restore data from old backup
 

After I bought my new phone I thought the old acar data were lost so I started with a new entry at that point. Now I discover that I had a backup on dropbox. how can I import the old records in a .abp file into my current app? I have the pro version. When I try to import the file from car it says there is no .csv file to import from.

Just above the CSV option (top of that page), select Full Restore. You'll want to NOT purge any existing data since you've already started adding recent records.

I saw that but I was afraid a full restore might wipe out my existing data. Does it keep the existing data ok?

Apologies, I was getting the prompts confused. When you import via CSV, you are given the option to retain existing records or wipe them. When you restore from a backup it'll purge any existing data.
So-
What you'll want to do is EXPORT your existing data to CSV.
Then restore the backup you have.
Then IMPORT the CSV and "Do not purge any record" that way the entries will merge instead of write over the data from the backup.

I have the same problem with the op. Thanks for the helpful answer, RobertV. I almost did the stupid thing by erasing the existing data.

From the simple logical, the restored data will be overwrite the existing data. so this is quite annoying.