# Backups

> Nightly backups to restore, full copies to download, and a change history that puts back what a database change deleted.

Source: https://support.estage.com/cloud-backups
Part of the ESTAGE Support help center (https://support.estage.com). Full knowledge base: https://support.estage.com/llms-full.txt

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The **Backups** tab is where your Dedicated Cloud goes back in time. It has three parts: nightly
backups of the whole database, full copies of the backend you can download, and a history of
every change to your database's structure.

Find it under **Backups** in the [Cloud workspace](https://support.estage.com/cloud#the-cloud-workspace).

## Daily backups

A backup of the database is taken every night and kept for **14 days**. The list shows each one
by date and time; the newest is tagged **latest**. The first backup appears after the backend's
first night.

### Restoring a nightly backup

Only the project owner can restore a backup. Other members see the list and the note *"Only the
project owner can restore a backup."*

1. Next to the backup you want, select **Restore**.
2. Read the confirmation, then select **Restore backup**.

What a restore does:

- **The whole database goes back to that night.** Everything written since — new rows,
  sign-ups, changes — is replaced by the backup.
- **A full copy of the database as it is now is saved first.** It appears under
  [Full copies](#full-copies) as **Before a restore**, so you can download what you had.
- **Uploaded files and server functions are not affected.**
- **The backend is offline for a few minutes.** The workspace shows *"Restoring your
  database…"* and updates on its own when it's done.

One restore runs at a time. While it runs, the **Restore** buttons are unavailable.

## Full copies

A full copy is one file with everything needed to move the backend elsewhere:

- your tables and their data,
- your users, with their passwords, so logins keep working after a move,
- uploaded files,
- server functions,
- a README that explains what is where.

Only the project owner can make and download copies.

1. Under **Full copies**, select **Make a full copy**. The button shows **Making a copy…**.
2. When the copy is ready, it's listed with its size and what it holds, for example
   *"4 tables, 120 users, 35 of 35 files"*.
3. Select **Download**.

Each copy is kept for **30 days**. The list labels where a copy came from:

| Label | Made when |
| --- | --- |
| **Full copy** | You selected **Make a full copy** |
| **Before a restore** | Right before a nightly backup was restored |
| **Before deletion** | Right before a cancelled backend was deleted |

A copy made before deletion stays downloadable after the backend is gone — see
[Cancelling](https://support.estage.com/cloud#cancelling).

## Change history

**Change history** lists every change to your database's structure — tables and columns created,
changed or dropped — and every query that cleared or rewrote a whole table. Each entry shows:

- the change's name, when it ran, and where it came from: **AI**, **External agent**,
  **Console**, **SQL editor**, **Restore**, **Setup** or **System**;
- what it destroyed, if anything, in red;
- **SQL** to see the exact statement (**Hide SQL** to close it);
- an error, if the change failed.

Select **Older changes** at the bottom to load more.

### Putting back what a change deleted

Before a change deletes data, a copy of the affected tables is saved. The entry shows it as
*"Copy of orders (250 rows) · kept until …"*. You can put it back for **14 days**; after that the
entry reads *"no longer kept"*.

1. On the entry, select **Restore**.
2. Confirm with **Restore**.

A change restore never deletes what's in the database now:

- missing rows come back,
- a dropped table or column is rebuilt,
- rewritten values are set back,
- rows added since stay as they are.

When there's no key to match rows on, the copy is saved beside the table under its own name
instead, and the message says so. The restore itself is listed in the history, and the entry
shows when it was restored.

## Things worth knowing

- **Nightly restore replaces; change restore adds back.** Use change history to undo one
  mistaken change without losing newer data. Use a nightly backup only when the whole database
  must go back to a night.
- **Not every change can be copied first.** When the affected tables are too large to copy,
  ESTAGE asks before running the change, because it can't be undone.
- **Full copies include up to 2 GB of uploaded files.** Files beyond that are listed in the copy
  but not included.
- **Databases larger than 8 GB can't be copied from the tab.** Contact support for an export.
- **Changes the AI makes are listed too.** Tables Genesis creates for a
  [backend task](https://support.estage.com/cloud-backend-tasks) show in the history with the source **AI**.