Where your data lives — local, offline, no account
One folder on this machine holds every table, formula, dashboard and setting. Nothing is uploaded. The one exception is AI, which goes straight from your computer to the model provider you configured. Backing up is therefore yours to do.
All of it is on this machine
The desktop app carries its own data engine, running on your computer. Every table you import, formula you write and dashboard you build lands in one folder:
- macOS:
~/Library/Application Support/tabledi-desktop/TableDI/ - Windows:
%APPDATA%\tabledi-desktop\TableDI\
No step in the product sends any of it to our servers. That is why there is no account, why it works on a plane, and why tens of thousands of rows need no upload wait.
The one exception: AI
When you use an AI feature — chat, the suggestions inside a panel, image-to-table, an AI function — that request goes from your computer straight to the model provider you configured. It carries your question, the relevant column names, and the sample rows needed to answer. It does not pass through our servers; what the provider does with it is between you and them.
Leave AI alone and nothing leaves. For data you cannot hand to a third party, simply do not use AI on that table; everything else works as usual. Your API key sits in settings.json in the local data folder and is not included in backup files.
Backing up is yours to do
Data on your machine means backups are in your hands. Two ways:
- In-app backup (recommended): Desktop settings → Data backup → Export .tdbk file. One encrypted file holds every table, workspace, dashboard and setting. Available on the free version, with no row limit. Use it for moving machines, for periodic backups, and for taking your data away.
- Whole-machine backup: Time Machine or any file sync tool, with the folder above included. Do not copy that folder while the app is running — a file mid-write can copy out incomplete.
A .tdbk only opens in TableDI. For a file Excel can read, use Export on the table.
Uninstalling does not delete data
Uninstalling never touches the data folder; reinstall and your tables are back as they were. To wipe it properly, delete that folder yourself after uninstalling.
Moving to another computer
Export a .tdbk on the old machine, copy it across, and open TableDI on the new one — it detects the backup and offers to import, or you can import it by hand in Desktop settings. Importing replaces the data currently on the new machine (the existing data is renamed and kept in the same folder, so it can be recovered by hand), and about seven seconds after the engine restarts you are in your familiar workspace.
The licence does not travel with the data: Deactivate this computer on the old machine, then activate on the new one — see Free vs paid.
The team edition is different
The team edition runs in a browser with the data in the cloud (or in a company's own private deployment), with accounts, members and permissions. You can move between the two: export a .tdbk from the cloud, import it in the desktop app. That route is covered in Desktop settings and licensing.