FAQ

A private, local-first backup app for Windows. You pick the folders that matter, it keeps copies (including dated versions) on the destinations you choose: another disk, an external drive, your own cloud folder, or, with the Family Mesh add-on, other computers in your home. Then it regularly proves your backups are restorable by actually restoring and verifying real files. No cloud of ours, no account, no subscription.

Cloud sync mirrors your files to someone else's servers, and a deletion or ransomware encryption can sync right along with them. HearthVault keeps real backups with history on hardware you own, never sends anything to us, and can even use your existing cloud folder as one more destination if you want an offsite copy. Sync is convenience; backup is a safety net. You want both.

No. Everything works on your own computer and home network. There is no account, no sign-up, and your files are never uploaded to us. The only internet use is optional: backing up into a cloud folder you chose, and a tiny daily check of our public "More from Hearth" list.

$14.99, once. That includes everything for one computer: versions, scheduling, restore drills, the ransomware circuit breaker, all 18 languages. The optional Family Mesh add-on (backing up to other computers in your home) is a $9.99 one-time add-on for the whole household. No subscriptions, ever.

Instead of one mirror copy, HearthVault can keep dated snapshots: how your folder looked yesterday, last week, last month. Unchanged files are stored once using smart hardlinks, so history costs far less space than you'd expect. You choose how many versions to keep.

Most backup tools tell you a backup "succeeded" and hope for the best. HearthVault regularly restores a real file from your backup to a temporary location, verifies its checksum matches the original, and only then tells you your backup is restorable. The first one runs right after your first backup, so you start with proof, not hope.

HearthVault has a circuit breaker: if it suddenly sees a huge share of your files changed or deleted (the classic ransomware signature), it pauses instead of overwriting your last good backup and asks you what to do. Combined with versions, your pre-infection history stays safe.

Yes. Backups are plain, browsable files and folders, no proprietary container. Every backup also includes a small "HearthVault Recovery" folder with a readme and a file manifest, so even years from now the backup explains itself.

It turns the computers in your home into each other's safety net. The laptop's backup also lands on the desktop, automatically, encrypted, over your own network. If a machine is lost, stolen, or dies, its files are already sitting on another computer in the house, and you can restore them right from HearthVault's restore screen.

Easy: HearthVault creates a setup kit (a small folder you can put on a USB stick) with a pairing file. On the other PC, install HearthVault from the Microsoft Store and open that pairing file, or just run the tiny receiver included in the kit. The computers find each other automatically, no typing, no network knowledge needed.

No. One purchase covers the household. The computer that sends backups needs the add-on; computers that receive copies don't need a license at all.

Yes. Each computer has its own cryptographic identity, transfers run over mutually authenticated TLS (the same class of encryption as online banking), and a device can only join your mesh with your family pairing key. Everything stays inside your own network; nothing crosses the internet.

No. We have no servers that receive your data, no accounts, no telemetry. Your files move only between your own devices and destinations. See the Privacy Policy, the short version really is "we never see anything".

The full interface is available in 18 languages, including right-to-left Hebrew and Arabic. HearthVault runs on Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit).

Wonderful, tell us! Use the report page or email support@hearth-software.com. Real emails get read by a real person.