Backup Restore

Recover your data from any SimpleBackups backup, on your terms.

A backup is only useful if you can restore from it. SimpleBackups gives you a consistent way to access, download, and restore every backup you take, while adapting the actual restore procedure to the technology behind each product. This page covers what restore means across SimpleBackups, then points you to the exact steps for the product you are restoring.

How restore works in SimpleBackups

Every backup run produces an artifact that lands in your own cloud storage. From the SimpleBackups dashboard, you can browse those artifacts under each backup's Logs tab and trigger a restore, download the file, or generate a temporary download link.

Restores fall into two broad categories:

• Automatic restores — SimpleBackups handles the entire process from the dashboard. You select a backup run, confirm the target, and SimpleBackups streams the data back into the source system. This is available for SaaS app backups (GitHub, Notion, GitLab, Knack) and volume snapshots.
• Manual restores — SimpleBackups provides the backup file and the exact commands to run. You apply the backup yourself using the native tooling for that database or filesystem (mysql, pg_restore, mongorestore, tar, etc.). This applies to all database and file backups.

The reason for this split is simple: databases and filesystems are restored into environments SimpleBackups does not control, so the safest path is to hand you the artifact and a tested procedure. SaaS apps expose APIs we can write to on your behalf, so we automate the round trip.

!Restores can overwrite live data

Restoring a backup may overwrite the contents of the target database, repository, or filesystem. Always confirm the target environment and, when possible, restore to a staging copy first.

What is the same across every product

Regardless of the product you are restoring, a few things stay constant:

• Your storage, your data — backups are restored from the cloud storage you connected to SimpleBackups. We never hold a separate copy.
• Encryption is preserved end-to-end — if the backup was encrypted, you decrypt it at restore time using the passphrase you set. SimpleBackups never stores it.
• Audit logging — every restore action is recorded in the Backup Recovery & Compliance Board for traceability.
• Point-in-time selection — you choose which backup run to restore from in the Logs view of each backup.

SRestore permissions

Only team members with the right role can trigger a restore. Review your role assignments in Teams, Projects and Users before granting restore access broadly.

Restore by product

The exact steps depend on what you are restoring. Pick the product below to jump to its dedicated restore guide.

Databases

Restore a MySQL backupRestore a MySQL or MariaDB dump using the mysql client, including PlanetScale and Vitess specifics.›Restore a PostgreSQL backupRestore a PostgreSQL backup with pg_restore or psql, plus fixes for common version mismatch errors.›Restore a MongoDB backupRestore a MongoDB backup with mongorestore, or restore a single Atlas collection with MongoDB Compass.›Restore a Redis backupRestore a Redis RDB snapshot back into a running Redis instance.›

Servers and files

Restore a file or server backupDownload and extract a file or server backup archive on the target machine.›

Server and volume snapshots

Snapshot restores are handled through your cloud provider's API. SimpleBackups triggers the restore on your behalf from the dashboard, and the new server or volume is provisioned directly in your provider account. The exact behavior — whether the snapshot replaces the source resource or creates a new one — depends on the provider.

Restore a snapshotTrigger a snapshot restore from the SimpleBackups dashboard, including provider-specific options.›

For provider-specific snapshot behavior, see the snapshot providers overview.

SaaS apps

Restore a GitHub backupRestore repositories, issues, pull requests and metadata from a GitHub backup, directly from the dashboard.›Restore a Notion backupRestore a Notion workspace as a separate copy without overwriting your live workspace.›Restore a GitLab backupRestore GitLab projects and metadata from a SimpleBackups backup.›Restore a Knack backupRestore a Knack application backup from the dashboard.›

Storage backups

Storage-to-storage backups are stored as plain objects in the destination bucket. To restore, copy the objects back to the source bucket using the cloud provider's native tooling or a sync client. See the Storage backup overview for guidance on browsing your backed-up objects.

When you cannot find what you need

If your product is not listed above, or you hit an error during restore, contact support from your dashboard.