Export and import

Everything TabOasis holds can be taken out as a file, with no account and no license. There are three exports, and they are for different jobs.

	Format	Covers	Can be imported back
Export JSON	taboasis-backup-YYYY-MM-DD.json	the active profile	Yes, with Import
Export to Markdown	taboasis-export-YYYY-MM-DD.md	the active profile	No
Profile export	name-profile.json	one profile	Yes, with Import Profile

The first two are under the gear → Data Management. The third is the down arrow on a row in the profile switcher.

Export JSON: the backup

The one to keep. It is the active profile written out in full:

• every column, with its sort preference
• every bookmark, task, note and tab group, including archived ones
• folders and their order
• your tag definitions
• Focus mode data (sticky notes, session history, which background is selected and your YouTube playlist) and your Pomodoro settings. Not your ambient-sound mix, and not any background images or local music files you added yourself

It does not contain your other profiles, your account, your license, your settings, or your API key.

Import, and what it replaces

Import opens a file picker for a .json and then rebuilds the current profile from it. This is a replacement, not a merge: the columns and cards in the file become the columns and cards you have.

Import overwrites the profile you are in

Import asks first. The Replace board data? dialog says how many items are about to go, but there is no undo once you confirm. Switch to the profile you want the data to land in, or create it, before you press Import. If you want the file to arrive as a new board without touching this one, use Import Profile in the profile switcher instead.

A file that is not a TabOasis export, or one whose structure is wrong, is rejected with Invalid data file and nothing changes.

Older exports still work. A backup made before tags existed carries none, and importing it leaves your current tag definitions in place rather than wiping them. Folders work the other way: an import with no folders in it clears the folders you have, because the file is the whole board. Otherwise a card that still pointed at a folder the file does not contain would vanish from view.

Export to Markdown: the readable one

A single .md file, for pasting into a document or reading anywhere. Structure:

• # TabOasis Export and the date
• ## Column name for each column that has anything in it
• inside a column, items grouped under Bookmarks, Tasks and Notes
• then ### 📁 Folder name for each folder, with the same grouping inside

Bookmarks come out as Markdown links with their description after a dash; a tab group is a bold title with its URLs beneath it; tasks come out as - [ ] / - [x] with any due date; notes are rendered from rich text into plain Markdown. Tags appear in parentheses after the title.

Two things it leaves out: archived items, and any column with nothing in it.

It is one-way. There is no Markdown import, so this is a format for reading, not a backup.

Profile export and import

The down arrow on a profile row writes that profile out on its own, named after it (work-profile.json). It carries the profile’s name, avatar, columns, cards, folders and tags, and nothing else: no focus data, no settings.

Import Profile, in the same menu, always creates a new profile from such a file; it never overwrites the one you are in. That makes it the safe way to move a board between machines by hand, and the right way to hand a board to someone else. If you are already at your plan’s profile limit, it opens the upgrade dialog instead of a file picker.

Related

• Importing Chrome bookmarks brings in a browser export, and adds rather than replaces. Bookmarks already on the board are skipped unless you ask for duplicates, so running it twice does not double your library.
• Cloud sync moves the same data between your own devices through your account instead of through a file. It still only happens when you press a button.