How to Back Up a Webflow Site and Restore a Version

Why it matters

Webflow does not offer scheduled backups. Automatic restore points are created on every 50th auto-save and when you restore. Work between two restore points is not covered.

A restore also changes things. It can update CMS dates, refresh reCAPTCHA keys and disable locale publishing. Knowing this before you click saves a bad afternoon.

Webflow says its site plans (Starter, Basic, CMS, Business and Enterprise) have unlimited backups.

How to check it

1. Open the backup list. Go to Site settings, then Backups. You can also open the Designer's Settings panel and click Backups.
2. Check the latest manual restore point. Is it recent? Does its description say what it protects?
3. Preview a candidate. Hover over a backup and click the eye icon. It opens in a new tab.
4. Check your CMS connections. Backups from before March 25, 2024 reset CMS item IDs and break API and third-party connections that use them. Later backups do not.
5. Check Ecommerce. If inventory tracking is on, a restore asks whether to include inventory levels.
6. Check reCAPTCHA. Restoring refreshes the keys.
7. Check locales. If the backup has more locales than your site has enabled, publishing is disabled for all locales.
8. Check your CMS export. In the CMS panel, click Select, choose items and click Export.

How to fix it in Webflow

1. Create a manual restore point before big changes. Wait for the "Changes saved" checkmark in the Designer toolbar. Press Cmd + Shift + S on Mac or Ctrl + Shift + S on Windows. Add a description and click Save.
2. Describe it clearly. Say what changed and why, such as "Before CMS field rebuild." You can rename a backup later with the three-dots icon.
3. Export CMS items before big CMS changes. In the CMS panel, click Select, choose items, then click Export. Webflow describes it as saving a copy of the items as a CSV file, for backup or importing elsewhere. Its article does not say which fields are included, so test the file first.
4. Make your changes.
5. If something breaks, preview before restoring. Go to Site settings, then Backups. Use the eye icon on the version you want.
6. Restore. Click the three-dots icon on that backup and choose restore. Webflow saves your current version first, so you can go back to it. Images and other assets are saved and restored with a backup.
7. Re-add reCAPTCHA. Go to Site settings, then Forms and add the keys again. If the backup is older than your reCAPTCHA elements, add those to your forms too.
8. Check CMS dates. Webflow says "Published on" dates update to the current date and time when you restore. Check any list sorted by those dates.
9. Decide on inventory. For Ecommerce, choose whether to include inventory levels. Webflow says that if you do not, inventory levels reset and tracking turns off.
10. Re-enable locales. If publishing was disabled for all locales, turn it back on for the ones you want, within your Localization plan limits.
11. Test. Review the site before publishing, then test the live site. Webflow keeps comments, but moves comments on elements missing from the backup to the parent or body element.

Checklist

• A manual restore point exists before major work.
• It has a clear description.
• A CMS CSV export is saved before CMS changes.
• You previewed the backup before restoring.
• API connections that use CMS IDs are noted.
• reCAPTCHA keys were re-added.
• CMS dates were checked.
• Ecommerce inventory was decided.
• Locale publishing was checked.
• The live site was tested.

FAQ

Does Webflow back up my site on a schedule?

No. Webflow does not offer scheduled backups. It creates restore points on every 50th auto-save and when you restore, and you can save manual ones.

Can I restore a single page?

Webflow's article describes restoring the whole site only. Check your Backups tab before relying on a page-level restore.

Do backups include images?

Yes. Webflow says images and other assets are saved and restored with a backup.

Dealing with this on a live Webflow site? It is the kind of work I do in Maintenance and operations. Send me your site and I will tell you what I would fix first.