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Home Assistant runs on your own hardware, and local protocols such as Zigbee, Z-Wave, Matter, Thread, and ESPHome can work without an internet connection. Backups and remote access are separate choices: set up encrypted backups with a copy off the Home Assistant host, and choose whether to reach your system away from home through Home Assistant Cloud, a VPN, or a carefully secured self-managed setup.
Is Home Assistant local or cloud-based?
Home Assistant is primarily software that runs on hardware you control; its local functions do not require a cloud account. The official Home Assistant FAQ says, “Yes. Privacy is one of the founding principles of Home Assistant,” and describes local data storage and local operation for supported protocols. An internet connection or optional cloud service may still be useful for particular features, but it is not a prerequisite for the local system itself.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsThat distinction matters: Home Assistant Cloud is an optional service, not where your Home Assistant installation has to run. It can provide remote access and other optional features, including voice-assistant connections and off-site backup storage. Local devices using Zigbee, Z-Wave, Matter, Thread, and ESPHome can communicate without internet access; what continues to work during an outage depends on whether a particular device or integration is local or depends on an external service.
For privacy and reliability, separate three questions when setting up your home:
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- Where does Home Assistant run? On your own hardware.
- How do devices communicate with it? Local protocols can communicate on your home network without internet, while some features may rely on an outside service.
- How do you connect when away? Remote access is optional and needs a method you choose and configure.
How do I back up Home Assistant?
Open Settings > System > Backups, select Set up backups, and follow the prompts. The setup includes an emergency kit: download it and keep its encryption key somewhere safe and separate from the Home Assistant host. Without the key needed for an encrypted backup, you cannot restore that backup.
Set up automatic backups
- In Home Assistant, go to Settings > System > Backups.
- Choose Set up backups.
- Download and protect the emergency kit and its encryption key. Store the key somewhere you can reach if the Home Assistant device is lost or reset.
- Choose the recommended schedule or customize it to suit how often your configuration changes and how many copies you want to retain.
- Check where the backups are being stored. Keep a copy outside the Home Assistant host, such as on network storage or another system; an off-site copy helps if the host or the home is lost.
The recommended setup described by Home Assistant creates a backup daily, excludes media, the share folder, and the local apps folder, retains the latest three backups, and stores them on the system and in Home Assistant Cloud when you are logged in. Those are the documented recommended settings, not a universal requirement: review the selections and change them if the excluded folders or retention period do not fit your needs.
What does a backup contain?
Home Assistant backups are compressed .tar archives and are encrypted by default. On Home Assistant OS, a full backup includes the config, share, ssl, and media directories, along with apps installed or created manually. A partial backup lets you select only some directories or apps.
Installation type affects the scope. A Container installation does not have the same operating-system folders and apps as Home Assistant OS, so its backup contents differ. Do not assume that a backup from one installation type contains folders or services that only exist in another; check the backup contents and the installation-specific documentation before relying on a migration.
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Where should I keep backup copies?
A backup kept only on the Home Assistant device is convenient but shares the device’s failure risk. Keep another copy on a separate system, such as network storage, and ideally keep a copy off-site as well. A NAS or other network storage can provide a separate destination; it is not a substitute for keeping the encryption key safe.
Home Assistant Cloud storage is described in the documentation as holding one encrypted backup file, with a maximum size of 5 GB. Treat this as an additional destination rather than a complete retention plan: the recommended setup keeps three backups, while the Cloud storage limit described is one file. The exact storage features and limits can change, so check the current Home Assistant Cloud documentation when configuring it.
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When should I make a backup?
Make a backup before updating Home Assistant, as the getting-started guidance recommends. You can also create one manually at any time from Settings > System > Backups. Creating a backup after a substantial configuration change gives you a restore point closer to the system state you would want to recover.
How do I restore a backup or move Home Assistant to another device?
You can restore on the existing system through Settings > System > Backups, or restore during onboarding on a new or reset device. For a new device, provide a local backup file or select an available Home Assistant Cloud backup, choose which parts to restore, enter the emergency-kit key when prompted, and allow the system to reinstall and restore.
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Restore on the current device
- Open Settings > System > Backups.
- Select the backup you want to restore and choose the restore action.
- Select the parts to restore if prompted, then provide the emergency-kit key required to decrypt the backup.
- Allow Home Assistant to complete the restore. Avoid interrupting the process while the system is reinstalling or restoring files.
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- Create a current backup on the existing installation and verify that you have the matching emergency-kit key.
- Set up the new or reset device and begin onboarding.
- Upload the local backup or choose the Cloud backup, select what to restore, and enter the key when requested.
- After restoration, reconnect the required controllers and radios to the new hardware and check that the integrations and devices are available.
- If you are changing to a different Zigbee radio, follow the Zigbee migration procedure rather than assuming the radio itself was transferred by the backup.
The backup can carry Home Assistant configuration to new hardware, but it cannot physically move USB controllers or other attached radios. Plan for those devices separately. Zigbee in particular may require a radio migration when the coordinator changes; reconnecting the old radio and replacing it with a different one are not necessarily equivalent operations.
Can I access Home Assistant remotely?
Yes. Local-network access is the default, and you can add remote access if you want to use Home Assistant away from home. Home Assistant describes Cloud as “the easiest and safest option for most people”; a VPN or self-managed reverse proxy are alternatives, while simply forwarding a router port requires the most security care.
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| Home Assistant Cloud | Provides a generated remote URL and avoids opening a router port. It is an optional subscription service. | The simplest route for most users; traffic is encrypted automatically. It also offers optional features such as voice assistants and off-site backup storage. |
| VPN | Connect to the VPN first, then access Home Assistant as though you were on the home network. Examples named in the documentation include Tailscale and ZeroTier. | Keeps access self-managed, but you must establish the VPN connection before reaching Home Assistant. Companion app sensors also need that VPN connection to update while you are away. |
| Reverse proxy | Routes remote web requests through a proxy you configure. | Requires configuring Home Assistant to trust the proxy in its HTTP-server settings. The proxy and its encryption must be configured correctly. |
| Router port forwarding | Forwards a router port to Home Assistant. | Exposes a route from the internet to your home system. A changing public IP or carrier-grade NAT (CG-NAT) can make access unreliable, and opening a port alone is not secure. |
The methods differ in convenience, not in whether Home Assistant itself runs locally. Cloud avoids router changes; a VPN adds a connection step; a reverse proxy and port forwarding put more responsibility on you to configure and maintain internet-facing access. No method removes the need to secure accounts and keep the system maintained.
What security settings should I use?
- Enable multi-factor authentication for accounts that can access Home Assistant.
- Limit the number of administrator accounts and use an administrator account only when needed.
- Choose a secure remote-access method; do not treat a forwarded port as security by itself.
- If your manual installation uses SSH, disable root login and use SSH keys, as the security guidance recommends.
For reverse-proxy setups, configure the HTTP server to trust the proxy that actually sits in front of Home Assistant. Trusting an incorrect proxy or skipping the required configuration can cause problems with how requests are handled. For port forwarding, also account for whether your internet connection has a stable reachable address; dynamic IP changes and CG-NAT are reasons a basic forwarding setup may fail even if the router settings look correct.
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Does Home Assistant work without the internet?
Home Assistant and supported local devices can continue to work on the home network when the internet connection is down. The official FAQ specifically names Zigbee, Z-Wave, Matter, Thread, and ESPHome as technologies that do not need an internet connection.
That does not mean every possible feature works offline. Remote access from outside the home requires a working route to the system, and optional cloud features depend on their service. Your local control is most resilient when the device-to-Home-Assistant path is local rather than dependent on internet connectivity. If an internet outage occurs, distinguish a local device or network problem from a feature that needs an external service.
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They control different things. Backup retention determines how many backup copies are kept; the recommended automatic-backup setup described above keeps the latest three. Recorder retention concerns Home Assistant’s recorded history, not how many restorable backup files you have.
The documentation gives 10 days as the default Recorder retention setting. That is a product setting, not a promise that every backup contains a particular span of history or that backups are retained for that long. If you need to preserve a particular system state, make and store a backup rather than relying on the history-retention setting.
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What should I decide before setting this up?
Choose backup and remote-access arrangements as separate decisions. A private local installation can still use off-device backups, and a cloud-assisted remote-access setup does not mean Home Assistant has to move off your hardware.
- For a beginner who wants remote access: Home Assistant Cloud is the easiest documented path, with a generated URL and no need to open a router port.
- For self-managed remote access: use a VPN if you are comfortable connecting it before each remote session; choose a reverse proxy only if you can configure its trust and encryption correctly.
- For recovery readiness: automate backups, keep copies somewhere other than the Home Assistant host, and retain the emergency-kit key separately.
- For a hardware move: plan to reconnect physical radios and controllers, with a separate Zigbee migration plan if the coordinator is changing.
Home Assistant’s screens, service features, and compatibility details can change across releases. Confirm the current setup prompts and the compatibility of your radio or network-storage device before depending on it for a migration or backup plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does Home Assistant keep history by default?
Home Assistant documentation describes the default Recorder retention as 10 days. Recorder history retention is a separate setting from the number of backup files you keep.
Does Home Assistant Cloud make my installation cloud-hosted?
No. Home Assistant still runs on your own hardware; Cloud adds optional services such as remote access, voice-assistant features, and off-site backup storage.
Can local devices still work during an internet outage?
They can when their connection to Home Assistant is local and the integration does not depend on an external service. Whether a specific feature remains available depends on how that device or integration works.
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