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Full and partial backups — which one you want

Deselecting a single add-on turns a backup "partial", which changes how it restores. Here is how to tell, and why it matters.

Updated 19 August 2026 backupsmigration


Home Assistant records a backup as partial the moment you deselect anything. One add-on you no longer use is enough. It looks identical in the backup list, and the difference only shows up at restore time.

Why it matters

A partial backup has to be restored as a partial backup. Ask for a full restore of one and Home Assistant refuses outright:

216d3222 is only a partial backup!

We hit this on our own migration, and not at a convenient moment: the refusal came after the snapshot, a four-gigabyte copy and the upload had all completed.

What VomeHome does about it

Both kinds work. A partial backup is restored through the partial path, so everything the archive holds comes across. The pre-flight checks tell you which kind you uploaded and what is inside it, before anything is moved — the fact is written in plaintext inside the archive, so there is no excuse for finding out later.

If you want everything, take a full backup

Deselecting an add-on to save space also removes it from the restore. The first you would otherwise notice is its absence afterwards.

Rather not do this alone?
The Vome assistant will walk you through this guide a step at a time, and can do some of it for you.
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