Restoring Files from a Borg Backup

If you need to restore your data to a new machine, you will need the following:

• If you used repokey[-blake2] encrytion mode, you just need the passphrase used. The encrypted key itself is stored in your remote repo.
• If you used keyfile encryption mode, you need a copy of the keyfile (you could print it as QR code).

You do not need a backup of the SSH key used. It’s only used for authentication and you can simply add a new one in our web interface.

So after preparing the passphrase or keyfile, generate a new SSH key on the replacement machine, add it to the repo and you are ready to restore your data. Here an overview of how restoring works with different clients:

• Restore with Borg CLI - Use the Borg CLI directly to extract a full or partial backup archive.
• Restore with Borgmatic - Use the Borgmatic CLI wrapper.
• Restore with Vorta (link to Vorta documentation) - Use our Borg desktop client, Vorta to restore backups. Recommended for users not used to the command line.
• Mounting and Browsing - Mount and browse an archive and copy the files you need from it.

All of these solutions work well, but care should be used with each one. Borg is a powerful program, but the wrong syntax, incorrect command, or extracting into the wrong directory can lead to accidental overwriting of your current files, or even destruction of you current backups.