Database Management

Overview

PrivateACB keeps all your data in one encrypted database file on your computer.

• The file is encrypted with AES-256 (SQLCipher). Without the password it cannot be read.
• The file never leaves your computer unless you copy it somewhere.
• There is no password reset. If you lose the password, the data cannot be recovered.
• Only one database is open at a time.

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The Welcome Screen

When no database is open, PrivateACB shows the Welcome screen with two buttons: Create New Database and Open Existing Database. The buttons enable once the app has finished starting up.

These buttons open the same two dialogs as File → New Database… (Ctrl+N) and File → Open Database… (Ctrl+O). The rules are the same whichever way you get there.

Most of the app waits until a database is open. The data items in the File menu stay greyed out until then.

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Creating a New Database

Click Create New Database (or press Ctrl+N). The Create New Database dialog asks for:

1. Save in — the folder. It starts at Documents\PrivateACB\database. Click Change to pick another folder.
2. Name — the file name. The dialog adds .db for you and shows the result as “Creates: name.db”. If you type .db yourself, it is not doubled. Names Windows does not allow (for example ones containing < > : " / \ | ? *, or ending in a dot or space) are refused with a reason.
3. Password — see the rule below. The dialog tells you when Caps Lock is on, and the eye icon shows or hides what you typed. A strength label appears as advice only.
4. Confirm password — type it again. The dialog shows “Passwords match” or “Passwords do not match”.
5. Remember this password on this computer — ticked by default. See Remembered passwords.

Then click Create database. The button stays disabled until the name is valid, the password meets the rule, and both password fields match.

The database opens as soon as it is created.

The password rule

• At least 8 characters.
• At most 256 characters.
• No space at the start or end.

That is the whole rule. There is no requirement for numbers, symbols, or mixed case. A long passphrase is a good choice.

An existing file is never overwritten

If a database with that name is already in the folder, Create refuses: “A database with this name is already here. Choose another name.” Pick a different name or folder.

Danger

There is no password reset. Save the password in a password manager before you click Create database.

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Opening an Existing Database

Click Open Existing Database (or press Ctrl+O). The Open Database dialog shows:

• Recent — the databases you have opened before, file name first and folder second.
  • A remembered badge means the password is stored on this computer.
  • A missing badge means the file is no longer at that location. Click Remove to take it off the list.
• Browse… — pick any other .db file.

Select a database, then:

• If its password is remembered, the dialog says “Opens with the password remembered on this computer.” Click Open. To type the password yourself, click Type it instead.
• If not, type the password and click Open (or press Enter).

Open accepts any password the file was created with, whatever its length. The 8-character minimum applies only when you choose a new password.

If the database was made by an older version of PrivateACB, opening it upgrades it. That may take a minute; the button shows “Opening…” while it works.

Caution

The upgrade is one-way: once upgraded, the file no longer opens in older versions of PrivateACB. Make a copy before installing a new version. See Export Database.

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Remembered Passwords

Both dialogs have a Remember this password on this computer checkbox. It is ticked by default.

What remembering does

• PrivateACB keeps a copy of the password, encrypted by Windows for your user account on this computer.
• The database then opens from the Recent list without typing.
• Anyone signed in to this Windows account can open it the same way.
• The copy is useless on another computer or another Windows account.
• The remembered password is never shown on screen. It is not filled into any password field.

How to stop remembering

• In the Open dialog, untick Remember this password on this computer before you click Open. The stored copy is forgotten when the database opens.
• Or open the database, go to Settings → Database Security, and click Forget.

How to remember it again

• Tick the box the next time you open the database, or
• In Settings → Database Security, click Remember on this computer.

The Database Security card always starts by saying which state you are in: “Password remembered on this computer” or “Password not remembered”.

If a remembered password stops working, the file was re-keyed somewhere else, or a different file now sits at that path. The dialog says “The password remembered for this file did not work. Type it.” and shows the password field.

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Database Encryption

The whole file is encrypted with SQLCipher (AES-256). Everything inside it is covered: transactions, import history, calculation results, prices and exchange rates, and your in-database settings.

A few things are not in the database file:

• Remembered passwords and API keys. These are kept in Windows secure storage for your user account on this computer.
• Your list of recent databases.

So a database moved to another computer needs only the file and its password. Any API keys must be entered again there.

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Changing Your Database Password

Open the database, then go to Settings → Database Security. File → Change Encryption Key… takes you to the same card and opens it.

1. Current password — the password the database is open with.
2. New password — the same rule as Create: 8 to 256 characters, no space at the start or end. A strength bar shows as advice.
3. Confirm new password — type it again.
4. Click Change password.

The new password must be different from the current one.

What the app checks

• Before touching the file, it checks the current password. If it is wrong, you see “Current password is incorrect. Nothing was changed.”
• After re-encrypting, it opens the file again with the new password. Only then does it report “Password changed and verified. Use the new password from now on.”
• If the password was remembered, the remembered copy is updated to the new password.

While it works the button reads “Changing password — do not close the program…”. Let it finish.

If the change cannot complete

The app reopens the database with whichever password still works and tells you which one:

• ”…Your database still opens with your OLD password…”, or
• ”…Your database opens with your NEW password…”.

In the rare case that neither works, it asks you to close the program and open the database again.

Note

Copies made before a password change keep the old password. Keep a note of which password goes with which copy.

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Database Location and File Management

Where is my database?

• The window title bar shows the full path while a database is open.
• The Open dialog’s Recent list shows each file’s folder.
• New databases default to Documents\PrivateACB\database.

Moving, renaming, or copying the file

A database is one self-contained .db file. You can move it, rename it, or copy it with File Explorer. Close PrivateACB first.

After a move or rename:

• The old entry shows as missing in Recent. Click Remove, then Browse… to the new location.
• A remembered password is stored for the old location. Type the password once, with Remember ticked if you want it stored again.

To make a copy while PrivateACB is open, use Export Database Copy instead of copying the file.

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Backing Up Your Database

Caution

PrivateACB never backs up your database on its own. Copies are yours to make.

Two ways to make a copy:

• Export Database Copy — from Settings or File → Export Database Copy… (Ctrl+E). It writes an optimized copy and checks that the copy opens before reporting success. See Export Database.
• A plain file copy — close PrivateACB, then copy the .db file.

Either copy opens with the same password as the original.

Habits that pay off:

• Keep more than one copy, on more than one kind of storage, with one away from this computer.
• Refresh your copies after large imports, after calculations, at year-end, before large deletions, and before upgrading PrivateACB.
• Open a copy now and then to prove it works and that you know its password.

A copy in a cloud-synced folder is fine: the provider only holds encrypted bytes, never the password. Keep the file you are working in out of folders that are actively syncing.

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What If You Forget Your Password?

There is no recovery. Nothing about the file can reveal the password, and PrivateACB has no master key.

• A copy made before a password change still opens with its old password.
• A remembered password still opens the database from Recent, on the computer and Windows account where it was remembered. It is never shown, and changing the password needs the current one typed.
• Otherwise the only way forward is a new database and a fresh import of your exchange files.

Decide now who could open the file if you couldn’t: write down the file’s location and its password, and keep them wherever your important papers live.

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Closing Your Database

Press Ctrl+W or choose File → Close Database. PrivateACB returns to the Welcome screen without quitting. The password the database was opened with is cleared from memory.

To switch databases, close the current one, then open the other.

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Common Database Issues and Solutions

”Database is locked”

Another PrivateACB window has the file open, or the file is in a cloud-synced folder that is mid-sync. Close the other window, or let the sync finish.

The password is rejected

• Passwords are case-sensitive. The dialog shows “Caps Lock is on” when it is.
• Type it slowly, or paste it from your password manager.
• If a remembered password stopped working, see Remembered passwords.
• If the password is truly lost, see What if you forget your password?

The password is right but the file will not open

The file may be damaged. Common causes are a zero-byte file, an interrupted copy or download, or a failing disk. Try your most recent copy.

I can’t find the database file

Check the Recent list in the Open dialog for its folder. Otherwise search your computer for .db files, and check the Recycle Bin, cloud folders, and external drives.

Opening is slow

A database from an older version is upgraded when you first open it, which may take a minute. Large databases also open faster from an internal drive than from an external one.

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Quick Reference

Keyboard shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+N	New Database
Ctrl+O	Open Database
Ctrl+W	Close Database
Ctrl+E	Export Database Copy
Ctrl+6	Settings tab

Password rule

8 to 256 characters, no space at the start or end. Nothing else. Applies when you create a database or change its password; Open accepts any password the file already has.

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Getting Help

If a database problem is not covered here, contact [email protected] with a description, the steps that led to it, and the exact error message. Never send your database password.

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Last Updated: September 2026 PrivateACB Version: 2.18.0