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Flash Drives and Backup

If you simply want to back up your files to an external drive, see Backing Up Your EverDesk Files below.

If, however, you use your external drive to keep all of your working documents, EverDesk has the functionality to allow to specify your Root Folder to be on an external drive.

This means that you can take all of your files and settings with you, and work with them using any computer which has EverDesk installed on it.

In order to do this, follow the following steps:

Select / create a folder on your flash drive to be your EverDesk Root Folder

  • Connect your external drive to your computer. 
  • In EverDesk, go to Settings > General to specify your Root Folder. 
  • Here, select / create a folder on your external drive. 
  • EverDesk will now copy its application data folders to your external drive, and your external drive will now be the Root Folder for EverDesk on that computer.

Enable other computers to work with your external drive

  • First, install EverDesk on any other computers that you will be using.
  • When you start EverDesk on the other machines for the first time, enter your login details, and then skip Import Wizard - you do not want to import or set anything up.
  • Connect your external drive to your computer.
  • You will now have a blank EverDesk installation. To assign your personal Root Folder to it, along with all of your account data and settings, go to Settings > General, and change the Root Folder to the folder on your external drive that you specified to be your Root Folder.
  • You will see a message saying “EverDesk stores its Settings and Address Book inside the Root Folder (“EverDesk Data”). The folder you have selected to be your new Root Folder already contains its own Settings and Address Book. Would you like this folder to continue using its existing Settings and Address Book?”
  • Select Yes to continue. IMPORTANT: Clicking No would cause the application data in the Root Folder to be replaced with the blank installation settings.
  • Restart EverDesk, and you will see all of your files and settings.
  • Repeat for any other machines you need.
A few points to note:
  • Using an external drive as your Root Folder may cause file transfer speeds to be reduced. Always use the fastest USB port available on your computer, and if using an external hard drive, we recommend using eSATA drives.
  • A single EverDesk license allows you to install the software on up to 3 computers at any one time. If you wish to use EverDesk on further computers, you need to purchase additional licenses.

Backing Up Your EverDesk Files

All of EverDesk’s application data and settings are stored within a couple of hidden folders within your Root Folder.

EverDesk Data
This is a hidden folder containing all the application data and parameters, including your default settings, encryption keys, quickboard layout etc. We recommend that you do not modify any of its contents.

EverDesk Mail
This is another hidden application data folder which contains all of your email data. All of your emails can be accessed in EverDesk by selecting My Mailbox or the respective account folder.

Neither the EverDesk Data nor EverDesk Mail folder is shown in the file tree, but you may come across them when navigating in Windows Explorer if you have selected the option to show hidden files and folders.
It is recommended that you leave these folders alone and do not modify their contents.

Backing up your Root Folder, together with the application data and settings, to an external USB drive, a CD or online is simple

  1. Ensure you know the name and location of your Root Folder (you can see it in Settings > General).
  2. Exit EverDesk.
  3. Find your Root Folder in Windows (e.g. using Windows Explorer, or through My Computer).
  4. Ensure that in Windows Folder Options you have enabled the option to Show hidden files and folders.
  5. You can now simply copy your entire Root Folder to anywhere you wish (e.g. to a USB drive) to backup your EverDesk data and settings.

In order to recover your settings, simply replace your current Root Folder in Windows Explorer, with a previously backed-up copy, then start EverDesk as normal.

Please note that EverDesk email client does not archive your Root Folder when backing up. This has the benefit of allowing you to still access all of the files contained in it, e.g. from within Windows.

If you wish to archive your backups (to reduce the size), you can simply archive the backed-up Root Folder copy using software such as Winzip (www.winzip.com).