Warning

This software can permanently delete source and destination data. Read the Data-Loss Warning and Disclaimer before use.

Important Safety Notice

Retention and Source Cleanup are experimental features that can permanently delete source files or older backups.

Both features are disabled by default and must be enabled explicitly. Always keep an independent, verified backup before using them.

See the Wiki for detailed configuration, restore instructions, limitations, and safety information.

EasyVersionBackup

EasyVersionBackup is a lightweight Windows tool for creating versioned backups of folders. Back up save-game folders, office-document folders, Visual C# project folders, and other local directories.

It supports manual and automatic backups, multiple source → target configurations, ZIP backups, per-entry exclusions, skipped-file reporting, system tray integration, and a clean WinForms interface.

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❤️ Support

EasyVersionBackup is free to use. If this tool saves you time, you can support development here:

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Important

If Windows SmartScreen blocks the app, right-click the EXE → Properties → check Unblock → Apply → OK, then start it again.

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Main-Window

Backup Pair Settings

Source Cleanup

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🚀 Features

Versioned Backups

• Create structured backups with version numbers
• Supports manual input, auto-increment, and timestamp-based versions
• Remembers manually adjusted versions per source → target pair
• Detects existing versions and suggests the next logical version
• Updated versions are stored only after a successful backup
• Canceling a backup does not advance or persist the version number

Multiple Backup Configurations

• Configure multiple source → target pairs
• Enable or disable each entry individually
• Edit source and target paths directly in the main window
• Browse folders directly from the main table
• Configure versioning, retention, source cleanup, timers, and error handling per backup pair

Per-Entry Exclusions

• Define excluded files or folders per backup entry
• Edit exclusions directly from the main window or Settings
• Add and remove exclusions through a table-based editor
• Confirmation prompt before removing existing exclusion entries
• Supports source-relative paths and glob-style patterns

Pattern behavior:

• .sav and *.sav match .sav files
• * matches characters within one path level
• ** matches any number of folder levels
• A trailing \ restricts the rule to folders
• Matching is case-insensitive
• Wildcard-only exclusions are rejected for safety

Backup Retention

• Configure retention separately for every backup pair
• Keep the newest number of backups
• Keep backups for a configured number of days
• Combine retention rules using AND or OR
• Protect tagged backups such as Final or OK
• Preview affected backups before permanent deletion
• Choose between:
  • Canceling the complete backup
  • Continuing without deleting old backups
  • Creating the backup and deleting confirmed retention candidates
• Destructive actions are clearly highlighted

Source Cleanup

• Experimental feature for removing old source files after a successful backup
• Must be enabled globally and per backup pair
• Supports multiple rules, for example:

  .sav
  G1R*.sav
  Saved\SaveGames\.sav
  Saved\SaveGames\G1R*.sav
  

• Keep the newest files or delete files older than a selected date
• Shows a deletion preview before cleanup
• Directories are never deleted
• Cleanup does not run if the backup fails or is canceled

Flexible Backup Timer

• Define intervals like 30s, 5m, or 1h
• Configure a global timer or a custom timer per backup pair
• Live countdown visible:
  • In the main UI
  • In the window title
  • In the system tray tooltip

Silent Backup Progress

• Backup progress is displayed directly inside the main table
• Source-related operations fill the source-directory cell
• Target-related operations fill the target-directory cell
• The timer column temporarily shows the current percentage
• Indeterminate phases use a subtle moving progress fill
• The normal timer value is restored after completion
• Multiple backup pairs can show progress independently
• No additional progress window or focus change is required

Automatic Background Backups

• File and ZIP creation runs outside the UI thread
• Works while you use other applications
• Automatic backups remain silent unless user interaction is required
• Destination-conflict and retention confirmations can still require interaction
• Optional minimize-to-system-tray behavior

Status & Feedback System

• Per-entry status indicator:
  • 🟢 OK
  • 🟡 Warning
  • 🔴 Error
• Hover for quick details:
  • Last backup time
  • Error messages
  • Skipped-file summary
• Click the info icon to open a copyable and scrollable details dialog
• Skipped files are listed individually when available
• Skipped files do not automatically mark a successful backup as failed
• Retention is indicated by a red R marker
• Source cleanup is indicated by a cyan C marker
• Both markers are displayed when both features are active

ZIP Support

• Optional compression into .zip archives
• Uses the same versioning logic as folder-based backups
• Temporary ZIP files are finalized only after successful creation
• No additional metadata sidecar files are created

Robust Error Handling

• Option to ignore locked or in-use files
• Backup can continue without interruption
• Skipped files are reported per backup entry
• Skipped-file summaries distinguish between files and folders
• Failed or canceled backups do not trigger source cleanup
• Useful for projects with temporary build files, IDE locks, or active services

System Tray Integration

• Minimize to tray

• Tray tooltip shows the next scheduled backup:

  Next backup in 2 minutes (19:52)

• Manual and automatic backups can show tray notifications

• Canceled backups are reported as canceled instead of completed

Modernized UI

• Clean, compact main window
• Toolbar with quick actions:
  • Exit
  • Add path
  • Remove path
  • Settings
  • About
  • Backup
• Modern themed dialogs and scrollbars
• Clear visual distinction between normal and destructive actions
• Main window initially shows only a small number of rows
• Window remains resizable
• Resize indicator included
• Tooltips and contextual help added for important controls

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🧩 How It Works

1. Configure one or more source → target paths
2. Optionally define exclusions per backup pair
3. Choose a versioning method
4. Optionally configure:
   • Retention
   • Source cleanup
   • Custom backup timer
   • Error handling
5. Click Backup or let the configured timer start it automatically
6. The app will:
   • Validate the source and target paths
   • Create a versioned directory or ZIP archive
   • Report progress directly in the backup-pair row
   • Skip problematic files if configured
   • Preview Source Cleanup and Retention candidates before deletion
   • Allow canceling the backup or continuing without deletion
   • Apply confirmed Source Cleanup only after a successful backup
   • Apply confirmed Retention after backup creation
   • Store the final backup status per entry
   • Persist the selected version only after success

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⚙️ Settings Overview

Backup Timer

Flexible input:

• 30s → 30 seconds
• 5m → 5 minutes
• 1h → 1 hour
• 15 → 15 minutes by default

Default Versioning

Starting version or pattern, for example:

• none
• v1.0
• 1.0
• yyyy-MM-dd
• yyyyMMdd
• yyyy-MM-dd-HH-mm
• yyyyMMddHHmm

Auto Increment

• Automatically increases compatible version numbers
• Updated versions are saved only after a successful backup

Retention

• Keep the latest configured number of backups
• Keep backups for a configured number of days
• Combine enabled rules with AND or OR
• Exclude tagged backups from deletion

Source Cleanup

• Delete only explicitly configured file types
• Restrict cleanup to specific source-relative folders
• Keep the newest files or delete files older than a selected date

Minimize to Systray

• Keeps the app running quietly in the background

Ignore Copy Errors

• Skips locked or problematic files instead of stopping the backup

ZIP Backups

• Enable to create one .zip archive per backup
• Disable to create a versioned backup directory

Per-Path Exclusions

• Exclude folders or files from individual backup entries
• Supports simple names, file extensions, relative paths, *, and **

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🖥️ Runtime Requirement

The published application targets Windows x64 and requires the .NET 8 Desktop Runtime because the project is framework-dependent (SelfContained=false).

Application settings are stored in:

<application directory>\Settings\EasyVersionBackup.settings.json

The application no longer creates .evbmeta sidecar files beside ZIP backups.

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💡 Use Cases

• Backup Visual Studio projects
• Create safe snapshots before refactoring
• Preserve game saves while automatically removing older save files
• Keep only a defined number of recent backups
• Protect release backups using retention tags
• Save versions before deployments or releases
• Run automatic backups while working