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Choose your operating system and follow its steps to save a local conversation-history backup. This guide covers standard local desktop installations, not OpenWork Cloud, a remote engine, or your organization’s server database.
1

Record the version and quit

Finish running tasks. Before quitting, open Settings > Updates in OpenWork and note Current version. Then fully quit OpenWork. If the app is already closed, leave it closed and record the version if you know it.Quit any other OpenWork or OpenCode apps you have open. If an app won’t close normally, ask your administrator or OpenWork support for help before copying.
2

Find the folders to save

Press Windows+R to open Run. Paste %APPDATA% exactly as written, including both % characters, and press Enter. A File Explorer window opens. Windows fills in the folder names between % characters for you. You don’t need to replace them with your username.For each row, open the location in the first column using Run, then find the folder named in the second column. Don’t open that named folder yet.Confirm that you can find all three folders before copying. If a folder is missing or your administrator uses different storage locations, stop and ask them or OpenWork support to confirm the paths. Share only paths. Don’t share configuration files or credentials.
3

Create the backup folder

Choose an encrypted or company-approved backup location. If you aren’t sure which location to use, ask your administrator before copying: these folders can contain private conversations and credentials. Don’t upload them to a public issue, support chat, or Slack.Create one dated folder there, for example OpenWork backup 2026-11-05. Keep it outside the three folders you are saving. Save a note alongside the copies with your operating system, the app version if known, and the folder table from step 2. For custom storage, record the exact paths your administrator provides instead.
4

Copy the folders

Use Run as in step 2 to return to each location. Select the named folder itself, then use Copy, not Cut. Open your dated backup folder and use Paste. Put all three folder copies inside that same dated backup folder, keeping their names unchanged. Copy folders, not selected files inside them. Leave the originals unchanged.
5

Check the copies

Wait for all copying to finish and resolve any copy errors. For the default locations, your dated backup folder should now contain:
  • com.differentai.openwork
  • openwork
  • opencode
Confirm that you saved the note with your operating system, version if known, and source locations alongside the copies. Then reopen OpenWork. This finishes the folder copy. Read recovery limits before using it to restore data.

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Custom storage and other installations

Ask your administrator or OpenWork support to confirm the desktop profile, runtime folder, and history database paths before copying. Relevant overrides include OPENWORK_ELECTRON_USERDATA, OPENWORK_SERVER_CONFIG, OPENWORK_RUNTIME_DB, OPENCODE_DB, XDG_CONFIG_HOME, and XDG_DATA_HOME. A saved engine selection may point at another history database. Share only paths. Don’t share configuration files or credentials. For custom sources, record each full original path in the backup notes. If different sources have the same folder name, put each copy inside a distinct labelled folder within the dated backup. Record which source belongs to each copy, and don’t merge or replace different sources. A populated ~/Library/Application Support/opencode on macOS or %APPDATA%\opencode on Windows may be another OpenCode data store. Keep it in a distinct backup location until your administrator confirms its role. A local copy can’t capture history held by an external or remote engine.

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What this backup includes

The folder set includes the desktop profile, OpenWork runtime state, and original OpenCode data. History may be in the original data folder or a separate engine store inside the runtime folder. Save the complete set, not whichever database filename looks newest. Whole-folder capture includes SQLite’s write-ahead log, whose name has a -wal suffix. A live copy of the database and its sidecars doesn’t establish a consistent capture. This is why you quit the apps first and copy folders rather than a single .db file. This isn’t a complete backup of workspace documents, global skills, or OS-protected credentials. You don’t need to copy every project folder just to save the standard chat stores. If a conversation links to an original local file outside these folders, save that file in its own backup location if you need its original bytes. File copies don’t export the OS keychain or keyring or make sign-in credentials portable between computers, users, or operating systems. A completed folder copy isn’t proof of a successful restore. Contact your administrator or OpenWork support before attempting recovery. Don’t overwrite your current profile to test a backup.