# Import and export connections

Move a set of connections to another computer as one file, encrypted when it carries passwords, or copy a connection as a URL that fills the connection form.

## Where to find it

| Action | How |
| --- | --- |
| Export every connection | The menu beside `New connection` on Home, then `Export connections...` |
| Export a group | Right-click a group heading on Home, then `Export group...` |
| Export one connection | Right-click a connection on Home, then `Export connection...` |
| Import a file | The menu beside `New connection`, then `Import connections...` |
| Copy a URL | Right-click a connection on Home, then `Copy as URL` |
| Fill a connection from a URL | The URL box at the top of the connection form, or `Import from URL` on Home |
Every action here starts on Home, which `Home` in the status bar opens.

![The Home screen with the menu beside New connection open, listing Export connections..., Import connections..., Import buckets from Cloudflare..., Open SQLite file..., New group and Preferences... over the saved connection list.](https://bobbytables.app/docs/img/connection-import-export/01-home-menu.png)

_Both file actions sit in the Home menu beside New connection._

## Export

`Export connections...` saves every connection, `Export group...` saves one group, and `Export connection...` saves a single connection. `Include passwords and SSH secrets` starts unticked, and the file then holds the connection settings without any secret and without encryption. Ticking it asks for `File password` and `Confirm password`, encrypts the file with that password, and adds the passwords and secret keys saved in the keychain. `Choose destination...` then saves a `.bobby-tables-connections` file, and Home reports how many connections it wrote.

![The Export all connections dialog with Include passwords and SSH secrets ticked, a warning that anyone with the file and the password can connect, and masked File password and Confirm password fields.](https://bobbytables.app/docs/img/connection-import-export/02-export.png)

_The password fields appear only after you choose to include secrets._

## Import

`Import connections...` opens a `.bobby-tables-connections` file, and an encrypted file asks for its export password before `Unlock file` shows what it holds. The review lists each connection's name, type, host and group with an `Action`: `Add` for a connection that is new here, or `Replace existing` when a saved connection matches it. Set a row to `Skip` to leave it out, and keep `Create missing groups` ticked to bring the file's groups along. `Import connections` then reports how many connections were added, replaced and skipped.

![The Import connections dialog listing six connections with their type, host and group, every Action set to Add, and Create missing groups ticked.](https://bobbytables.app/docs/img/connection-import-export/03-import-review.png)

_Connections that are new to this computer default to Add._

![The same review on a second import, where every row matches a saved connection and shows Replace existing, except Demo SFTP, which is set to Skip.](https://bobbytables.app/docs/img/connection-import-export/04-import-collisions.png)

_A second import of the same file matches every saved connection._

## Connection URLs

`Copy as URL` puts a connection's URL on the clipboard without its password, and `Copy URL with password...` asks before it includes one. Paste a URL into the URL box at the top of the connection form, or into `Import from URL` on Home, and `Fill fields` switches the form to the provider the scheme names. The form accepts these schemes.
| Provider | Schemes |
| --- | --- |
| PostgreSQL | `postgres://`, `postgresql://` |
| CockroachDB | `cockroachdb://`, `cockroach://` |
| MySQL | `mysql://` |
| MariaDB | `mariadb://` |
| TiDB | `tidb://` |
| Microsoft SQL Server | `sqlserver://`, `mssql://` |
| ClickHouse | `clickhouse://`, `clickhouses://`, `clickhouse+http://`, `clickhouse+https://` |
| Snowflake | `snowflake://` |
| Oracle Database | `oracle://`, `oracle+tcps://`, `oracle+tns://` |
| SQLite | `sqlite:`, `file:` |
| Google BigQuery | `bigquery://` |
| Redis / Valkey | `redis://`, `rediss://` |
| Apache Cassandra | `cassandra://`, `cql://` |
| ScyllaDB | `scylladb://`, `scylla://` |
| MongoDB | `mongodb://`, `mongodb+srv://` |
| Amazon S3 | `s3://`, and `https://` Amazon S3 bucket addresses |
| SFTP | `sftp://` |

![The context menu on Bookshop (PostgreSQL) on Home, with Copy as URL highlighted above Copy URL with password..., Export connection... and Create snapshot....](https://bobbytables.app/docs/img/connection-import-export/05-copy-as-url.png)

_Copy as URL never includes the password._

[An SFTP URL is pasted into the URL box and Fill fields switches the form to SFTP with host, port and user filled in, then an S3 URL switches it to Amazon S3 with the bucket filled in.](https://bobbytables.app/docs/video/connection-import-export/06-paste-urls.mp4)

_Each URL switches the provider and fills only what it carries._

## Good to know

- A file exported without passwords is not encrypted.
- Google service-account keys are never included in an export, encrypted or not.
- Passwords that did not travel in the file are asked for the first time an imported connection opens.
- A name or group already typed in the connection form is kept when a URL fills the rest.
- How many connections you can save is described on [pricing](https://bobbytables.app/pricing).

## Related

- [Connections](https://bobbytables.app/docs/connections.md)
- [Files](https://bobbytables.app/docs/files.md)