"Permission denied" (fixed)

This was a real bug on Android 11 and newer, and it's fixed as of version 1.95. If you're on an older version, update the app. The free offline backup and restore work as expected on current builds.

Symptom (historical)

"Impossible to create local Backup File for switching Phone." / "can't share or export my data, it just says 'Permission denied' even if the app has all permissions available."

This page exists mainly for people arriving from an older review or search result. The underlying issue no longer occurs on current versions.

Why this happened

Android 11 (API 30) introduced scoped storage. It blocks apps from writing to the shared public folder they used to write to, even with storage permission granted, so the permission prompt itself was never the problem. The app's target SDK moved past the version where the old broad storage permission still applied, so on Android 11 and newer, every attempt to save a backup to the previous default location failed silently. It wasn't limited to Cloud Sync. The same failure hit the free offline backup path, for roughly two years.

Fix (already applied as of version 1.95)

1. Update to version 1.95 or later from the Play Store.
2. Backups now save to the app's own storage area automatically on Android 11 and newer, which doesn't need the old broad permission. Restore also still finds backups saved in the previous location.
3. If you can't update yet, use "Share Backup" to save through another app instead of the default folder. That avoids the blocked path entirely.

If that didn't work

If you're already on the current version and still see "permission denied," it isn't the same bug. Contact support with your exact app version and Android version so we can look into it.

Related: Backup isn't working · Restoring on a new phone · Help centre