How to back up and restore a site

Site Backup keeps earlier versions of a site so you can go back to one. Make a backup before a big change, and restore it if the change goes wrong.

How to open Site Backup

Open the site in the editor, click SEO/AEO in the left rail, then Site Backup (in the Site group).

How to make a backup

1. Type a New backup name, for example "Before the spring redesign" (up to 60 characters).
2. Click Create backup. You see "Backup created." and it appears under Manual backups.

It's a good idea before big changes, such as a redesign or new custom code. A backup saves the latest draft, including changes that aren't live yet.

Automatic backups

Backups are also made for you under Automatic backups:

• Every publish. Named Published. Publishing one page makes one too.
• Before every restore. Named like "Before restoring "Spring launch" (Oct 3, 2026, 4:15 PM UTC)", so a restore can always be undone.

The backup that's on the live site now shows Live now. Each list shows how many it holds, out of 50.

How to preview and restore a backup

1. Click Preview on a backup to open it in a new tab.
2. Click Restore. The message reads: "Your current version is saved as an automatic backup first. Pages, sections, design and site settings go back to this backup; collections and blog posts aren't changed. Republish to put it live. The editor reloads afterwards." Click Restore again to confirm.
3. The editor reloads with the backup's version.
4. Publish to put it live. Until you do, the live site doesn't change.

To undo a restore, restore the "Before restoring…" backup.

What a restore brings back

• Every page in the backup, with its sections and page settings. Pages made after the backup are removed (their form responses are kept).
• The theme, fonts, header, footer and mobile menu.
• The favicon, custom code, tracking codes, cookie banner, robots settings, the Search Console verification code and blog settings.
• Business Info and Business Text.
• Site SEO and AEO settings.
• The translations of every language in the backup, Draft languages too. Languages the backup doesn't have keep their current words.

What a restore leaves as it is

• Collections and their items. They stay as they are now.
• Blog posts. They stay as they are now, with their translations. Posts deleted since don't come back.
• URL redirects. They aren't in backups. See URL redirects.
• Site icons and site output settings: the home-screen icon, the default social share image, root files, the Security iframe setting, and the site's language list in Settings → Languages. See Site icons, root files and security.
• Domains, the preview address, form responses and stats.

Examples

• Before a redesign: name a backup "Before new homepage", rebuild the homepage, and restore the backup if the client prefers the old one.
• Undo a bad publish: someone published a broken menu. Restore the Published backup from before it, then publish again.
• Changed your mind about a restore: restore the "Before restoring…" backup to get back to where you were.

Limits and what it can't do

• Up to 50 manual and 50 automatic backups are kept. When a list is full, the oldest is removed to make room. The Live now backup is never removed.
• Delete removes a backup for good (it asks "This can't be undone." first). The Live now backup can't be deleted.
• Restoring doesn't publish. Publish afterwards to put it live.
• Backups live inside ContentForge. For a file you keep yourself, use Export a site. A ContentForge backup file can be restored as a new site.
• A deleted site isn't a backup matter. Restore it from Recently deleted within 30 days.

Who can use it

• Anyone in your agency with the Mount Olympus tool.
• Client people need the Site backup permission. See Client permissions.

Troubleshooting

• "Name the backup": type a name before clicking Create backup.
• "Could not create the backup": it didn't save. Try again.
• "Couldn't save the current version first, so nothing was restored": the safety backup failed, so the restore stopped. Your site is unchanged. Try again.
• "The restore failed — nothing was changed": try again. Your site is as it was.
• "The pages were restored, but their translations couldn't be. Try the restore again.": the pages went back but the other languages didn't. Restore the same backup again.
• "This is the version that's live — it can't be deleted": publish a newer version first.
• "Backup not found": it was removed, maybe because the list was full. Reload the page.
• The restored version isn't on the live site: publish it.
• A page I made after the backup is gone: restoring removes pages the backup didn't have. Restore the "Before restoring…" backup to get it back.
• My home-screen icon or social image didn't change back: those aren't restored. Set them again in Settings → Site icons.