FAQ
Answers to common questions about your account, security, and how Gopher Backup works. New here? Start with the Getting Started guide.
After signing up, you will receive an email with download instructions for the Gopher Backup client. Install it on your device, enter your login credentials, choose your files, and your first backup will start automatically. Initial backups may take several hours depending on your data size and internet speed — subsequent backups only transfer changes and are much faster. For step-by-step instructions with screenshots for Windows, macOS, Linux and Synology, see the Getting Started guide.
Open the Gopher Backup client on your device, click Restore, and select the files or folders you want to recover. You can restore to the same location or a different folder. You can also restore from a specific point in time using the version history feature.
Not for at least three years. The rate you sign up at is locked for three years from the date your subscription starts — that covers your plan rate and any additional storage on your account. We don't use introductory pricing, and we don't raise the rate at renewal.
If you change to a different plan, a new three-year lock starts at the new rate. If your subscription lapses or you cancel and sign up again later, you start at whatever pricing is current then. After the three years, we'll give you at least 60 days' notice before any change, and you can cancel before it takes effect.
You will receive an email notification when you reach 80% of your included storage, and again when it is full. We don't add storage automatically. When your storage is full, new backups fail until you add storage or free up space. You can add storage or upgrade to a larger plan at any time from your account dashboard.
The Solo plan covers 1 device, the Family plan covers up to 3 devices, and the Pro plan covers up to 5 devices. Every plan supports Windows, macOS, Linux, and Synology NAS. You can check your registered devices at my.gopherbackup.com, the backup console. Synology NAS backup is included in every plan, and each NAS counts as one of your plan's device slots.
Your files are encrypted with AES-256 encryption before they leave your device. The encryption happens locally — your unencrypted files never travel over the internet. We don't read your files.
All new accounts start with a 14-day free trial with full access to the plan features. You will be asked for a payment method when signing up but you will not be charged until the trial ends. Cancel any time during the trial and you will not be charged. We don't send a reminder before the trial ends, but your account page shows the date billing begins. Add-ons, such as extra storage, don't include a free trial and are charged right away.
You can cancel at any time by signing in to your account dashboard at gopherbackup.com/account and clicking Cancel Account under Plan and Billing. Cancelling stops your subscription from renewing, and your service continues until the end of the period you've paid for. It does not end immediately. Your data is retained for 14 days after your account ends in case you change your mind.
We don't refund payments unless the law requires us to, and we don't refund the unused part of a billing period after you cancel.
We retry the charge automatically and email you right away, with reminders before the deadline. You have 7 days from the first missed payment to fix it, and your backups keep running during that time. You can update your payment method at any time from your account page. If it is still unpaid after 7 days, we cancel your subscription. We then keep your data for 14 days, which is about 21 days after the first missed payment, and after that it is permanently deleted.
Your primary and disaster recovery copies are stored on private servers we own, located in the United States. We use a three-tier redundancy system — your data exists on the primary backup server, a local disaster recovery replica, and an encrypted offsite cloud backup on shared storage with a US provider. We do not store data outside the US.
Use our contact form at any time. We reply to support requests within 4 to 24 hours. For urgent issues, we monitor critical alerts 24/7 and will respond to service outages outside business hours.
We do not offer password resets or changes, under any circumstances. While we have administrative access to your account, we have no reliable way to verify that a password change request is genuinely coming from you rather than someone impersonating you. Allowing password resets without verified identity would create a serious security risk — anyone claiming to be you could potentially gain access to your most private, personal files.
We recommend that you change your password the first time you log in.
If you do lose or forget your password, you will need to cancel your account, open a new one, and back up your files again. If you can't sign in to cancel, contact us from the email address on your account and give us the billing name, address, and zip code, and the last 4 digits of the credit card you used to pay before you lost or forgot your password, and we will cancel it for you. Your account stays active until the end of the period you've paid for, and then you can sign up again. NOTE: If you open a new account within 14 days after your account ends (the 14 days run from the day it ends), your previous configuration and backups will still be available, but only if you use the same email address. Even so, we strongly recommend:
Most password reset systems work by verifying your identity through an email link, a security question, or similar. The problem is that these methods can be compromised — if someone gains access to your email account, for example, they could reset your Gopher Backup password too, and from there decrypt and access your private files.
Since your files are encrypted before they ever leave your device, and can only be decrypted with your correct login credentials, we've made the deliberate choice not to build in any mechanism that could let a bad actor bypass that protection — even if it means a genuinely forgotten password requires starting over with a new account.