JWJW Sync

Restore replaced your notes? Here's how to combine both backups

JW Library's restore is a full swap, not a merge — notes made after the backup date seem gone. If you still have both backup files, nothing is lost. Here's the fix.

It's a horrible moment: you restore a backup onto a device that already had notes, and the restore replaces everything — the notes you made since that backup seem gone. This happens because JW Library's Backup and Restore is a full swap, not a merge.

The key fact: if the newer work still exists in any backup file, nothing is actually lost. The fix is to merge the two backups instead of choosing between them.

Step by step

  1. Stop — don't restore again

    Every restore replaces the device's current data. Pause before anything else disappears.

  2. Back up the device as it is right now

    Personal Study → Backup and Restore → Create a backup. This preserves the current state, whatever it contains.

  3. Find the backup with the missing notes

    The .jwlibrary file you restored from, or an earlier one — check your email, Drive, iCloud and downloads folder.

  4. Merge both files at jwsync.org

    Load both backups. JW Sync combines all notes, highlights, bookmarks and tags from both into one new file — in your browser, nothing uploaded. Conflicting versions of the same note are shown side by side for you to pick.

  5. Restore the merged file

    Backup and Restore → Restore with the merged .jwlibrary. Both sets of notes are back on the device.

Do it now — free, in your browserJW Sync merges, edits and analyses .jwlibrary backups entirely on your device. No account, no uploads, nothing installed.Open JW Sync →

What if there's no backup of the newer notes?

If the only copy of the newer notes was on the device and a restore already overwrote them, JW Library itself offers no undo. This is why step 2 above — backing up the current state before doing anything — matters so much whenever data looks wrong. Going forward, the merge-first routine makes the problem structurally impossible.

Frequently asked questions

Will the merge duplicate the notes both backups share?
No — identical items are detected and kept once. Only genuinely different versions of the same note are flagged for review.
Can this fix a backup that won't restore at all?
That's usually file damage rather than an overwrite — see the guide to fixing a corrupted backup below.

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