Tiffany Antopolski tiffany.antopolski@gmail.com GNOME Documentation Project gnome-doc-list@gnome.org Tips

Deciding what files to backup and finding where they all are is the most difficult step when attempting to perform a backup. Below we list where most of your important files will be, so you can find them more easily.

Your personal files and settings

These are usually stored in your Home folder (/home/your_name). They could be in subfolders such as Desktop, Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos and/or .evolution. If your backup medium has sufficient space, consider backing up the entire /home folder. This is the simplest way.

If you are not able to backup all of /home, see below for a list of some subfolders of the /home directory to check for important files.

~/ represents your home directory /home/your_name

Any file or folder name that starts with a period is by default hidden. To view hidden files select View from the main menu, then select Show Hidden Files or press Ctrl H .

Your personal files

~/, ~/Desktop, ~/Documents, ~/Pictures, ~/Music, Videos, ~/bin, and others

Contain files you actively created.

Your personal settings

~/.config, ~/gconf, ~/.gnome3, ~/.local

Contain settings you set for your desktop and some programs.

System settings

/etc located in the File System outside of your home

Your system settings. In general, you don't need to go outside of your home directory.