How To Back Up Kodi On Your Android TV Box

Since I am a custom configuration builder for Android TV and Kodi, one of first things I wanted to know when I got my very first Android TV box, was how to back up Kodi. A backup of Kodi can be very useful, in case you made a mistake and want to go back to an earlier configuration. It’s a fact that, because of poor advice from “experts” at Youtube and other places, lots of people add things to their Kodi and some of them can mess Kodi up pretty terribly.

At first, I tried to figure out how to do it myself, based on my long experience with computerized interfaces. However, no matter how hard or how many times I tried, it kept failing with a message “destination may not be writable”. I tried to search the net for the answer, but for a long time, I could not find any directions for this relatively simple procedure. Eventually, I did find a mention of how to solve the problem. Since it was so hard to find the answer, I decided that my first help post here at My Android Box would be step-by-step directions with screenshots that will show exactly how to back up your Kodi.

Of course, the very first thing you need to do before you can make a backup of your Kodi settings, is to install the Kodi Backup program from the built in Kodi repository. Here is a link to a page with step-by-step instructions for installing Kodi Backup: http://www.kodifan.com/install-backup-kodi/

Before backing up your Kodi configuration for the first time, I highly recommend buying a good quality 16GB or 32GB USB thumb drive and labeling it “Kodi Backups”. This will be your main storage device for your Kodi backups. Once you have completed a backup, you should remove this drive and keep it in a safe place. Do not leave it plugged into your Android TV box between backups. The reason for this is, that if you should need to uninstall Kodi before restoring your backup, it is likely that the uninstall process will delete the backup from your USB drive.

Create settings for Kodi Backup

Before you can you use Kodi Backup, you will need to create the proper settings. Otherwise Kodi backup will not work and give an error message.

First, open Kodi and choose Add Ons

Next, choose Program Add Ons

Choose Kodi Backup. The Backup program takes a few seconds to open.

When the Backup program opens, select Open Settings.

Next, choose Compression Settings to turn on Compression for your backup so that it will take up less space on your USB drive.

Select OK

Next Select File Selection

Turn on all the File selections except the bottom two Custom Directories

Select OK

Last, is setting the destination for your backup and it’s the most important step. Select Remote Dir from the Backup Settings Menu. Then select Browse Remote Path.

Now select the name of your USB Drive from the list of locations.
Next, select the Android subdirectory on the USB drive.

Next, select the obb directory of the Android subdirectory.

Next, select the org.xbmc.kodi directory

The org.xbmc.kodi directory will be empty, because there are no backups yet.

Select OK and now you have correctly setup your Kodi backup directory on your USB drive.

Your backup path should now look something like this. Select OK and you are now ready to back up your Kodi!

You should now have returned to the main Kodi Backup Menu. Select Backup to begin the backup.

Now you should see a progress bar like this, as your Kodi settings are backed up.

The backup takes a few minutes. There should be no error messages. If you see an error message, you may not have followed the steps above correctly. If there are no error messages, congratulations, you have just successfully backed up your Kodi! You can check the backup directory referenced above on your your USB drive. You should see a new directory there now with the date of your backup as the name. Now please use use the Storage Settings feature of your Android box to safely eject your USB drive. Label it “Kodi Backups” and put it in a safe place.