--- title: "Backups: code versions, restore points and copies | Briks" url: https://briks.dev/docs/backups description: "What Briks keeps of each project: code versions, database restore points and nightly copies. How to restore, how to download and what each copy holds." last_updated: 2026-10-08 --- # Backups: code versions, restore points and copies Briks keeps several kinds of copies of a project, each for a different job. This page explains what each one holds, how to download it, and how to put things back when a change goes wrong. 6 minute read Checked against the studio on 8 October 2026 ## Three kinds of backup | What | Where you find it | What it is for | | --- | --- | --- | | Code versions | **Settings**, **Backups**, **Code** | Every published version of the site. Put one back on the live site, or download its code on a paid plan. | | Database history and restore points | **Database**, **Settings**, **Backups** | Take the whole database back to a named moment, or to any minute its history reaches. | | Nightly copies of the database | **Settings**, **Backups**, **Database** | A file of the whole database made every night and kept for 30 days, for you to download. Paid plans only. | The code and the database are separate. Restoring a code version never touches the database, and restoring the database never changes the code. If one change went wrong in both, restore each of them. ## Code versions Where 1. Projects 2. Your project 3. Settings 4. Backups 5. Code Every publish is kept as a version. The table lists them newest first with **Version**, **Saved**, **What** (the words of the request that made it) and **Made by**, which is the person who asked or Briks when the studio did it on its own. The version on the site carries a **Live** tag. Put an earlier version back on the live site 1. Find the version Where: Settings, Backups, Code Read down the **What** column for the change you want to go back to, and note its number. 2. Press Restore Where: Settings, Backups, Code Press **Restore** on its row. The dialog says: It goes back on the live site exactly as it was published. The versions after it stay saved, so you can come back. 3. Confirm Where: Restore dialog Press **Restore version** followed by its number. You're taken back to the studio while it goes live. Nothing is rebuilt and nothing is charged. Restoring needs edit rights, so Editors, Admins and Owners can do it. It is locked while an A/B test is running. The same versions, with undo and redo, are in the studio too: see [Versions, undo and redo](https://briks.dev/docs/versions). On a paid plan, **Download** on any row gives that version's code as a .zip. It holds the files written for your site, not the shared building blocks every Briks site runs on, so it won't run on its own. More about that in [Your site's code](https://briks.dev/docs/code). ## Database restore points and history The database keeps its own history, so it can go back to any minute within it. A **restore point** is a named moment in that history that is easy to find again. Briks marks one before the studio changes how the database is made up (adding a field, say) and before every restore, and you can save your own at any time. Where 1. Projects 2. Your project 3. Database 4. Settings 5. Backups The **Backups** group opens with a sentence saying how far back the history reaches, down to the earliest minute you can choose. Restore points older than that drop off the list, since they can no longer be used. Each one is labelled with when it was made and how: | Label | Made when | | --- | --- | | saved by hand | Someone pressed **Save now**. | | saved before a restore | Just before the database was taken back to another moment, so the restore itself can be undone. | | saved before the studio changed the database | Just before a build changed how the database is made up. | Save a restore point 1. Press Save now Where: Database, Settings, Backups Find **Save a restore point** and press **Save now**. 2. Name it Where: Save dialog Give it a name you will recognise later, up to 80 characters, such as `Before the spring menu`. The name is optional; without one it is called Saved by hand. 3. Save Where: Save dialog Press **Save**. You see: Restore point saved. Take the database back 1. Choose the moment Where: Database, Settings, Backups Press **Restore** beside a restore point. Or, under **Go back to another moment**, pick a date and time in your own time zone (at least a minute ago) and press **Restore** beside it. 2. Keep today's records first Where: Restore dialog On a paid plan the dialog offers **Download .zip** under First, keep the records as they are now. Take it if there is any chance you will want something from today. 3. Confirm Where: Restore dialog Type the project's name and press **Restore**. The whole database goes back to that moment, collections and the site's accounts alike, and what changed since is replaced. 4. Check the site Where: Database, Settings You see: Restored. The moment before was saved as a restore point, so this can be undone. The published site catches up within a few minutes. Restoring replaces everything A restore takes back the whole database, not one record. Every edit made after that moment goes too. Restoring is for Owners and Admins, and a project can be restored up to five times an hour. If you only need one record back, adding it again by hand is often quicker. ## Nightly copies A nightly copy is a file of the whole database, made every night and kept for 30 days. It is off by default and comes with a paid plan: switching it on and downloading a copy both need one. Copies count towards your plan's [storage](https://briks.dev/docs/storage). Switch nightly copies on 1. Open the database settings Where: Database, Settings Scroll to the **Backups** group. 2. Turn on Nightly copy Where: Backups group Switch **Nightly copy** on. Editors, Admins and Owners can do this. Switching it off works on any plan. 3. Wait for the first one Where: Settings, Backups, Database Under **Nightly copies** the list says **No copies yet** and: The first is made tonight. Where 1. Projects 2. Your project 3. Settings 4. Backups 5. Database Copies are listed by day, newest first, with their size. Press **Download** beside the day you want. Anyone who can see the project can download one on a paid plan. The same page lists the database's latest restore points and a **Database settings** button that takes you to where restores happen. A copy holds the whole database (every collection, its records and the accounts the site keeps) as one compressed file ending in `.sql.gz`. It is meant for a developer or a database tool to open. If you want something for a spreadsheet, use the CSV download in the Database tab's settings instead. Copies are for keeping, not restoring There is no restore from a nightly copy inside the studio. To take the database back, use a restore point or a moment in its history. The nightly copy is your own copy to keep somewhere else. ## Files in storage The **Storage** view in Backups doesn't hold copies of your stored files at the moment. To keep your own copy, open the project's **Storage** tab, choose **Settings**, and use **Download as a .zip**: one folder, or every file, up to 10,000 files and 2 GB at a time. For more than that, download folder by folder. Where 1. Projects 2. Your project 3. Storage 4. Settings 5. Export ## Worked example: a café's menu change Before a big change Harbour Café, Galway > The café keeps its menu as records. Before replacing forty dishes for autumn, the owner opens the Database tab's settings, presses **Save now** and names the point `Before the autumn menu`. Restore point saved. Two days later > The gluten free notes have vanished from half the dishes. The owner presses **Restore** beside Before the autumn menu, downloads the .zip when it is offered, types the café's project name and confirms. The menu records are back as they were. The two prices changed since then went back too, so the owner sets them again by hand. Nothing about the design changed, because the code wasn't restored. The live menu caught up a few minutes later. ### How far back can I take the database? As far as its history reaches. The **Backups** group in the Database tab's settings names the earliest minute. ### Will restoring the database undo my design changes? No. Code versions and the database are restored separately. ### Can I restore from a nightly copy? Not in the studio. Nightly copies are for downloading. Use restore points or a moment in the history to go back. ### Why is the Nightly copy switch greyed out? Either your plan is Free, where switching it on isn't available, or your role is Viewer. An Owner of the workspace can move to a paid plan in **Billing**. ## Read next - [Data and automation **Database** Find what your site stores, edit and add records by hand, and download collections as JSON or CSV, with who can do what and the limits that apply.](https://briks.dev/docs/database) - [Working on a project **Versions, undo and redo** Every build and change is saved as a version of your site. Undo a change, redo it, or put any earlier version back live exactly as it was, with no credits held.](https://briks.dev/docs/versions) - [Working on a project **Your site's code** Browse, edit and publish your site's code in the File Explorer on every plan. On a paid plan, download any version as a zip, and see what it leaves out.](https://briks.dev/docs/code) - [Your site's features **Storage** Keep files for your project, share them by link or through a public folder, see where your plan's storage goes, and download everything as a .zip file.](https://briks.dev/docs/storage) Still stuck? Write to [hello@briks.dev](mailto:hello@briks.dev) with your project's name and what you expected to see. A screenshot helps.