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Backup restores problem - palosanto - 06-05-2026
Mike,
I've been experiencing issues with files being restored from backups or imported via .msf ending up in the wrong locations. I've raised this problem many times in the past, but it doesn't appear to have been resolved, at least not for me.
My setup:
- Devices: 2 Windows and 1 Android e-ink (both on the latest versions).
- Storage: Mapped Google Drive folder "D:\My Drive\MSP songs" on Windows and "/storage/emulated/0/MSP songs" on Android.
- Pieces are organized in subfolders for each composer.
- Settings: "Let MSP manage my files" and "Create subdirectories for pieces" are off on both operating systems.
Steps I take before creating a backup:
I always run "Find missing files" and "Fix broken file paths" beforehand to catch any songs with incorrect or missing paths that I may not have noticed — particularly tracks I haven't played in a while. No files are supposed to exist outside their respective composer folders.
The problem:
The backup itself is created without issue, but upon restoring it, dozens - sometimes hundreds of files end up in the root of the storage folder instead of in their corresponding composer folders.
To test this today, I completely deleted my library on my Android tablet and restored a backup made on Windows. While most composer folders were recreated and contained the majority of their songs, at least 100 PDF and audio files ended up outside their composer folders and were missing from them.
The same thing happened when I restored the backup to my other Windows device. So it doesn't seem to depend on the Operating system.
The songs still open correctly, but the files are physically in the wrong location. Because of this, running "Find missing files" or "Fix broken paths" returns zero results — everything loads and plays fine, so the tools don't flag anything, even though the files are misplaced.
The huge work is to relocate manually all the files again to their folders and then run the tools to fix the paths in the database.
I can confirm also that exporting as .msf and re-importing has the same issue, the imported files are stored outside their original composer folder.
I haven't tried to do a backup in android and restore in Windows. The files are too messed up in my e-ink tablet.
UPDATE: After clearing the library I've used "Sync library" from the last backup and it restored everything perfectly, no files outside the composers' folders.
I've done for both, my PC laptop and my e-ink Android tablet.
However, restoring a regular backup still makes a mess in both OS.
RE: Backup restores problem - palosanto - 06-08-2026
After getting a clean restore by syncing from a backup as indicated in my OP update, I tried today to do once again a regular backup and restore and it worked as it should with no orphan files outside the folders.
At this point I can't explain anymore the problems I had for months. I'm happy about the result but puzzled about why it's working now... I give up.
I apologize for wasting your time.
RE: Backup restores problem - Zubersoft - 06-08-2026
I'm glad it's all working properly for you now. I did fix a few things related to restoring backups a number of updates back, so it's possible those fixes are helping?... It's hard to say.
Mike
RE: Backup restores problem - palosanto - 06-13-2026
Apologies for returning to this, but I'm still experiencing issues with .msf files and wanted to flag a few things.
So that I understand, are .msf files essentially "micro backups" covering a small set of files? When imported, do they restore the original file path (as a full backup would)?
File path not restored on import:
When I import a .msf file, the files land in the root of the default library folder rather than their original subfolder. This happens whether I'm importing as a new song or updating an existing one — on both Windows and Android.
Updating an existing song seems like it should restore the file to its proper folder. Is that not the intended behavior?
For a new song that doesn't yet have an original location folder, will the MSF import be able to create one?
Custom stamps lost on Windows import:
Any custom stamps on the annotations are lost when importing a .msf on Windows, regardless of whether the file was exported from Windows or Android. Importing on Android preserves them fine in all cases. Native MSP stamps are always preserved.
I would appreciate it if you could look at that. Thank you.
RE: Backup restores problem - palosanto - 06-19-2026
Any chance to look at that?
RE: Backup restores problem - Zubersoft - 06-20-2026
Not yet - I'm juggling a lot of different efforts at the moment, in addition to onboarding a new developer that is working with me now. These kinds of issues are difficult to look into and reproduce as you are not using the default settings, so I have to try to replicate what you are doing with the storage and folders.
Mike
RE: Backup restores problem - palosanto - 06-20-2026
No problem Mike, I understand, take your time!
RE: Backup restores problem - Zubersoft - 06-24-2026
Following up on this, I will look into the custom stamp issue, as that certainly should work, but I've never supported maintaining directory structures with .msf files. They are a self contained file without path information and MobileSheets just extracts the data into the storage location. So this is not a good approach if you want to tightly control your directories.
Mike