Back up your cloud — and restore in seconds
The Cloud Backup add-on takes automatic, encrypted snapshots of your files. If something gets deleted, corrupted, or you just want an old version back, you can restore it yourself— without overwriting anything. Here's how.
What a backup is (and what it isn't)
A backup is a point-in-time snapshotof your cloud files, stored encrypted and separate from your live data. Each run only saves what changed, so it's fast and space-efficient. Backups protect you from accidental deletion, ransomware, or a bad sync— things that encryption alone won't save you from.
Open your backup dashboard
Your dashboard is private to you. Three ways to reach it:
- From Nextcloud (easiest). Click the Backups entry in the top menu. You're recognised automatically — no extra login.
- From your files. Open
My-Backups.txtin the root of your cloud — it contains your personal dashboard link. - Direct link. Bookmark the page the first time you open it.
Turn it on
Backups are off by default — you decide when they start. In the dashboard:
- Pick a schedule — Every 6 hours, 12 hours, Daily, Every 3 days or Weekly. That's it; backups now run on their own.
- Or back up instantly — click ⤓ Back up now for an immediate snapshot.
- Turn it off anytime — hit Off to pause the schedule. Your existing snapshots stay.
Restore a snapshot
Every snapshot is listed with its date. To bring files back:
- Find the snapshot from the moment you want and click ↺ Restore.
- Your files reappear in a new folder named
Restored-<id>in your cloud. - Open Nextcloud, check the restored folder, and move what you need back into place.
Manage your space
The quota bar at the top shows how much of your backup storage is used. When it fills up:
- New backups pause and you'll see a “storage full” notice — your existing snapshots stay safe.
- Click Delete on an older snapshot to free space. New backups resume automatically.
- Need more room? Message us to bump your backup plan.
Keep your link private
- Anyone with the link can schedule, restore or delete your backups.
- Don't share it or post it anywhere. Opening it from the Backups menu in Nextcloud is always safe.
Good to know
- Snapshots are stored encrypted and deduplicated — only changes between runs take up space.
- Old snapshots are pruned automatically (recent dailies and weeklies are kept), so the list stays tidy.
- No backup add-on yet? You'll see an upsell screen instead of the dashboard — add it to your plan to switch backups on.