How to back up a canvas app

What actually counts as a backup

A backup is a copy that lives somewhere other than the place where the work is happening. In Canvasola the work happens in your browser, which means the copy has to be a file on your disk or a project in an optional cloud account. Anything that only exists inside the browser profile is a cache, not a backup, however convenient it feels day to day.

Three different things in the app are often confused with each other. The autosave keeps a local copy of the current document so a refresh does not lose your work. The version history keeps 20 snapshots you can jump back to. The .canv project file is the only one of the three you can open on another machine, in a different browser, or in five years.

The moving a project between devices guide covers the two ways of getting a project onto a second machine, and the offline guide explains how the app behaves with no connection.

• A backup lives off the machine, not in the browser cache
• Autosave protects against a refresh, not against a lost device
• Version history holds 20 snapshots of the current document
• The .canv file is the portable, complete copy

Save the .canv project file

Choose File, then Save Project (.canv), or press Ctrl/Cmd+S. The file downloads as canvas-project.canv, and it is the whole project in one file: the canvas, the mind map, the app mockups and the settings that describe how everything was arranged.

The download carries that same name every time, so a second save lands beside the first with a number added by the browser, and later saves collect as canvas-project (1).canv, canvas-project (2).canv and so on. That is convenient for the first few saves and confusing after a dozen, so rename each copy as you make it.

There is a size ceiling of 50 MB on a project file. A project that holds a lot of drawing, or a mind map with several node images in it, can push against that limit, and a file over 50 MB will not open. Check the size of what you are saving rather than finding out later.

1. Save the project. Choose File, then Save Project (.canv), or press Ctrl/Cmd+S, and the file downloads as canvas-project.canv.
2. Rename the copy. Give the file a name that says what it holds and when it was saved, such as research-map-2026-10-21.canv.
3. Move it somewhere else. Put the copy in a folder that is synced or backed up, not only in the downloads folder of one machine.

What the .canv file contains

The file is JSON, and the first thing in it is the marker CANV1, which is how the app recognizes a project file and refuses anything else. After the marker come the app name and the moment it was saved, and then the document itself: the canvas elements, the style, the mind map, the App Builder project, the camera and the layout mode.

The camera is more useful than it sounds. It is the exact place you were looking when you saved, so reopening the file on a large screen puts you back at the same view instead of at the top left corner. The layout mode is the mind map setting, tree or radial, and the style holds the drawing defaults for new elements, so a sketch comes back with the same fill colors, stroke widths and fonts.

• The CANV1 header marks the file as a Canvasola project
• Canvas elements, style, mind map and mockups are all inside
• The camera restores the view you saved from
• History and workspace tabs are not part of the file

Note: A .canv file is one document rather than a whole session. The version history, the workspace tab strip and any cloud account are not inside it, so open the file in the workspace where you want it to live.

Keep numbered copies at each milestone

A backup habit only works if it happens without a decision, so pick the moments that matter. The moments that matter are the ones after real work: the end of a session, the moment a map stops being rough, the moment a design gets approved.

Save the project file at each of them and rename it with a date and a word about what it holds. The file naming guide covers a convention that stays useful as the folder fills up.

Two copies in the same folder protect you against a bad edit, which is what a numbered set gives you. A copy somewhere else, on an external drive or in a synced folder, protects you against the machine itself. Both are worth having, and neither takes longer than the export you already do at the end of a session.

• Save at milestones, not only when the session ends
• Keep two copies near the work and one copy elsewhere
• Date and describe each file in its name
• A numbered set is a history you can actually navigate

Where autosave fits and where it does not

Canvasola keeps the current document in the browser under the key canvasola_document_v2, and the workspace tabs under canvasola_workspace_tabs_v1. That is what makes a refresh, a crash or a closed tab survivable: the work is still there when you come back, in that browser, on that machine.

That storage belongs to the browser profile. A different browser, a different device, a private window or a cleared browsing history all start from nothing, and the local copy of the current document goes with them. The autosave is a net for accidents inside one browser profile, not a sync service, and no amount of trusting it will make it one.

The optional cloud account is the other route, and it has to be turned on deliberately. It holds 5 projects of 2 MB each, and sessions last 30 days, so it is a convenience for carrying a project between your own devices rather than a place to keep a large library.

• The document autosaves under canvasola_document_v2
• Workspace tabs are stored under canvasola_workspace_tabs_v1
• Both live in the browser profile, not on a server
• Cloud storage is opt-in, with 5 projects of 2 MB each

Note: Clearing browsing data removes the local document, and clearing it on purpose is the fastest way to lose an unsaved project. Save the .canv file before you clear anything.

Restore a project later

Choose File, then Open Project… (.canv), or press Ctrl/Cmd+O, and pick the file. The project loads with its canvas, its mind map, its mockups and its view, and you can carry on from exactly where the file was saved.

The version history is the second restore route, and it works inside the open document. Open the history panel from the clock icon in the top bar, and the list shows snapshots with timestamps, up to 20 of them. Click one to restore that state.

The history panel is the quickest way back after a change you regret, and it works on the document you already have open. The complete Canvasola guide shows where the panel lives and how the two restore routes fit together.

• Open Project… loads a .canv file from your computer
• The history panel lists up to 20 snapshots with timestamps
• Clicking a snapshot restores that state of the document
• Save the restored copy under a new name straight away

Note: After you open an old project file, save it again under a new name, so the restored copy becomes a new file rather than a second copy of the old one.

A checklist you can reuse

• The .canv project file was saved from the File menu
• Each copy was renamed with a date and a short description
• One copy sits outside the browser and outside the downloads folder
• The file is under the 50 MB ceiling
• You know the file contains the canvas, the mind map and the mockups
• Autosave was not mistaken for a backup
• The optional cloud route was checked against the 2 MB project limit
• You know how to open a project file again

Common mistakes to avoid

• Treating autosave as a backup. The autosaved document lives in one browser profile. Clearing that data, or losing the device, takes the work with it, and the .canv file is what survives.
• Keeping every copy with the same name. The download is always called canvas-project.canv, so the numbered copies blur together. Rename each one as you save it.
• Saving only at the end of a session. A crash in the middle of a session leaves only the autosave and the last twenty snapshots. Save at the milestones that matter as well as at the end.
• Forgetting that the file is one document. A .canv file holds one project, not your workspace. The tab strip and the version history are not in it, so save the file that matters rather than assuming the file holds everything.

Frequently asked questions

How large can a .canv project file get?

50 MB is the ceiling, and a file larger than that will not open. Most projects are far smaller, but a canvas with thousands of elements, or a mind map holding several node images of up to 1.5 MB each, can push the size up. Keep an eye on the file size and keep a picture export of anything that is too large to duplicate comfortably.

Is the autosave the same thing as a backup?

No. The autosave stores the current document in the browser under canvasola_document_v2 so a refresh or a crash does not lose your work, and it is bound to that one browser profile. A backup has to be a file on your disk or a project in the optional cloud account, and the .canv file is the one that travels.

Can I open a .canv file on another computer?

Yes, and that is the main reason to save one. Copy the file to the other machine, open Canvasola there, and choose File, then Open Project… (.canv). The canvas, the mind map, the app mockups and the view you saved come back, because all of that is inside the one file.

Does the project file keep my mind map notes and node images?

It keeps the mind map as it is, including the node labels, the notes and the images you attached to nodes. Those images are stored inside the file, and that is one of the reasons a project with pictures in it is larger than a project without.

This guide is part of the export and import collection. For the wider product tour, read the complete Canvasola guide, and keep the keyboard shortcut cheat sheet open while you work.