Asset Tracker Help

A complete guide to the asset and warranty tracker, from the first record to a restored backup.

Last Updated: October 6, 2026

Getting Started
Adding an Asset
The Dashboard
All Assets: Search, Filters and Bulk Actions
The Asset Detail Page
Depreciation Methods
Warranty Calendar and Alerts
Statistics
Compare Assets
Settings
Export, Import and Backups
Keyboard Shortcuts
Troubleshooting
Support

1. Getting Started

1.1 What you need

A modern browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari or Opera) with JavaScript enabled
Site data allowed for zerodataupload.com, because the records are stored in the browser
A normal window rather than a private one, so the records survive closing the tab

1.2 The layout

The tool has six sections, chosen with the tabs under the headline: Dashboard, All Assets, Warranty Calendar, Statistics, Compare and Settings. The toolbar below the tabs shows the name of the open section and holds four buttons that work everywhere: Help (the quick tour), Export, Import and Add Asset.

1.3 Where your records live

Every asset, photo, issue and setting is stored in your browser on this device. Nothing is uploaded, and there is no account. The records are therefore only as safe as the browser profile: export a backup now and then (section 11) and keep the file with your other documents.

1.4 The quick tour

Help in the toolbar opens a four-step tour of the basics. Skip closes it; Next moves through the steps; the dots jump to a step.

2. Adding an Asset

2.1 The Add Asset window

Click Add Asset (or press Ctrl+N). The window asks for:

Asset Name (required): what you call the item, for example "Living room TV" or "MacBook Pro 14-inch".
Category (required): Electronics, Appliances, Furniture, Vehicles, Tools, Sports Equipment, Jewelry or Other.
Purchase Date and Purchase Price (required): the depreciation starts from these.
Expected Lifespan in years (default 5): how long you expect to use the item.
Warranty Start Date and Warranty End Date: from the receipt or the manufacturer's registration. The end date drives the alerts and the calendar.
Depreciation Method: straight line, declining balance or double declining (section 6). New assets start with the default from Settings.
Salvage Value: what the item will still be worth at the end of its lifespan; the current value never falls below it.
Notes: model, serial number, where the receipt is, the retailer, anything you will want when you claim or sell.
Asset Photo: click the dashed box and choose a picture (PNG or JPG, under 5 MB). A preview appears; the cross removes it.

Click Save Asset. The item appears on the dashboard and in All Assets.

2.2 Editing an asset

Open the asset (click its card or its row on the dashboard) and click Edit Asset. The same window opens with the current values; change what you need and save.

3. The Dashboard

The dashboard sums up the whole collection:

Total Assets: how many records you have.
Original Value: the sum of all purchase prices.
Current Value: the sum of today's depreciated values.
Total Depreciation: the difference between the two.
Expiring Warranties: assets whose warranty ends within the next 30 days.

Recent Assets lists the five most recently added items with their current and original values; View All opens the full list. Warranty Alerts lists the assets whose warranty has expired or ends soon, nearest date first. Click any row to open the asset.

4. All Assets: Search, Filters and Bulk Actions

4.1 Finding things

Search matches the name and the notes as you type.
Category and Warranty (Active, Expiring Soon, Expired) narrow the list.
Sort orders the cards by purchase date, name, value or warranty expiry.

4.2 The cards

Each card shows the photo or the category icon, the purchase date, the percentage lost so far, the original, current and lost values, and the warranty status in green (active), orange (ending within 30 days) or red (expired). Click a card to open the asset.

4.3 Selecting and deleting several at once

Move the pointer over a card and tick the box in its top-left corner. A bar appears at the bottom of the screen with the number selected, a Clear button and Delete Selected. Deleting asks for confirmation and cannot be undone.

5. The Asset Detail Page

The detail page shows the photo, the name and category, and three figures: original value, current value and depreciation with its percentage. Three buttons sit under them: Edit Asset, Log Issue and Delete. The All assets link at the top returns to the list.

Information tab: every field of the record, including the warranty period with the days remaining.
Depreciation tab: a chart of the value year by year over the expected lifespan, using the asset's method.
Issues tab: the dated log of faults and repairs, newest first, with Log New Issue to add one. An issue has a title, the date it was discovered and a description.

6. Depreciation Methods

6.1 The three methods

Straight line: the same amount is lost every year. Yearly loss = (purchase price - salvage value) / lifespan. A 1,000 item with a 10-year life and no salvage value is worth 500 after five years. Suits furniture, appliances and tools.
Declining balance: a fixed share of the remaining value is lost each year; the rate is 1 / lifespan. A 5-year item loses 20 percent of what it is still worth every year, so the biggest drop comes first. Suits electronics.
Double declining balance: the same at twice the rate (40 percent a year for a 5-year item). A 1,000 laptop is worth 600 after one year, 360 after two, 216 after three. Suits items that become outdated quickly.

6.2 How the value is worked out

The current value uses the exact number of days since the purchase date, so it changes a little every day. The value never drops below the salvage value. The detail page's chart plots whole years for readability, and the Statistics page applies the same method month by month for the portfolio chart.

6.3 An estimate, not an appraisal

The figure comes from the method and the numbers you entered. The second-hand market, the condition of the item and demand decide the real price. Use it for insurance and replacement planning.

7. Warranty Calendar and Alerts

7.1 How alerts are decided

When the page is open, each warranty end date is compared with today's date. An asset is listed under Warranty Alerts 30, 14 and 7 days before the end date (each reminder can be switched off in Settings) and stays listed after the warranty has expired. The badge on the Warranty Calendar tab counts the assets ending within 30 days. The tool sends no emails or notifications; the alerts exist only on the page.

7.2 The calendar

The month view marks every end date with a dot: orange for a warranty still running, red for one that has expired. The arrows move between months and Today returns to the current month. Upcoming Warranty Expirations under the calendar lists the next ten end dates with the days left; click one to open the asset.

8. Statistics

Assets by Category: a ring chart with the number of assets in each category and a legend.
Value by Category: bars of the current (depreciated) value per category.
Portfolio Value Over the Last 12 Months: the total current value at the start of each of the past twelve months, worked out from each asset's purchase date and method. Assets bought after a given month do not count for that month.

9. Compare Assets

Choose an asset in each of the two drop-downs. The cards show, side by side, the category, purchase price, current value, depreciation percentage, purchase date, expected lifespan, warranty status and the number of issues logged. It is a quick way to decide which of two similar items to replace or sell first.

10. Settings

Warranty Reminders: switches for the 30-day, 14-day and 7-day alerts.
Default depreciation method: the method every new asset starts with; each asset can still have its own.
Currency: how amounts are shown (US dollar by default; euro, pound, rupee, yen and others available). Nothing is converted, so enter every price in the one currency you use.
Your Data: Export, Import and Clear Data (section 11).

Settings are saved as soon as you change them. The theme (light or dark) is the site's moon button at the top right, and your choice follows you to every page on ZeroDataUpload.

11. Export, Import and Backups

11.1 Export

Click Export in the toolbar or in Settings. The browser downloads one file, asset-tracker-backup-(date).json, with every asset, photo, note, issue and setting. It is plain text; keep it with your other backups.

11.2 Import

Click Import and choose an exported file. The records in the browser are replaced by the file's records. If the browser already holds records you want to keep, export them first.

11.3 Moving to another device

Export on the old device, copy the file across, import on the new one. Photos travel inside the file.

11.4 Clear Data

Removes every asset from this browser after a confirmation. It does not touch exported files or other devices.

12. Keyboard Shortcuts

Ctrl+N (Cmd+N on a Mac): open the Add Asset window
Escape: close any open window or the quick tour

13. Troubleshooting

"Failed to load application data": the browser refused its local database. Allow site data for zerodataupload.com, leave the private window, free storage space, or try another browser.
A photo will not attach: the limit is 5 MB. Compress the picture first, for example with UltraCompress Pro.
Import says the format is invalid: only files written by Export are accepted; a hand-edited file with a missing bracket is unreadable. Try the most recent backup.
Records vanished: cleared browsing data, a new profile or a reset removes site storage. Import your latest export; without one the records cannot be recovered, because no other copy exists.
Amounts show the wrong symbol: change the currency in Settings; the numbers themselves are not converted.

14. Support

Questions, problems and suggestions go through the contact form. Say which browser and device you use and what you did before the problem appeared. Short answers to the most common questions are on the FAQ page.