Category: Shopify

How To Backup Shopify

Backing up your Shopify store is a critical component of keeping your important private data safe. You can think of backing up your Shopify store as a sort of eCommerce insurance policy.

 

After all, there’s no worse feeling than accidentally deleting something and realizing that it’s gone forever. You may be wondering, “Wait — won’t Shopify automatically back up my online store?”

 

Unfortunately, the quick answer is no. Like many SaaS solutions on the internet, you’re responsible for protecting your own data. This allows Shopify to focus on providing the eCommerce platform and not fielding support requests for backing up data.

 

Fortunately, there are many simple ways how to back up Shopify that won’t require much time and effort. Following these easy tips can help you prevent a major disaster and website downtime that can cost you hundreds or even thousands of dollars in potential sales.

 

Below, you’ll learn about three convenient ways how to backup Shopify.

Why Won’t Shopify Backup My Data?

Shopify does perform regular backups of their platform to protect them in the aftermath of a disaster. The scope of these backups also extends to the millions of accounts on their platform.

 

Shopify performs these backups several times a week. The purpose of these activities is to restore all Shopify data in case a disaster destroys any of their main data centers or servers and unfortunately, these backups are not available to you.

 

These disasters include:

• Floods
• Tornados & Hurricanes
• Cyber Attacks

While these catastrophes are rare, SaaS platforms like Shopify are inclined to protect themselves. If you’re doing business on Shopify, then you should understand that Shopify can’t restore individual store data after deletion. See their terms of service located on the bottom of their website.

 

Shopify can’t possibly pick and choose which data to restore, which means you’re on your own when it comes to backing up your Shopify store data. This means that you can risk losing important sensitive data, such as:

• You or another collaborator accidentally deleting a product, page, or blog post.
• Someone with unauthorized access to your account deletes a product, page, or blog post.
• A third-party app you set up makes unwanted changes to your online store.
• You imported a CSV file into your Shopify store and it became corrupted, causing a wide-scale data issue.

 

When these issues occur, not only is your business data compromised but your customer’s information (credit card information, passwords, etc) can be altered and compromised as well.

Manually Backup Your Shopify Store – Option #1:

Shopify has suggested that merchants can make use of CSV files to manually backup their online store. Before you begin, it’s important to note that you can’t export all of your online store’s files, only some specific ones.

 

Step #1: Export Your Data into CSV Files

Here is the following data you can export from your online store:

• Customers
• Orders
• Theme
• Discount codes
• Gift cards
• Products

 

HOW TO BACKUP CUSTOMERS MANUALLY IN SHOPIFY:
– Click on CUSTOMERS on the left side of the screen
– Click on EXPORT top of the screen
– Select ALL CUSTOMERS
– Export to CSV file (it will either download or send you the csv via email.

 

HOW TO BACKUP ORDERS MANUALLY IN SHOPIFY:
– Click on ORDERS on the left side of the screen
– Click on EXPORT top of the screen
– Select ALL ORDER
– Export to CSV file (it will either download or send you the csv via email.

 

HOW TO BACKUP YOUR THEME MANUALLY IN SHOPIFY:
– Click on ONLINE STORE on the left side of the screen
– Click on the ACTIONS drop down on the right
– Select DUPLICATE THEME (this will save a duplicate copy of your site and settings within Shopify)
– OR select DOWNLOAD THEME FILE and it will you the theme file to download (this is just the code and not the data)

 

HOW TO BACKUP ORDERS MANUALLY IN SHOPIFY:
– Click on ORDERS on the left side of the screen
– Click on EXPORT top of the screen
– Select ALL ORDER
– Export to CSV file (it will either download or send you the csv via email.

 

HOW TO BACKUP DISCOUNTS MANUALLY IN SHOPIFY:
– Click on DISCOUNTS on the left side of the screen
– Click on EXPORT top of the screen
– Select ALL DISCOUNTS
– Export to CSV file (it will either download or send you the csv via email.

 

HOW TO BACKUP GIFT CARDS MANUALLY IN SHOPIFY:
– Click on PRODUCTS on the left side of the screen
– Click on GIFT CARDS on left
– Click on EXPORT top of the screen
– Select ALL GIFT CARDS
– Export to CSV file (it will either download or send you the csv via email.

 

HOW TO BACKUP PRODUCTS MANUALLY IN SHOPIFY:
– Click on PRODUCTS on the left side of the screen
– Click on EXPORT top of the screen
– Select ALL PRODUCTS
– Export to CSV file (it will either download or send you the csv via email.

 

*NOTE: Shopify DOES NOT ALLOW YOU TO EXPORT COLLECTIONS.

 

Once you have access to the CSV file, you should be aware of the common issues that arise when dealing with manual backups:

• Sorting your CSV files in an external spreadsheet program (Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, etc) can cause your information to dissociate and become jumbled.
• Importing a CSV affected by disassociated data can overwrite your current data, and this cannot be recovered.
• You cannot undo any data imported as a CSV file.

 

Step #2: Copy and Paste Item Properties

Granted, Shopify will export certain store data they deem to be relevant. The bad news is that this data doesn’t include captured images, custom product categories, or unique index and archived items.

This important must be copied and pasted into a document or spreadsheet. If you don’t complete this step and import a CSV file, you would need to recreate all of your item properties. That is — unless you want to restore a product catalog.

 

Step #3: Copy and Paste Remaining Store Data

There will be some data that Shopify can’t export. As such, you’ll need to manually copy and paste the rest of your data into a document or spreadsheet. For example, you would need to copy and paste the content, images, and even the content of blog posts.

 

Step #4: Organize Your Data

Once you have all of your data backed up, organize it in a neat way that will be easy to access when you need them.

 

Step #5: Secure Your Backup

Disgruntled staff, malware, and hackers can all reduce the security of your store backup. Here are some precautions you can take to protect your store data:

• Use Encryption — With this method, your data will be protected by keys, given only given to authorized individuals. These keys must always be kept in a safe place.
• Implement the 3-2-1 Rule — This rule entails keeping three copies of your backup data, across two different mediums, and one off-site.
• Perform Regular Tests — This will help you to detect any vulnerabilities of your store backup data.

 

Step #6: Rinse and Repeat Steps 1-5

Since this is a manual process, you should repeat steps 1-5 whenever you need an up-to-date backup of your store data. For more extensive backups, create a backup schedule overall several days.

 

Step #7: Prepare for Small Mistakes

For this step, let’s say that you’re dealing with product CSV files. If you want to restore all of your product data and import your files to the Shopify dashboard. On the other hand, if you want to restore a subset of products or a single one if you make a mistake, you’ll need to sort through all of your CSV files to import specific data.

This is an extremely time-consuming task, which is why it’s best to use a backup app for Shopify like REWIND.

Step #8: Paste the Remaining Store Data

Product images and blog posts will need to be manually inserted to restore your online store. If any information isn’t present in your CSV files or documents, you’ll need to recreate any lost data before continuing.

Create a Backup Solution for Shopify -Option #2:

If you have the necessary tools and resources, you can build your own backup solution for your online store. Here are four steps to get started.

 

Step #1: Use Public APIs

Fortunately, Shopify offers a wide variety of public APIs, with its own purposes. If you’re familiar with what APIs are and how to use them, you should create a defined plan on how to utilize all of the APIs you need to navigate the backup process.

 

Otherwise, you should review this guide from Shopify to learn more about APIs and how they’re beneficial.

 

Step #2: Secure Your Backup

Follow the same steps mentioned in Step 5 of the previous section. This is a very important step. If the developer cannot ensure that this tool cannot protect your data, you should abandon the project altogether.

 

The security of your business and customer data is highly essential, and you can be held directly accountable if it’s compromised.

 

Step #3: Run Regular Maintenance 

Keeping up with Shopify’s changing APIs can be challenging. Shopify regularly announces changes to their APIs, which means that you can spend a lot of time developing your tool, only for it to be broken later.

 

Step #4: Sort Through Your Data After a Disaster

This is the step that many merchants ignore. When you’re attempting to restore any lost data, make sure to sort through your backup data. The purpose of this exercise is to figure out what needs to be restored before moving forward.

Use the Rewind Backup App for Shopify (RECOMMENDED) – Option #3:

Performing your own manual backup or creating your own solution isn’t the worst idea, but if you don’t know how to do any of this or don’t want to, there is a better solution.

 

The Rewind App for Shopify will automatically perform daily backups of your online store. It will also protect your store by capturing all changes that you make, allowing you to revert and restore data when a small mistake or disaster takes place.

 

Performing backups for Shopify and Shopify Plus, Rewind processes all data in the format Shopify looks for. Here are some very important facts you should consider when learning how to how to install Rewind backup app Shopify:

• There are automatic, daily backups that take place at 11:00 am.
• Your store will be backed up in real-time, even as you work on it.
• You can perform a manual backup whenever you want.
• You can use Rewind to restore a single item, a group of items, and even your entire online store.

 

Using Rewind is the most convenient way to back up your online store with fewer mistakes and less time.

 

There are several plans for Rewind Backup App For Shopify and they will be presented to you based on your eligibility of your store. The app will check your store and recommend the plan for you. The basic plan updates and backs up data by itself when it wants but the higher plans allow you to manually kick off a back up of the data and recommended.

Conclusion

At After Dark Grafx, we specialize in providing in-depth app recommendations to help merchants get the most from their online stores. We are a Shopify Expert, Shopify Developer and Shopify Partner.

We are thrilled to announce that we have partnered with Rewind.com to offer backup solutions by simply installing the app within your store.

We believe that this app will help provide our clients with peace of mind by safeguarding their data so they can focus on business growth.

Learn more by visiting Rewind then select PRODUCTS in the top navigation and select Shopify.

If you have any questions or need help integrating Rewind, please feel to hire us, a qualified Shopify expert for a free installation into your store. You don’t need to be an After Dark Grafx client, but that doesn’t hurt either 😊.

 

*Note: The link for  Rewind for Shopify above is an affiliate link and we receive a small commission when you sign up for rewind.

>> Original post content from Rewind.com by Megan Smith, August 2019