Backup, Updates & Migration

This page shows how to save your profiles and settings to a file, restore them, and move them between Throne desktop and Throne for Android. It also explains how to update the desktop app and what to do when you come from an old version. Make a backup before every update.

Back up and restore

Open Settings → Basic Settings → Backup and Restore.

To create a backup:

1. Under Create Backup, tick the parts you want. All parts are ticked by default.
2. Click Create Backup... and choose where to save the file. The suggested name is Throne-backup.thrbackup in your home folder.
3. Throne confirms the file and lists the parts it included.

Part	What it contains
Profiles (groups and proxies)	Your groups, subscriptions and profiles.
Routing profiles	Your routing profiles and their rules.
Settings	All settings, including DNS, TUN, WARP and inbound settings.
OTP profiles	The entries of the OTP Manager.
Custom icons	Your custom tray icons.

A backup does not contain traffic history, logs or the core's cache files. It also does not remember whether Tun Mode or System Proxy was on.

To restore a backup:

1. Click Restore from Backup... and choose a .thrbackup file.
2. Throne shows when the backup was created. Tick the parts you want to restore. Parts that the file does not contain are greyed out.
3. Click Restore. Each selected part replaces your current data. This cannot be undone.
4. Throne restarts.

Backups from older versions of Throne restore normally. A backup from a newer version can be refused with "Unsupported backup format version"; update Throne first.

Move between desktop and Android

Throne desktop and Throne for Android use the same backup format, so you can move your data in both directions.

From the desktop to a phone:

1. On the desktop, create a backup as described above.
2. Copy the .thrbackup file to the phone.
3. On the phone, open Settings → Backup & restore (or Tools in the drawer), tap Restore and choose the file. Opening the file from a file manager also offers to restore it.
4. Tick the parts to restore and confirm. Throne restarts.

From a phone to the desktop:

1. On the phone, open Settings → Backup & restore, tick the parts and tap Create backup. Share sends the file to another app.
2. Copy the file to the computer.
3. On the desktop, restore it as described above.

Android: you can also keep backups on a WebDAV server: Back up to WebDAV, Restore from WebDAV and WebDAV settings (Server address, Username, Password, Backup path, Test connection). Throne desktop has no WebDAV support, but it can restore a file that you download from the server. WebDAV credentials are never included in a backup.

A desktop backup changes a few things when you restore it on Android:

Item	What happens on Android
OTP profiles and Custom icons	Not restored.
Settings that both apps have	Take the values from the backup. For example, the TUN MTU becomes 1500 (Android default: 9000) and the log level becomes info (Android default: warn).
Settings that only Android has	Keep their current values.
Connections from other devices	When you restore Settings and the backup allows other devices to connect, but your phone did not, Throne turns Allow connections from the LAN off and shows a warning.
Raw routing profiles	Kept, but read-only. Android cannot use them; if one was active, the first usable routing profile becomes active.
OpenVPN and OpenConnect endpoints of a routing profile	Kept with the profile, but they do not run on Android.
Tailscale and Extra Core profiles	Restored, but they cannot be started on Android.

In the other direction, rules that match Android apps and the per-app proxy settings have no effect on the desktop.

Update the desktop app

Your profiles and settings live in the data folder, which an update keeps (see data folder). Still, create a backup first.

1. Open Tools → Check For Update. Throne asks GitHub for the latest release. If you already run it, you see "No update".
2. If there is a newer version, Throne shows its release notes with the buttons Update, Open in browser and Close.
3. Click Update. Throne downloads the new version and asks "Update is ready, restart to install?".
4. Click Yes. Throne closes and the updater installs the new version.

The one-click Update works only for ZIP copies and for the Windows installer's default install for the current user, where Throne keeps its data next to the program. Other installs only get Open in browser. On macOS, with the system-Qt packages and with the Linux install script, no updater ships with Throne, so Check For Update is greyed out. Update each kind of install like this:

Installed with	How to update
ZIP file	Update, or download the new ZIP and replace the program files. Keep the config folder.
Windows installer, for the current user (default)	Update, or download and run the new installer.
Windows installer, for all users	Download and run the new installer.
.deb or .rpm package	Download and install the new package.
Linux install script	Run the script again.
macOS	Download the new version and replace Throne.app. See Installation.
WinGet, Scoop, AUR, Nix or the RPM repository	Use the package manager. See Package managers.

If you uninstall and reinstall with the Windows installer, answer No when the uninstaller asks "Also delete your Throne profiles, settings and logs?". Otherwise your data is deleted.

Some antivirus programs flag the updater, because it replaces program files. If the update fails, check that Throne is not inside your Downloads folder (#1109) and try again, or download the new version from the download page.

Beta versions

Beta versions (pre-releases) get new features and fixes first, but they can have more bugs. Make a backup before you install one.

• Desktop: turn on Settings → Basic Settings → Miscellaneous → Allow updating to beta versions. Check For Update then also offers pre-releases, and its window title shows "(Pre-release)".
• Android: turn on Settings → General → Allow updating to beta versions. About → Check for updates then shows "Channel: stable and pre-releases". See the in-app updater.

To go back, turn the option off. The updater only offers versions newer than the one you run, so you stay on the beta until a newer stable release comes out, unless you install a stable release yourself.

Old versions

• Throne desktop older than 1.1.0. Version 1.1.0 moved all data into one database file, throne.db. Older configurations are not converted. Add your subscriptions and profiles again, or try the community scripts in #1202. Backup and Restore exists since 1.1.3, so backups from 1.1.3 or later restore in newer versions.
• Nekoray or NekoBox. See Coming from Nekoray / NekoBox.
• Throne for Android older than 2.0.0. Version 2.0.0 is signed with a new key, so it cannot be installed over an older version. Uninstall the old app first; 2.0.0 starts empty. Old Android backups (throne_backup_*.json files and WebDAV .zip files) cannot be restored, only .thrbackup files. Before you uninstall, note your subscription links. If you also use Throne desktop, you can move everything with a desktop backup instead. See Installation & Upgrade.