Real situations

Moving a private archive to a new phone

Confirm backup compatibility and complete a test restore before replacing the old phone or deleting its local archive.

· September 7, 2026

Confirm backup compatibility and complete a test restore before replacing the old phone or deleting its local archive.

Establish the destination before creating the copy

A new device on the same platform and a move between iOS and Android can have different recovery paths. A phrase from one product should not be assumed to unlock every backup format. Read the destination's current restore requirements before depending on an export.

Use a small test before the full transfer

Create a harmless sample containing the types of content you actually use: for example, an image, a document and a note. Follow the documented backup and restore steps. Confirm the recovered contents and any organizational features you depend on. Then repeat with the real archive while keeping the working original until verification is complete.

Check Why it matters
Compatible platform and backup format A valid file may still be unsupported by the destination
Correct recovery credential An app-store purchase does not replace a vault phrase
Sufficient device storage Decryption and import can need working space
Known export destination Temporary plaintext copies may remain after migration

NullVault's boundary

The backup feature describes Android portable backups and iOS encrypted iCloud backup separately. Secure export is a different operation with a different exposure boundary.

Use the encrypted-backup checklist for validation and the recovery phrase guide to distinguish credentials from data. A successful app installation alone is not a successful archive migration.