How to Back Up Shopify Automatically with Apps and Scheduled Exports
An automatic Shopify backup saves copies of your store data on a schedule, so you can recover products, customers, orders, themes and content without remembering to export them yourself. Shopify doesn’t provide merchants with restorable backups, so automation comes from backup apps that copy your store daily or as changes happen, or from import and export apps that send scheduled exports to cloud storage.
A good automatic backup turns a mistaken bulk edit, a faulty app or a deleted product into a quick restore. The right setup depends on which data matters most to your store and how easily you need to bring it back.
Does Shopify Back Up Your Store Automatically?
Shopify runs and protects the platform itself, but it doesn’t give merchants backups they can restore from. There’s no undo for deleted products, overwritten descriptions or a broken theme, and the admin’s CSV exports only cover some data and have to be run by hand.
That leaves store owners responsible for their own data. Common causes of loss include bulk imports that overwrite good data, apps that change records unexpectedly, staff mistakes and theme edits that break the storefront.
Ways to Set Up Automatic Shopify Backups
There are three main ways to automate backups, and they differ mostly in how easy they make restoring. Many stores combine a full backup app with occasional exports they keep themselves.
| Approach | How it works | Restore | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dedicated backup apps | Copy store data daily or as it changes and keep a version history | Item-level or point-in-time restores from inside the app | Most stores that want hands-off protection |
| Scheduled exports | Import and export apps send CSV files to FTP, Google Drive or similar on a schedule | Re-import the files, which takes more manual work | Stores that want their own copies in their own storage |
| Specialized backups | Apps that back up one area, such as themes or orders | Varies by app | Filling gaps alongside another method |
Dedicated backup apps
Backup apps connect to your store, run an initial full backup and then keep copies up to date, usually daily and often when items change. Most let you restore a single product or page, roll back selected data types to an earlier date or restore the whole store.
This is the simplest way to get reliable automatic backups. You pay a monthly fee, and in return restoring usually takes a few clicks instead of rebuilding data from files.
Scheduled exports
Import and export apps can run exports automatically and send the files somewhere you control. Firebear’s Import & Export Tool, for example, can schedule product, customer and order exports hourly, daily, weekly or monthly to destinations such as FTP, Google Drive or Google Sheets, while StoreRobo can schedule exports to an FTP or SFTP server on paid plans.
Scheduled exports give you files you own, which is useful for compliance or as a second copy. Restoring takes more effort, though, since you re-import data yourself, and Shopify’s built-in importer doesn’t handle orders.
Specialized backups
Some apps focus on one part of the store. Theme backup apps save versions of your theme files so you can roll back code changes, while order backup apps such as OrderSafe copy new orders to email or cloud storage for record-keeping.
These tools fill gaps rather than replacing a full backup. They’re most useful when one area, such as heavily customized theme code, changes often.
Automatic Shopify Backup Apps Compared
The apps below offer automatic backups for Shopify stores. Details come from each app’s Shopify App Store listing at the time of writing, and plans change, so confirm current pricing and coverage before installing.
| App | Backup frequency | Data covered | Restore options | Pricing | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rewind Backups | Automated daily and real-time, plus on demand | Products, themes, collections, customers, metafields and more | Single items, multiple items or the whole store | From $19 per month, based on monthly orders | 4.3 (630 reviews) |
| Talon Backups | Every 24 hours, plus on demand | Themes, products, collections, blog posts and pages, with orders, customers and metafields on some plans | Single records or the store to a chosen date, with a change view | From $9 per month, based on product count | 4.5 (42 reviews) |
| BackupLABS | Daily, or twice daily on its Pro plan | Products, customers and orders | Individual or bulk item restores and local downloads | Low starting prices that scale with monthly orders | New, no reviews yet |
| OrderSafe – Auto Backup | Daily or on demand | Orders only | Retrieve or export order data, not restore it to the store | Free plan; Premium $10 per month | New, no reviews yet |
Rewind Backups
Rewind is one of the most established Shopify backup apps, with automated daily and real-time backups and on-demand backups when you need them. It covers products, themes, collections, customer data and metafields, and lets you restore single items, groups of items or the entire store.
Plans are priced by monthly orders, starting at $19 per month for up to 300 orders, while a higher Protection Suite plan adds a staging environment. Some data can’t be backed up because of privacy and API limits, so review its coverage list against your needs.
Talon Backups
Talon makes a complete backup every 24 hours and lets you run backups on demand. Its plans are priced by product count, from $9 per month for 1,000 products, with order and customer backups optional on higher plans and metafield backups included from the Business Plus plan.
All plans keep a year of history. You can recover single records, restore data to a chosen date and use a difference view to see exactly what changed and when.
BackupLABS and OrderSafe
BackupLABS backs up products, customers and orders daily, or twice daily on its Pro plan, with item-level and bulk restores, encryption and retention of 30 or 90 days depending on plan. OrderSafe focuses only on orders, copying new orders to email on its free plan or to cloud storage such as Google Drive or Dropbox on its $10 Premium plan.
Both are new with no reviews yet. They can suit specific needs, but test them carefully and check their retention and restore options before relying on them.
What to Look For in an Automatic Backup
Backup apps look similar until you need to restore something. Compare them on the points that matter during a real recovery:
- Data coverage. Check exactly which data types are included, especially orders, customers, metafields, blog posts, pages, menus and themes.
- Frequency. Daily backups suit most stores, while busy stores benefit from real-time or more frequent backups.
- Retention. Look at how far back you can restore, since problems sometimes go unnoticed for weeks.
- Restore options. Item-level restores avoid undoing good changes, and point-in-time restores help after widespread problems.
- Change history. A view of what changed and when makes it easier to find the right restore point.
- Pricing basis. Some apps charge by orders and others by products, so compare costs at your actual volume.
- Security and access. Check encryption, account security and whether you can download your own copy of the data.
How to Set Up and Test Automatic Backups
Setting up automatic backups takes minutes, but testing them is what makes them trustworthy. Follow these steps whichever tool you choose:
- List what you need to protect. Note your most important data, such as products, customers, orders, content and theme customizations.
- Choose a tool that covers it. Compare coverage and restore options, then install the app or set up scheduled exports.
- Run the first full backup. Let the initial backup finish before relying on it.
- Turn on notifications. Enable alerts or summary emails so you notice failed backups.
- Test a restore. Restore a single test product or page, ideally on a development store, and confirm it comes back correctly.
- Take extra backups before big changes. Run an on-demand backup before bulk imports, theme updates or new apps.
- Review regularly. Check backup logs every so often and update coverage as your store adds new data types or apps.
Conclusion
Because Shopify doesn’t give merchants restorable backups, an automatic Shopify backup is the most reliable way to recover from deleted products, bad imports or broken themes. Choosing a tool with the right coverage, frequency and restore options, then testing it before you need it, keeps your store data safe with little ongoing effort. We hope this guide helps you set up automatic Shopify backups that protect your business.
