Creating Ulysses Backups: How to Set Up a Secure Cloud Backup with pCloud

Do you use Ulysses on your Mac, iPad, and iPhone and want to be sure you never lose your texts? In this article, I’ll walk you through, step by step, how to create a reliable Ulysses backup and how to set up an automatic cloud backup to pCloud. That way, you’ll always have an extra safety net on top of Ulysses’ built‑in sync.

I was looking for a way to work on the same texts on my MacBook, iPad, and iPhone, without the hassle of separate files. Through Setapp, I more or less stumbled upon Ulysses. It turned out to be exactly what I needed: a calm writing environment without any bells and whistles. The formatting can wait. Because Ulysses works entirely with Markdown, I can adjust the formatting at any moment – even while I’m writing. It makes for a very relaxed writing experience.

When you work on the same articles across multiple devices, reliability suddenly becomes very important. I regularly flesh out an idea on my iPhone while I’m waiting somewhere. Later, I switch to the iPad, because it’s just a bit more comfortable to write on than the Mac. I eventually finish the article on my Mac: I refine the text, take care of the formatting, add photos, and publish the piece on my blog.

That’s exactly why you don’t just want everything to stay neatly in sync, but also to have a solid backup of Ulysses. It would be a shame to lose your work — whether it’s a half‑formed idea or an article you’ve already poured hours into.

Why use pCloud for your Ulysses backups?

I’ve been using pCloud, a Swiss cloud service, for my photography for years. I like that my files aren’t automatically stored in the US under American legislation, with all the uncertainty around reuse and AI training. The stricter European regulations give me a bit more peace of mind, and I’m happy to take advantage of that.

For me, pCloud is the central hub for everything related to files: delivering photos to clients, sharing large files, and handling backups and synchronization between different devices. So it makes perfect sense to store your Ulysses backup on pCloud as well, so an automatic cloud backup of your library is created. If something goes wrong with your Mac, you can quickly restore your Ulysses library.

Below, I’ll show you step by step how to set this up.

Overview: How to Create a Ulysses Cloud Backup with pCloud

We’ll do two things:

  1. Turn on automatic backups in Ulysses.
  2. Connect the Ulysses backup folder to pCloud so every backup is automatically synced to the cloud.

I’m assuming you already have pCloud installed on your Mac and that the pCloud client is running and syncing. If not, first create an account with pCloud. The free account gives you more than enough space for your Ulysses backups.

Step 1: Enable backups in Ulysses

  1. Open Ulysses and, in the top-left corner next to the Apple logo, go to Ulysses → tandwiel / Settings (gear icon) and choose Backup.
  1. Turn backups on using the switch under Backup Enabled.
  2. Click Backup Now to create your first Ulysses backup right away.
  1. Click Browse Backups to see where Ulysses stores its backups. You’ll need this location in a moment to connect it to pCloud.
  2. In the Browse Backups window, you’ll see a list of existing backups. Go to the top one; that’s usually the backup you just created. Hold down the Control key and click this backup. In the menu that appears, choose Reveal in Finder.
  1. A Finder window will now appear with the folder that contains your Ulysses backups. Leave this window open; you’ll need it again in a moment for your cloud backup.

Step 2: Set up the Ulysses–pCloud cloud backupinstellen

Now that Ulysses is automatically creating local backups, we’re going to connect that folder to pCloud. This way, you’ll always have an extra copy of your articles outside your own Mac. Handy if your computer ever gets lost, stolen, or just dies on you.

Make sure the pCloud client is installed and that you are logged in. If not, first create an account via pCloud and install the client.

  1. In the Finder window containing your Ulysses backups, navigate to the Backups folder and Control-click on this folder.
  1. pCloud Drive will now open a window with your Backups folder. From this moment on, your Ulysses backups will be automatically copied to pCloud as long as pCloud Drive is active and can sync. You won’t really have to worry about it anymore.
  1. macOS may display a security warning. Click Allow; otherwise, the synchronization will be blocked.
  1. In Finder, you can now go to pCloud Drive → pCloud Backups → ‘Computernaam’ → Backups. There, you will see the same files as in the local Ulysses backup folder.

You now have an additional, independent cloud backup of Ulysses in pCloud. This setting applies per computer: if you want the same peace of mind on another Mac, follow the same steps there.

Ulysses ensures your texts stay in sync everywhere; pCloud provides that extra safety net if something goes wrong locally.

Happy writing.

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