Where your data lives
Everything Acira knows about you is stored in one folder on your own computer. There is no Acira account and no cloud copy, so nothing is kept anywhere else.
Where the folder is
| Platform | Folder |
|---|---|
| Windows | %APPDATA%\AciraBrowser, usually C:\Users\your-name\AppData\Roaming\AciraBrowser |
| Mac | ~/Library/Application Support/AciraBrowser |
To open it on Windows, press Win+R, type %APPDATA%\AciraBrowser and press Enter. On a Mac, choose Go, then Go to Folder… in the Finder, and paste the path.
The program itself is stored separately. On Windows, Acira installs for your user account, not for the whole computer, under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs, and asks for no administrator permission. On a Mac it is in your Applications folder. Updating Acira keeps your profile and tabs.
Downloaded files are not kept in this folder. They go to your system Downloads folder, or to the folder you chose in Settings › Downloads.
What is in the folder
| Name | What it holds |
|---|---|
browser.sqlite | Bookmarks, history, the list of downloads, saved site permissions and blocking exceptions, your profiles, saved windows and import records. While Acira runs, two helper files with the endings -wal and -shm sit beside it. |
browser-state.json, window-state.json | Your open tabs and windows, so Acira can restore them, and where each window sits on screen. |
Partitions | Website data for each profile: cookies and site storage. Each profile has its own, which is why profiles keep their sign-ins apart. |
session-cookies | An encrypted copy of cookies that would normally end with the session, so tabs you restore are still signed in. |
passwords | One encrypted vault file for each profile, and a key file. |
rewind | Windows Acira saved so Rewind can bring them back. Private and Tor windows are never saved. |
tor-vault | Exists once you turn on Keep Tor bookmarks and tabs. See Tor tabs and windows. |
tor | Tor's working files and your bridge choice. |
secured-workspaces | Sealed tab lists of locked workspaces (beta). See Locked workspaces. |
live-prs.json | Exists once you add the Pull requests folder. Holds the folder's filters and the repository and number of each pull request you chose to hide. It does not hold the pull requests themselves. See Sidebar. |
shortcuts.json | The keyboard shortcuts you changed. See Keyboard shortcuts. |
extensions.json, extension-packages | The list of your extensions and the packages Acira downloaded from the Chrome Web Store. An extension you loaded from a folder stays in that folder. See Building and testing extensions. |
download-preferences.json, updater.json, setup | Your download folder choice, your update choices and your setup progress. |
threat-lists, filter-cache | The protection lists Acira downloaded. Acira can fetch them again. |
safe-browsing-data | Google Safe Browsing lists, and the Safe Browsing key if you added one. The key is stored as plain text. See Privacy settings. |
metrics.json | Your Anonymous usage choice. While it is on, it also holds the random ID and the counts waiting for the next daily message. Turning the switch off clears them. See Usage data. |
Other files in the folder are caches and settings that the engine and Acira recreate. Do not edit these files while Acira runs.
What is encrypted
| Data | How it is kept |
|---|---|
| Saved passwords | Each item is encrypted with AES-256-GCM. The key is protected by your operating system: Windows data protection, tied to your Windows account, or the macOS Keychain. Showing or copying a password, editing an item, exporting and deleting all passwords ask Windows Hello (or your Windows password), or macOS (Touch ID, Apple Watch or your Mac password). See Passwords and passkeys for what does not ask. |
| Kept Tor bookmarks and tabs (off by default) | One AES-256-GCM file with a key protected by your operating system. Reading it back asks for the same check. It holds bookmarks and tab addresses and titles, with no history or cookies. |
| Locked workspaces (beta) | When a workspace locks, its tab addresses, titles, groups and splits are sealed in an AES-256-GCM file with a key protected by your operating system, and its tabs leave the window. Page data lives in memory and is not written to disk. |
| Website cookies | Stored by the browser engine in the Partitions folder. The Mac build turns on the engine's cookie encryption. For Windows, do not assume the cookie files are encrypted: anyone who can read your Windows user folder may be able to read them. The extra copy in session-cookies is encrypted with your operating system's secure storage. |
| Google Safe Browsing key (optional) | Not encrypted. It is a plain file in safe-browsing-data. |
| Tor bookmarks saved with the star button | Not in the Tor vault. A Tor tab in a normal window can save a bookmark with the star button or Ctrl+D. It is stored with your other bookmarks, not encrypted. See Tor tabs and windows. |
| Bookmarks, history, downloads list, site permissions, settings and open tabs | Not separately encrypted by Acira. They are protected the way other files in your user account are: by your account sign-in, and by disk encryption such as BitLocker or FileVault if you use it. |
| Private windows and tabs, Tor tabs, locked-workspace page data | Kept in memory and not written to disk. See Private tabs and windows. |
Back up and move your data
Acira has no sync and no backup of its own, so nothing is copied anywhere unless you copy it. Use exports for anything you want to keep or move.
Exports
| What | Where | File | Acira can read it back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bookmarks | Settings › Import & export › Export bookmarks HTML… | A standard bookmarks file in HTML, named Acira-bookmarks.html by default | Yes, with Import bookmarks HTML…. Other browsers read it too. |
| Profile data | Settings › Import & export › Export profile JSON… | A JSON file named Acira-data.json by default, with the profile name, bookmarks, some settings (such as search engine, appearance and toolbar layout) and, if you tick Include this profile's history in JSON export, history | No. Acira has no import for it. Keep it as a record. |
| Passwords | Settings › Passwords › Export to a CSV file (the Export… button) | A CSV file with the columns name, url, username, password and note | Yes, with Import from a CSV file in Settings › Passwords |
| Shortcuts | Settings › Shortcuts › Export | acira-shortcuts.json | No. Acira has no import for it. |
What Acira can import
Acira reads data from the folders of Chrome, Edge, Brave, Helium, Arc, Firefox and Zen on the same computer: bookmarks and history, Arc favorites and spaces (spaces become workspaces) and, from Chrome, Edge, Brave and Helium, browser preferences and a list of your extensions. Cookies and sign-ins are never copied. Passwords come from a CSV file you export yourself. See Bring your data.
Copy the whole folder
You can keep a copy of the data folder as a safety net. Quit Acira completely before you copy the folder. On Windows, in PowerShell:
Copy-Item "$env:APPDATA\AciraBrowser" "$env:USERPROFILE\Desktop\AciraBrowser-backup" -RecurseOn a Mac, in Terminal:
cp -R ~/Library/Application\ Support/AciraBrowser ~/Desktop/AciraBrowser-backupWhat uninstalling removes
| Platform | What happens |
|---|---|
| Windows | Uninstall Acira from Settings › Apps. A question appears: Also delete your Acira data on this PC (profiles, bookmarks, history, saved sign-ins)? It says Choose No to keep it for a future install. The answer No is the default. Yes deletes the whole AciraBrowser folder. Either way, Acira removes its program files and its default-browser registration. Your downloaded files stay. An update that replaces Acira never asks and never removes your data. |
| Mac | Drag Acira from Applications to the Trash. There is no uninstaller, so the data folder stays until you delete it yourself. |
To remove some of your data while you keep using Acira, use Settings › Privacy › Clear browsing data, or turn on clearing when Acira closes. See Privacy settings and Site permissions and data.
Last updated November 8, 2026