My Arc Timeline crashed. I see in iCloud that there is 13.8 GB but nothing is restored. I tried restarting several times and nothing. File Importer says 0 files. HELP
Hi @sherralah! Let’s work the problem. We can get through this.
Could you elaborate on what you mean by crashed? It also sounds like you’ve deleted and reinstalled the app? Is that correct?
If you haven’t deleted and reinstalled the app, please do not do that. That would escalate the problem significantly.
At this point it’s not clear that restoring data is appropriate. First let’s figure out what happened, and what the current state of the app is. What are you seeing in timeline view in the app?
Also have you installed the new app yet? And if so, have you already migrated your data to the new app? That may eliminate the need to debug and fix the situation in the old app.
Hi Matt,
Thank you. Yes, unfortunately I did remove the app - ugh for me. I tried to open it one morning last week and all I got was the prompt to subscribe. I kept closing and reopening and could not get beyond that prompt, so I deleted the app, hoping to fully reinstall, but alas, no. I have been a subscriber for more than a decade.
I love the app, it is my all time favorite.
I would love to be able to see the data that it has collected, where I have been - etc.
I did install the new app ARC Timeline 4 and reinstalled the ARC timeline more than once. It has backed up data since then, April 2026 - but not the 93 months before then, which is a bummer to me.
Any help you can give me is most appreciated. You have been quite helpful in the past, but those issues did not seem quite as involved as this one.
Thank you!
Sherry
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Hi again Matt,
Here is the screenshot showing the FB that ARC Timeline has saved in iCloud- it just won’t backup the data! Thanks again.
Sherry aka sherralah
Hi again Matt -
One last screenshot that I thought I already sent - I wonder if somehow it all got corrupted. Bummer. Any fixes or suggestions you night have are most welcome. It is recording again, but I’ve lost years of data.
Ok, not to worry! We can sort this out.
And no need to feel bad about deleting and reinstalling the app. It’s the natural instinct in situations like this. Unfortunately in this case it made things worse rather than better, but there was nothing telling you that that would be the case!
The good news is that massive amount of data in iCloud Drive means your data is all still there - your backups are safe, and everything will be in there for us to restore back into the app.
The process for this will be what you’ve already started attempting - you were on the right track. We’ll be restoring your backups into the old app first.
Ok so Claude and I have written up the steps for how to get through this. This part is in Claude’s voice, because I don’t trust myself to write it all clearly and correctly! I ramble far too much 
But yeah here goes:
Here’s the path. Going to be a few stages and several hours of patient processing, but it’s all tractable.
Step 1 — Fresh start on the old app
Before we do anything else, delete the old Arc Timeline app from your phone and reinstall it from the App Store. This gives us a clean local database to import into.
When the freshly-installed app first launches, you may see a banner at the top of the timeline view offering to restore from backup. Please ignore that banner — that’s the automatic restore path, and it’s what produced the weird “93-month” mega data gap last time. We’re going to use the manual File Importer instead, which gives us much more control.
Step 2 — Find the right Previous Backups folder
Open the iOS Files app and navigate to iCloud Drive → Arc App (the folder name is “Arc App” even though the home-screen icon says Arc Timeline — quirk of how it was set up years ago).
Inside, you’ll likely see multiple folders named “Previous Backups [XXXXXXXX]”. Each one is a snapshot from a different point in time. We want the most recent and complete one.
The trick: tap into each “Previous Backups” folder and look at the LocomotionSamples subfolder inside. That’s where the per-week sample files live (named like 2026-W17.json.gz, one per week of recording). The right folder is the one that has:
- Files spanning all the way back to your earliest recorded data (years ago)
- The most recent week files (close to when you last had data working)
If you can take a screenshot showing me the list of “Previous Backups” folders alongside their LocomotionSamples contents (or tell me which one has the widest week-file coverage), I’ll confirm it’s the right one before you commit to the next step.
Step 3 — Copy the chosen Previous Backups folder into Import
The Import folder already exists at the same level as Previous Backups (the old app created it years ago).
In the Files app, copy (not move) the whole Previous Backups folder into the Import folder. Long-press the Previous Backups folder → tap Copy → navigate into the Import folder → long-press in empty space → tap Paste.
Important: copy, not move. We want the original Previous Backups folder to stay where it is, untouched, in case we need to come back to it.
You don’t need to copy individual subfolders — copying the whole Previous Backups folder is the simplest path. The File Importer will search recursively inside the Import folder to find what it needs.
Step 4 — Keep it all locally downloaded
Long-press the Import folder and tap “Keep Downloaded”. This forces iOS to fully sync the content from iCloud to your device. Several hours of download depending on your connection — best to do this on Wi-Fi, plug the phone in, and let it run.
This step makes sure all the copied files are physically on your device before the import starts. If files are still “in iCloud only” when the import runs, it has to download them on-demand mid-process, which is fragile and slow.
Step 5 — Run the File Importer
Open the old Arc Timeline app. Navigate to Settings → Backup Import & Export → File Importer.
You should see sections for Sample Files, Notes Files, Day Summary Files, Place Files, Timeline Item Files. The file counts should now reflect your full data — many years of weeks.
Tap Import All on Sample Files first. Sample files are the heart of your data; the importer auto-pulls in their related Timeline Items and Places as it processes them.
During the import — very important:
- Keep the app in the foreground. If you switch away or the screen sleeps, the import keeps running in the background — but iOS will likely terminate the app shortly after due to high background energy use, which interrupts the import. Set Auto-Lock to Never (Settings → Display & Brightness → Auto-Lock → Never), plug the phone in, let it run.
- Don’t navigate around in the timeline view during the import. That triggers processing on partially-imported data, which can produce weird results (similar to the 93-month gap item you saw). Just leave the importer running and don’t poke at the timeline.
- This will take several hours for years of data. That’s normal.
- If interrupted, no harm done — re-running Import All skips already-imported data quickly.
After Sample Files completes, also tap Import All on Notes Files and Day Summary Files.
Step 6 — Verify (only after the import finishes)
Once the importer has finished all sections, now you can navigate to the timeline view and scroll back through the years. Everything should be there.
If on first attempt things look correct: you’re done. Welcome back to your data.
If something looks wrong (broken visits, mega gap items, weird structure): no problem, the data is still safe in iCloud. We’ll do a second attempt with a more careful approach — delete + reinstall again, then run File Importer one week at a time starting from the newest week and working backwards, checking the timeline after each batch. That way if anything goes weird at a particular point, we catch it and stop before it compounds. Just let me know.
One last note about activity types: when you first see your imported timeline, some classifications might look slightly off (a “stationary” where you remember “walking”, etc.). That’s normal and self-corrects — the activity-type ML models rebuild overnight when iOS runs background tasks. Within 24 hours things should settle.
Ok, back to Matt now. Claude and I worked through writing those instructions, and all is correct. Should be solid, and much better than if I’d rambled off my own meandering version of them 
Apologies for the massive workload that process involves! The restore system in the old app really is an archaeological monument. Built many years ago, and somewhat of a horror by modern standards.
Thankfully the new system in the new app is worlds better - simple, fast, near flawless. But sadly we can’t restore the old app’s backups directly into the new app. No such luck.
Anyway, definitely let me know how you get on along the way! And if anything feels off, doesn’t go right, doesn’t make sense, or you just want to chat along the way, I’ll be here 
Oh and once that’s all done, then we can get all your data into the new app. Though that is a bulletproof single tap and done (albeit with 10-30 minutes of migration time). Anyway, one step at a time!
Hi Matt (and Claude),
Huge thanks. Here are the screenshots. Please let me know if I should proceed. Hopefully this will work and I can follow your great instructions.
Huge thanks.
Sherry aka Sherralah
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Hi again -
Do I need to click on the iCloud button to download the data. Also I renamed the folder, but didn’t move any data. - it says 1 item, even though it has everything. I think I do need to click the download. When I click copy as you instructed, I don’t think anything copied, though I’m not sure. Where would I find that copy?
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Ok, looking good @sherralah!
I’ve got a few notes in mind, things to check, steps to do next, etc, but I’m thinking best have Claude explain. As usual, I’m too liable to ramble and give instructions more confusing than they need to be.
Claude and I are crafting updated instructions now… Ok yep, here goes:
Your data is unambiguously safe. The 13.8 GB you screenshotted in iCloud Drive is real, and your earlier screenshot of LocomotionSample with files going back to 2013 confirms the data goes back well over a decade. We just need to point the File Importer at the right folder.
Step 1 — Pick the right Previous Backups folder (this is the foundational one)
This is the most important step. Everything else rests on getting this right. We need the Previous Backups folder containing the most complete LocomotionSample data — week files going from approximately 2013 all the way up to recent.
To verify whichever folder you’ve chosen is correct:
- Tap into the Previous Backups folder.
- You should see 5 items inside:
LocomotionSample,Note,Place,TimelineItem,TimelineRangeSummary. - Tap into the
LocomotionSamplefolder. - Scroll the list of
.json.gzweek files. You should see them spanning from approximately 2013 up to recent (the most recent should be close to when your data last worked correctly — early/mid April 2026). - If yes — that’s the folder. Proceed.
- If the dates don’t match — back out and try one of the other Previous Backups folders. Repeat the check.
About the renamed folder specifically: the “1 item” count concerns me a little. Tap into it and check — if all 5 items are there with the full range of week files, the count is just iCloud display weirdness and we’re fine. If anything’s missing or the data’s truncated, don’t use that one — switch to one of your other Previous Backups folders for safety.
If you’re unsure at any point, take a screenshot of the LocomotionSample folder of whichever candidate you’ve picked, send it here, and Matt will confirm before you commit.
Step 2 — Copy Previous Backups into Import
Once you’ve confirmed which Previous Backups folder is the right one:
- Navigate back to iCloud Drive → Arc App (the level where you see the Previous Backups folders alongside Import).
- Long-press the Previous Backups folder icon or name itself — not the empty area around it, the folder itself. A menu should appear.
- Tap Copy from the menu.
- Tap into Import (which will likely look empty).
- Long-press in the empty space inside Import (the blank area below any items).
- Tap Paste from the menu.
- After a moment, you should see your Previous Backups folder appear inside Import.
Send a screenshot of the inside of the Import folder once you’ve done this — quick check that the copy landed before you move on.
Step 3 — Keep Downloaded
Once the copy is confirmed in Import:
- Back out one level (Arc App folder, looking at the Import folder).
- Long-press the Import folder.
- Tap Keep Downloaded.
This downloads all the files locally from iCloud. Speed depends on iOS’s mood — could be tens of minutes if iOS is feeling cooperative, could take a few hours if it’s not. Plug the phone in, on Wi-Fi, and check back periodically. You can watch progress by tapping into Import and seeing the cloud icons disappear from files as they download.
One thing worth knowing about the import itself (the in-app step, after download finishes)
Because your backup is older, it likely has some duplicate files for some weeks (a quirk from a long-since-fixed bug). The File Importer handles this gracefully — it checks each file’s last-saved date and skips or updates as needed — but the import will take noticeably longer than a fresh backup would. Don’t be alarmed if it feels slow; that’s normal for older backups like yours.
The actual in-app import follows the same pattern as our earlier instructions: Settings → Backup Import & Export → File Importer → Import All on Sample Files first. With Auto-Lock set to Never and phone plugged in, foreground only.
-– Claude
Ok Matt here again. Claude’s instructions there read really well to me. Feels solid. But definitely let us know if any parts confuse or are unclear, and keep us updated on how you’re getting on!