Audit History

NTFS Permissions Auditor can save completed audit results to its database so you can review them later without re-scanning. This is essential for compliance records, change tracking, and understanding how permissions evolve over time.

Audit history is a Pro feature — saving reports and loading historical results requires a Pro license.

Auto-Save Reports

When Auto-save reports is enabled in Settings, every completed audit is automatically written to the SQLite database. The saved report includes the complete folder tree, all permission entries, group memberships, and metadata.

If auto-save is disabled, audit results are only available during the current session and are lost when the application is closed or the tab is closed.

Viewing History for a Profile

On the home screen, when you select a profile from the profile list, the area below shows the audit history for that profile — a list of all saved reports with their creation dates.

Each entry in the history list shows when the audit was performed. You can use this list to:

• Load a report — Open a saved audit to browse its results in the Folder View and Account View, exactly as if you had just run it
• Compare reports — Select two reports from the history and compare them to see what changed between audits (see Report Comparison)

Loading a Historical Report

To load a previously saved audit:

1. Select the profile on the home screen
2. Find the report in the audit history list
3. Double-click the report entry (or use the load action)

The report opens in a new tab. A “Loading…” progress message appears while the data is read from the database. Once loaded, you can explore the results in the Folder View and Account View, apply filters, and export — everything works the same as with a live audit.

The tab title shows the profile name and the load state, so you can distinguish historical reports from live audits.

Comparing Two Reports

To detect what changed between two audits of the same profile:

1. Select the profile on the home screen
2. Select two reports from the audit history
3. Use the compare function

The comparison opens in a new tab and shows all detected changes. See Report Comparison for details on the types of changes detected and how to export the change report.

Database Size Considerations

Each saved audit adds data to the SQLite database (%APPDATA%\ntfspa.db). The size depends on how many folders and permission entries are in the audit:

• A small audit (a few hundred folders) adds a few hundred KB
• A medium audit (a few thousand folders) adds several MB
• A large audit (tens of thousands of folders with group member expansion) can add tens of MB or more

Over time, with regular scheduled audits, the database can grow significantly. If the database becomes too large:

• Delete old reports that you no longer need from within the application
• Back up the database file before deleting if you want to keep an archive
• Consider adjusting your profile to audit fewer directories or reduce the depth limit if you’re generating very large reports frequently

Tips for Effective History Management

• Enable auto-save for profiles you audit regularly — this builds a timeline of permission states that’s invaluable for change detection and compliance
• Run the same profile consistently — Changing directories or options between audits makes comparisons less meaningful
• Establish a cadence — Weekly or monthly audits give you good visibility into changes without excessive database growth. For NIS2 compliance, monthly is the recommended minimum
• Use scheduled tasks for automated, consistent audits — see Scheduled Tasks