To back up your vault to Google Drive, open Vault settings, then Encrypted backup, tap Turn on backup, choose how the backup should open, and pick a place in your Google Drive on Android’s “save to” screen. From then on Stillgarth refreshes that file by itself. The file holds the vault’s already-encrypted data, so whoever gets it, Google included, sees only scrambled data.
Why have a backup at all?
Without one, your vault lives only on your phone. If the phone is lost, stolen or broken, the files go with it, and nobody can recover them. A backup is a copy of the whole vault, still encrypted, saved somewhere you choose, so you can restore it on a new phone.
How do you turn it on, step by step?
- Unlock the vault and open Vault settings.
- Under Backup, open Encrypted backup and tap Turn on backup.
- Answer How should the backup open? Either With my vault password (only allowed if it’s at least 12 characters) or With a recovery code that Stillgarth makes for you.
- If you picked a recovery code, write it down, copy it, or take a screenshot (on Android 13 and newer), and keep it somewhere safe, away from the phone. Stillgarth asks you to type it back to check it, and can’t show it again once you continue.
- On Android’s “save to” screen, choose where the file goes, for example a folder in your Google Drive.
Preparing the backup key takes a few seconds. The first backup runs when you lock the vault.
When does it back up?
Stillgarth refreshes the backup once a day, and whenever you tap Back up now. Backups only run while the vault is locked, so nothing changes underneath them. If you tap Back up now while the vault is open, the backup runs as soon as you lock it.
The settings screen shows when the last backup was made and how big it is.
Why does the password need 12 characters?
On your phone, guessing is slow: every wrong password makes you wait longer. A backup file is different. Anyone who gets hold of it can try passwords on fast computers, with no limit and no lockout. So the backup’s key uses a much heavier key-stretching setting than the everyday unlock, and it only accepts your vault password if it’s at least 12 characters long. If yours is shorter, use a recovery code, or change your password first. More on this in choosing a strong vault password.
If you later change your vault password to one shorter than 12 characters, a backup that opens with your password turns itself off and tells you so.
What’s in the backup, and what isn’t?
In the backup:
- every file in the vault, still encrypted;
- their names, folders and dates, in the encrypted database;
- your vault settings, sealed so an edited backup can’t loosen them when it’s restored.
Not in the backup:
- your PIN and fingerprint unlock, which are tied to this phone’s security chip;
- your duress code;
- Guard’s own log and settings, and any Guard photos that haven’t moved into the vault yet. Unlock the vault before a backup and waiting photos move in.
Does Stillgarth upload anything itself?
No. Stillgarth has no internet permission. It writes the file through Android’s “save to” screen, and the app you picked, for example Google Drive, does the uploading under its own privacy policy. Stillgarth never sees your Google account. The developer never receives the backup and can’t open it.
Android’s “save to” screen lists the storage apps on your phone. Google Drive is the one this guide describes.
What if something goes wrong?
The backup line in Vault settings shows “On · needs attention”, and the backup screen gives the reason:
- “Can’t write to the backup file any more.” The file was moved or deleted, or the permission was lost. Choose where it’s saved again.
- “Not enough free space on the phone to prepare the backup.” The backup is built in the app’s private storage first, then written in one pass, so it needs room for a full copy.
- “The last backup didn’t finish saving.” It’s tried again soon. Google Drive keeps earlier versions of the file.
How do you turn it off?
Tap Turn off backup. Stillgarth stops updating the file; the copy already saved stays where it is until you delete it there yourself. Erasing the vault, by hand or with a duress code, also forgets the backup settings but leaves the saved file alone.