How to back up a Shopify store? Compared to AliExpress, Shopify is one of the largest online stores. But it doesn’t let users automatically back up their data. So, what should you do if you wake up and all of your Shopify data is gone? I was able to find you some good ways to get your store’s information back.
A website backup is a copy of all the data, information, photos, and other things on your website. Depending on how you back up online, you may get different types of storage for your backups. As a general rule, it’s better to have more data backed up than less.
Why Should You Save Your Shopify Store?
Yes, that’s the answer. This will help you avoid mistakes made by people or data loss for a number of reasons. For example, you might have deleted the information by accident or your laptop might have a virus. Here are some common reasons why it’s important to back up your Shopify store:
- You or your employees can sometimes do things wrong.
- Importing in bulk could be wrong.
- If there are mistakes in the code, your store’s theme could break.
- It comes from an app that you aren’t making.
- Attacks from the inside and from the outside can both be bad.
- Hackers can try to break into your shop.
- Phishing is now more likely to happen.
I think you’ll change your mind because of these things and start to look for ways to back up your store. Come with me and I’ll show you the best way to restore Shopify’s store data.
How to Handle Shopify Store Backup
Shopify doesn’t have the option to automatically back up its stores, which is a shame. But we still have some great ways to store the data that don’t take a lot of time or work.
Save your store’s information by hand.
The first choice is to write down all of your store’s information by hand. This way may take a few minutes, but it’s simple to do. Here are some steps to follow.
Send information to CSV files
You can make a backup of your store in Shopify with CSV files. But CSV files only let you get this information out of your store:
- Products
- Information about customers
- All orders
- The theme of gift cards and discount codes
Go to your Shopify Admin to find the data based on its name. Then, click “Export” to get CSV files that you can use to back up the data in your store.
You should carefully check the information because you can’t change it again.
When you export CSV files to an Excel sheet, your product information or URLs for images can be split up.
Add Store’s Data
When you export data from Shopify, you might not get all of the information you want, such as images, custom categories for items, or products that have been archived and indexed. So, you should take an extra step to add to your sheet the information that Shopify can’t export to CSV files. For example, if you delete an item without doing that step, its picture will be gone for good.
Look at and organize the recovered data
Now, you have all of your data that was backed up. You should check it and put it in a way that makes it easy to find and get when you need it.
Protect Your Information
Hackers and malware can be a problem for your backed-up data, especially customer information, whether your store is big or small. So, it’s important to keep all the information in your store safe.
Here are some reminders:
- The 3-2-1 rule is best: keep at least three copies of the backup in two different places.
- Use the best security methods: set a password to unlock the device and give it to people who are allowed to use it. There are also other ways to lock it, like using your fingerprint or your face.
- Check your backup often to find holes and have a plan to fix them.
You can get your store back with CSV files.
Now, if you make a mistake in your store, you can use CSV files to bring back all the information about your products.
Here are some suggestions:
- Test and check the information about the products often to make sure it is still safe.
- If you add new items to your store, make a change.
- Don’t forget to add the information that CSV can’t export, like Shopify themes, blogs, image links, and custom categories. See the section below to learn how to back up this information.
Make sure your Shopify store has a backup plan.
If you don’t have time to save the data by hand, you should start by thinking about a backup plan. Where do I start? Here are five steps:
Shopify’s API can be used to make a backup tool.
Shopify has a lot of API tools that help its users in different ways. Because of this, you should know exactly how the API you need to use works. To make a backup plan, you should plan how they will get the information about each order.
Take care of your backup
All your work is for nothing if you don’t keep your data safe. That’s because you have to keep your store and your customers’ information safe.
Check your way to save money often.
You should know that every day, Shopify’s API tools change. This platform just said that it will update its API with new versions. Because of this, it’s best to test your backup solution often, since the old API version could cause problems. So, it will help you see the problems and deal with them right away.
Sort the data to make it easier to find.
Many people skip this step because they don’t think it’s important to organize information. But when something goes wrong, it can be hard to find the information you need to fix it. So, after you finish the backup solution, you should put the data in order. You can sort by alphabet or by type of product.
Use Shopify’s backup software
Shopify doesn’t let people set up automatic backups of their store data. But don’t be afraid! There are still three applications that will fix it!
App to Rewind
Rewind Backup is a popular program that lets users get their data back in case something goes wrong. It works with well-known brands like MVMT Watches, Endy, etc., so you can be sure that it is safe and effective.
With Rewind, you can do a daily backup of your website’s data and customer orders. Plus, you can get back all of your data, even if some of it is missing, in just a few minutes. You can try it for free for 7 days and pay $3 per month after that.
Backs up automatically by Talon
Automatic Backup by Talon is another option for you. It will save any changes to your Shopify store’s data. It also lets you see your online store’s full history and choose which version you like best. You can call the app’s support team at any time to get help, thanks to this app. Also, it’s easier to change and bring back one category. You can try this app for free for 14 days after you download it. After that, it costs $8.95 per month.
ExIm
This is a free app that lets you send information about your store. But this app can only be used to restore blogs, themes, and pages. You can also make automatic backups of your data with just a few clicks.
Extra Tip: Save a copy of your Shopify theme.
Shopify themes are templates that online store owners use to set up their online shops. Every month, thousands of business owners download these templates, many of which were made by their partner community. In this section, I’ll tell you how to make a backup of your Shopify theme:
To get to the themes page, go to the Shopify admin and click on the Online Store item on the menu.
- On the page for Managing Themes, you can see information about your current theme. Pick the idea you want to support. You can find new themes, both free and paid, at https://themes.shopify.com/.
- If you click the “Actions” button, the menu will appear. Then, click “Duplicate” to make copies of the themes you chose. This step lets you make a copy with all the themes, but it doesn’t change the website for your store.
- Change the names of the copied themes. You should pick a name that stands out with backup dates, like “White Shirt 020522.”
- As you can see, “Actions” and “Customize” will be available for your duplicated theme. This time, click “Actions” and change the name of the theme.
- Then, a drop-down menu will show up. Choose “Rename” from that menu. Click “Rename” again after importing a name.
Conclusion
If you lose data from your Shopify store, you might not be able to keep track of your customers’ orders and won’t be able to fill them, which could cost you sales.
Most of the time, you’ll also have to spend time and money to try to bring your store back to life. The best thing to do is make a backup of your Shopify store so you can get to all the important files. Once you have the backup files, it will be much easier to get a new online store up and running.