Learning Center

Where the app keeps your files

Everything the Ditch Assist app saves lives in Documents/DitchAssist on the tablet. What each folder holds, which ones to back up, and which are safe to delete.

  • Full Automation Kit
  • Guidance Only Kit
  • Ditch Assist Lite
  • DIG™ Kit

In the app Tablet My Files › Internal storage › Documents › DitchAssist

The app saves everything in one folder on the tablet: Documents/DitchAssist. Your surveys, designs, jobs, benchmarks, LiDAR fields and logs are all in there, in plain files you can copy to a computer.

The folder stays on the tablet if the app is uninstalled, so a reinstall picks your work back up, as long as you allow All files access again. Without it, a reinstalled app can't read or update the files the old install made: LiDAR fields go missing from the list, and Prepare Field hangs on Saving layers….

Before you start

Time: 2 minutes to check; about 10 minutes for a backup.

  • The app has Android's All files access. Without it the app saves in a private place instead, where you can't see the files and an uninstall deletes them. Check it below.
  • For a backup: a computer and a USB cable, or a USB stick (Move files to and from the tablet).

Check All files access

While All files access is off, the app opens Android's All files access page by itself every time it starts. So the quickest check is to restart the app.

  1. Close the app fully

    Not only the Home button: close it from the list of open apps (Close an app fully).

  2. Open the app again

    Tap the Ditch Assist icon. If the app opens as normal, All files access is on and you're done.

  3. If Android's All files access page opens: tap the switch

    The switch is at the right end of the line Allow access to manage all files. It turns on: coloured, with the knob at the right.

    Android All files access page for Ditch Assist 1.5.4: a back arrow at the top left, and the line Allow access to manage all files with its switch off at the right
    1. The switch, off. Tap it.
    2. Allow access to manage all files. The line the switch belongs to.

  4. Tap the back arrow at the top left

    You're back in the app, and it can now save in Documents/DitchAssist.

    The same page with the Allow access to manage all files switch on
    1. Back arrow. Returns to the app.
    2. The switch, on.

Prefer to look in Android's Settings app instead? The path differs between tablets: see Tablet setup: All files access. There is no switch for it inside the Ditch Assist app.

Find the folder on the tablet

Use the tablet's My Files app. Or plug the tablet into a computer and open Internal storage/Documents/DitchAssist there (Copy with a USB cable).

  1. Open My Files

    Tap My Files, a yellow folder icon, on the Home screen. If it isn't there, swipe up from the bottom of the Home screen to see all your apps.

  2. Tap Internal storage

    It's in the list down the left side of My Files, under Installation files, with a phone-shaped icon and the space used under it.

    My Files list: Recent files, Images, Videos, Audio files, Documents, Downloads, Installation files, then Internal storage 23.9 GB / 64 GB, SD card Not inserted, OneDrive, Google Drive, Network storage, Trash and a Manage storage button 1
    1. Internal storage. The tablet's own storage, where the Documents folder is.

  3. Tap Documents

  4. Tap DitchAssist

    You should see folders such as surveys, designs, jobs and logs. The table below says what each one holds.

The folders

FolderWhat's in it
surveys/Saved surveys, one file each, in a folder per day (2026-10-16/).
designs/Saved designs, including revisions, by day.
jobs/Grading jobs, saved as you work, for Resume Job. By day.
benchmarks/benchmarks.json: every saved benchmark.
levee_surveys/Whole-field surveys from Field Survey (Levee, contour work, Land Forming).
levee_jobs/Saved Levee jobs.
lidar-fields/LiDAR & Mapping fields: one folder per field (boundary, saved DEM, drainage layers, plans/ for drainage plans) and the fields.json list.
lidar-dem-cache/Copies of raw LiDAR downloads, so the same download isn't fetched twice.
drain-iq/Downloaded Drain-IQ layers.
map-tile-cache/Saved satellite imagery for offline use.
exports/Every file you export: XYZ, KML, CSV, TSV, Shapefile ZIP, LandXML.
logs/Daily logs, ditchassist_2026-10-16.log. The app keeps the newest 5 files, up to 10 MB in total.
projects/Field Mode's list of fields.

A folder only appears once the app has saved something in it.

The Load window shows where it is reading from at the bottom, for example Looking in: /Documents/DitchAssist/surveys/.

Back up your work

Copy the whole DitchAssist folder to a computer or a USB stick now and then. Always do it before you reset, replace or hand on a tablet.

  1. Close the app fully

    So nothing is half-written while you copy (Close an app fully).

  2. Plug the tablet into a computer

    Then open its Internal storage, then Documents. Every step, in words: Copy with a USB cable. No computer? Use a USB stick: Copy from a USB stick.

  3. Drag the DitchAssist folder onto the computer

    The whole folder, in one go. Wait until the copy window closes. Put the date in the copy's name, for example DitchAssist 2026-10-17.

  • Worth keeping: surveys, designs, jobs, benchmarks, levee_surveys, levee_jobs, lidar-fields, projects, and exports if you haven't copied those files elsewhere.
  • No need to back up: map-tile-cache, lidar-dem-cache, drain-iq (they can all be downloaded again) and logs.

Restore, or move to a new tablet

  1. Install the app and allow All files access

    Open it once so it makes the DitchAssist folder. Then close it fully. See Install the app.

  2. Copy your backup into Documents/DitchAssist

    Copy whole folders back where they were, for example the whole surveys folder. For LiDAR fields, copy the whole lidar-fields folder including fields.json.

  3. Open the app

    It reads the folders when it starts. You should see your surveys, designs and jobs in the Load window again.

On a new tablet, LiDAR & Mapping must be unlocked again: connect once to your kit (Unlock it once). Settings aren't in the folder, so set them again.

Free up space or delete files

Delete things inside the app where you can. It keeps its lists in step with the files.

To removeDo this
A survey or designIn the Load window, tap the trash can on its row. The app asks Delete Survey? or Delete Design? first.
A LiDAR fieldUse Delete on the field's row in My LiDAR Fields (Delete a field). Don't delete its folder by hand: fields.json would still list it.
LogsClear All on the Log Files row, in the LOGS section of Settings. Send them to support first if you have a problem open (Send logs to support).
Drain-IQ downloadsClear on the Offline Cache row, in the DRAIN-IQ section of Settings.
ExportsSafe to delete with My Files once you've copied them off.
Raw LiDAR download copieslidar-dem-cache is safe to empty with My Files. Saved fields keep their own DEM (the LiDAR elevation surface).

Look at your files on a computer

The Job Viewer on our website opens the whole folder in a browser: maps, profiles, reports. Nothing is uploaded.

If it doesn't work

The DitchAssist folder is missing or empty, but the app shows my work

The app is saving to its private storage because All files access is off. Switch it on (Check All files access). New saves then go to Documents/DitchAssist. See Files won't save, load, import or export.

My saved surveys or jobs are missing from the Load list

With Field Mode on, the list may be showing only the active field. Tap All fields at the top of the Load window. Otherwise check All files access as above.

Files I copied in don't show up

Close the app fully and open it again; it reads the folders when it starts. Check they're in the right folder, for example surveys/2026-10-16/, not loose in DitchAssist.

Related

Did this answer your question?

Still stuck? Talk to a product specialist. 1-833-DITCH-AS · support@ditchassist.com · Monday to Friday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Central.

Calling about a problem? Send your app logs first so support can see what happened.