Asset Tracker FAQ

A1: Asset Tracker is a free tool for keeping a record of the things you own: electronics, appliances, furniture, vehicles, tools, sports equipment, jewellery and anything else. For each item it stores the purchase date and price, a photo, notes, the warranty period and a log of issues. From those details it works out the item's current value with one of three depreciation methods, warns you before a warranty runs out, and adds everything up on a dashboard. It runs entirely in your browser and keeps the records on your device.

A2: Nothing. There are no subscription plans, premium tiers or limits on the number of assets. Like every page on ZeroDataUpload, the tool is supported by advertising.

A3: No. There is no registration and no login. Open the page and start adding assets. Because there is no account, there is also no server copy of your records: they live in your browser (see section 2).

A4: Anyone who wants to know what their belongings are worth and when their warranties end: households keeping an inventory for insurance, people who buy and sell equipment second-hand, small workshops and studios with tools and machines, and anyone who has ever found out that a warranty expired a week before something broke.

A5: In your browser's own storage on the device you are using. Nothing is sent to a server. The records are tied to that browser profile on that device: open the tool in another browser, or on another computer, and the list is empty until you import an export there.

A6: No. A photo you attach is read by the browser and stored next to the asset record in the same local storage. It never leaves your device. Photos must be under 5 MB each; larger ones are refused with a message.

A7: Clearing site data, cookies or "browsing data" for zerodataupload.com removes the records, because they are part of that data. The same happens when a browser profile is deleted or a device is reset. Export a backup from time to time (the Export button in the toolbar, or Settings) and keep the file somewhere safe.

A8: Private and incognito windows discard site storage when they close, so records added there disappear with the window. Use a normal window for records you want to keep.

A9: The tool itself stores only your assets and settings in the browser. The page, like every page on this site, loads Google advertising and analytics code; the Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy explain what those services collect and how the cookie banner controls them. Your asset records are never part of it.

A10: Four: the name, the category, the purchase date and the purchase price. Everything else (expected lifespan, warranty dates, depreciation method, salvage value, notes and a photo) is optional and can be added later with Edit Asset.

A11: Not at present. The eight categories are Electronics, Appliances, Furniture, Vehicles, Tools, Sports Equipment, Jewelry and Other. Use Other for anything that does not fit, and put the real type in the notes so search finds it.

A12: On the All Assets page, type part of the name or of the notes into the search box. The category and warranty filters narrow the list further, and the sort menu orders it by date, name, value or warranty expiry.

A13: On the All Assets page, tick the box in the top-left corner of each card (it appears when you move the pointer over a card). A bar at the bottom of the screen shows how many are selected and offers Delete Selected. Deleting cannot be undone, so export first if you are unsure.

A14: It is a dated list of faults and repairs for one asset: a flickering screen, a replaced battery, a service visit. Open the asset, switch to the Issues tab and click Log New Issue. The comparison page counts the issues of each asset, which is a quick way to see which item has given more trouble.

A15: Three:

• Straight line: the same amount is lost every year. Yearly loss = (price - salvage value) / lifespan.
• Declining balance: a fixed share of the remaining value is lost each year. The yearly rate is 1 / lifespan (20 percent for a 5-year item).
• Double declining balance: the same, at twice the rate (40 percent for a 5-year item).

The value never drops below the salvage value you enter. Each asset has its own method; Settings holds the default for new assets.

A16: What the item will still be worth at the end of its expected lifespan: the scrap or resale value. Leave it at 0 if you expect the item to be worth nothing. It is the floor under the current value.

A17: The value is worked out from the exact number of days since the purchase date, so it falls a little each day rather than once a year. The chart on the asset's detail page shows whole years for readability.

A18: No. It is an estimate from the method and the numbers you entered. The second-hand market, the condition of the item and demand decide the real price. Use the figure for insurance and replacement planning, not as an appraisal.

A19: Every time the page is open, the tool compares each warranty end date with today's date. An asset appears under Warranty Alerts on the dashboard 30, 14 and 7 days before the end date, and stays there after the warranty has expired. The badge on the Warranty Calendar tab counts the assets whose warranty ends within 30 days.

A20: No. The tool has no server and sends nothing, so the alerts are shown only on the page. Open the tool now and then, or put a note in your own calendar for the dates that matter most.

A21: Yes. Settings has a switch for each of the 30-day, 14-day and 7-day reminders. Expired warranties are always listed.

A22: A month view with a dot on every day a warranty ends (orange for upcoming, red for already expired), with arrows to move between months and a Today button. Under the calendar, Upcoming Warranty Expirations lists the next ten end dates with the days left.

A23: One file named asset-tracker-backup-(date).json containing every asset with its photo, notes and issues, plus your settings. The file is plain text that any text editor can open, and it is written to your downloads folder like any other download.

A24: It replaces them: the records in the browser are cleared and the file's assets are loaded in their place. If the browser already holds records you want to keep, export them first.

A25: Export on the old device, copy the file across (email it to yourself, use a USB stick or a cloud drive) and import it on the new device. Photos are inside the file, so nothing else needs copying.

A26: Import accepts only files written by this tool's Export. Check that you picked the right file and that it was not edited by hand; a missing bracket or comma makes the file unreadable. If you have several backups, try the most recent one.

A27: US dollars by default. Settings offers a dozen currencies (euro, pound, rupee, yen, Australian and Canadian dollars and others). The choice changes only how amounts are displayed; nothing is converted. Enter every price in the one currency you use.

A28: Yes. The moon button at the top right switches between light and dark, and the choice follows you to every page on ZeroDataUpload.

A29: Ctrl+N (Cmd+N on a Mac) opens the Add Asset window, and Escape closes any open window or the quick tour.

A30: Click Help in the toolbar to open the four-step tour.

A31: The browser refused to open its local database. This happens when site data is blocked for the site, in some private windows, and when the browser's storage is full. Allow site data for zerodataupload.com, free some space, or try another browser.

A32: The limit is 5 MB per photo. Resize or compress the picture first; the site's UltraCompress Pro does that in the browser as well.

A33: A reset, a new profile or a cleaned "browsing data" removes site storage, and the records with it. Import your most recent export. If there is none, the records cannot be recovered, because no copy exists anywhere else.

A34: Through the contact form. Say which browser and device you use and what you did before the problem appeared. The help documentation describes every part of the tool in order.