The Gramps [[XML]] and Gramps [[XML]] Package database are the native archival Gramps formats. There is no risk of information loss when importing (restore) from or exporting to these formats.

*Gramps [[XML]] (.gramps): The Gramps [[XML]] file is the standard Gramps data-exchange and backups format, and was also the default working-database format for older (pre 2.x) versions of Gramps. Unlike the GRAMPS V2.x grdb format(or subsequent BSDDB or SQLite format files), it is architecture independent and human-readable. The database may also have references to non-local (external) media objects, therefore it is not guaranteed to be completely portable (for full portability including media objects in the Gramps [[XML]] package (.gpkg) should be used). The Gramps [[XML]] database is created by exporting (Menu {{man menu|Family Trees ->Export...}}) to that format.