If you need a backup copy of your data to confirm some aspect of your finances at a previous point in time, or to revert to an earlier state, such as to undo importing a lot of data to the wrong account, it doesn't matter whether the backup copy is local or stored elsewhere, such as on an attached network drive. However, if you need a backup to recover from loss of data if you disk drive failed, for example, it is essential that the backup is not on the same drive as your primary data file. In case of a larger disaster, such as a house fire, you would need a backup copy stored in a fireproof safe or at a physically different location. Please keep this in mind as you establish your backup strategy.

KMyMoney has the ability to automatically save a copy of your data file at regular intervals. It can also do so on closing the program, if the data has changed. This behavior can be configured on the KMyMoney configuration dialog, General section, Global tab.

Unless you are using SQL storage, your data may be compressed, and it may be encrypted, but is kept in a regular file. Whenever you save your data with the File → Save menu item, it writes all your data to a file, replacing the previous version. The most straightforward way of backing up your data is by making a copy of that file. A single copy can even have the same file name if it is in a different folder than your original file, but if you are going to keep multiple copies, it makes sense to include some version of the current date and time in each file name. You can save these to a network drive, or to a USB storage device, or even to an optical device. The primary downside of this method is that you need to keep track of all the backups, but it does provide the most flexibility.

To make things a bit easier, you can select the File → Backup menu item.

When you click OK KMyMoney will create a copy of your data file, with the date (formatted as YYYY-MM-DD) appended to the name. Note that this means only one backup per day can be created by this method. If you have already created a backup on the same day, KMyMoney will ask if you want to replace the previous backup or cancel.

KMyMoney will save this file to the directory specified in the Mount Point field. You can either manually type the full path to the directory or click Choose... and navigate to it using the file browser. The directory can be on a local storage device or it can be a network folder.

If the specified directory is actually a mount point for a storage device that is not always mounted, you can check the Mount this directory before backing up checkbox. Do not use this for a regular network file share which is always mounted.