powerbackup archive using 7-Zip, and from there extract the userpref.blend file.
Then you copy paste that into C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\VERSION\config\
This path will only work for Windows, but it's easy to find online what the path should be for Linux or Mac.
What can't PowerBackup do?
Lights stored in preferences, such as HDRIs for Material Preview or Matcaps, are not currently saved or loaded, because I ran into strange errors with them.
Quick Favorites are not saved or loaded either unfortunately, because they're not accessible from the API, so there's nothing I can do.
Community
Join the discord server: https://discord.com/invite/xSj7jhRqRQ