Restore and recovery

Restore an entire archive

Select the repository, then the archive with the required date.
Click Restore to....
Choose a new or empty destination folder.
Review the restore options and start the operation.
Wait for Completed in Notifications, then inspect the restored folders and open representative files.

Restore selected files

Select an archive and click Browse.
Expand folders or use the flattened file tree to find the data.
Select files and folders. A partially selected folder indicates that only some descendants are included.
Optionally enable Show Changes to compare with the previous archive and highlight added or modified items.
Click Restore Selected To... and choose the destination.

Restore options

Option	When to use it
Do not restore file flags	When destination flags are unsupported or should not be reproduced.
Do not restore ACLs	When restoring under a different user or to a filesystem without compatible ACLs.
Do not restore extended attributes	When the destination does not support xattrs or metadata causes permission errors.
Create sparse files	For disk images and other sparse data when the destination filesystem supports sparse files.
Save as default	Apply the selected options to later restores. Defaults can also be changed in Settings → Data.

For a normal same-platform recovery, start with the defaults. Disable metadata only to solve a known compatibility or permission problem.

Test restores regularly

A completed backup confirms that Borg wrote an archive; a test restore confirms that you can retrieve useful data. Repeat a small restore after changing repository credentials, storage, source layout, or major Borg versions.

Restore to a separate folder.
Open multiple file types, not only directory listings.
Check recent and older archives.
Record any credentials or keyfiles needed on a clean machine.

Recover on another computer

Install a Borg version compatible with the repository and install BorgMate.
Make the local disk or remote SSH host reachable.
Choose Open, not Create, and enter the existing repository location.
Provide the repository passphrase. For a keyfile encryption mode, also restore the Borg keyfile.
Browse an archive and restore to storage with enough free space.

BorgMate configuration is not the repository.

If the original computer is lost, you can add the surviving Borg repository again with Open. Recovery still depends on having the required passphrase and, for keyfile modes, the keyfile.