Pro Feature
The Backup Manager is part of the Pro edition and only appears when Pro is installed.
Automatically snapshots your .dna before and after changes are committed, giving you a fast way to roll back to a previous state.
Backup Events
A backup is taken automatically around every point where your DNA could change, plus whenever you save your .blend file:
| Event | Fires |
|---|---|
| Blender File Saved | Every time you save the .blend file |
| Pre Raw Editor Commit | Right before committing an edit from the Raw Editor |
| Post Raw Editor Commit | Right after committing an edit from the Raw Editor |
| Pre Raw Editor (Rest Pose) Commit | Right before committing a Rest Pose (bind pose) edit from the Raw Editor |
| Post Raw Editor (Rest Pose) Commit | Right after committing a Rest Pose (bind pose) edit from the Raw Editor |
| Pre RBF Editor Commit | Right before committing an edit from the RBF Editor |
| Post RBF Editor Commit | Right after committing an edit from the RBF Editor |
| Pre Shape Key Editor Commit | Right before committing an edit from the Shape Key Editor |
| Post Shape Key Editor Commit | Right after committing an edit from the Shape Key Editor |
| Manual Backup | Whenever you click Add in the Backup Manager panel |
Taking both a "pre" and "post" snapshot around each editor commit means you can always roll back to either side of a change — the state right before you committed, or the freshly committed result.
Note
Automatic backups can be turned off entirely from the addon preferences (see Preferences below). Manual backups are always available regardless of that setting.
The Backup List
Each entry is a timestamped snapshot with a description and type (for example, taken before or after a commit). Use the side buttons to:
- Refresh — rescan the backups folder.
- Folder — open the backups folder in your file explorer.
- Add — create a manual backup right now.
Restoring
Select a backup and click Restore. Choose what to bring back:
| Option | Restores |
|---|---|
| Reimport Meshes | Mesh geometry |
| Reimport Bones | Bone/rig data |
| Reimport Shape Keys | Shape keys |
Delete removes the selected backup.
Tip
It's good practice to create manual backups with clear descriptions as you make changes to your DNA files.
Preferences
Backup behavior is configured in the addon's preferences:
| Setting | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Enable Auto DNA Backups | Master switch for the automatic backups listed above. Turning this off stops new automatic backups from being created — manual backups are unaffected. |
| DNA Backup Folder | Where backups are stored. Defaults to a folder in your system's temp directory. You can point this at any absolute path, or use Blender's // relative-path syntax (e.g. //backups) to store backups in a folder next to the current saved .blend file. |
| Maximum Backups to Keep | The retention policy — the number of automatic backups to keep per Rig Instance before the oldest are deleted. Manually created backups are never deleted automatically, regardless of this setting. |