Backing Up and Restoring Your References
RefWorks makes sure your data is safe and secure on its servers, but you may want to copy of your database, for example if you are moving your account to another organizational subscription. The Backup & Restore feature allows you to create a copy of your account that can be restored in RefWorks.
The Backup & Restore feature is also used to share a custom output style with another RefWorks user.
Backing Up Your Database
Perform the following procedure to create a backup file of your database.
To back up your database (including RefID numbers and folders) and custom output styles, follow the steps below. Note that folders that do not contain any references are not saved. If you have empty folders that you want to retain, add a reference to the folder before backing up. Any preferences set in the Customize area of RefWorks are included in the backup.
- From the Tools menu, select Backup & Restore.
- By default, Include References, Include RSS Feeds, and Include Attachments are selected. If you do not want to include any or all of these, clear the relevant options.
- By default, all custom Output Styles are selected. You can clear any or all custom output styles.
- Click the Perform Backupbutton.
- Save the file when prompted. If you are not prompted to save the file, click the Click here to save your backup file link to download the backup to your computer.
The backup file is saved as a .zip or .rwb file. Do not change the extension as it is required in order to restore the file later.
You cannot open the backup file. If you want a viewable copy of your references, use the Export option.
Restoring Your Database with the Backup File
Restoring overwrites all the references in your database. Be sure to restore in an empty database or in an account that does not have any data you want to save.
To restore your RefWorks database:
- From the Tools menu, select Backup & Restore.
- Click Restore to expand the restore options.
- Click Browse button to find the saved back up file.
- Select Include References, Include Output Styles, Include Attachments, and Include RSS feeds, as desired. For more information about importing customer styles, see Importing a Custom Output Style in RefWorks.
- Click Perform Restore.
The files are restored.