How Do I Back Up My Data Using Export?
The Export feature in the Data Exchange Center allows you to save your current data as CSV files, providing a convenient way to create data backups.
How to Export Your Data
Open the Data Exchange Center, click Export on each data type you want to back up, and save the CSV file to your computer. Repeat this for each data type you want to include in your backup.
Recommended Backup Strategy
At a minimum, export your Tier 1 data on a regular basis:
- Inventory Items — Your complete product catalog with prices, SKUs, and descriptions
- Customers — Your full customer list with contact information
- Vendors — Your vendor records and account details
- Employees — Your employee roster and profile information
For a more thorough backup, also export your chart of accounts, categories, stock levels, and price tiers.
Storing Your Backups
Save your exported CSV files in a secure location such as a cloud storage service, an external hard drive, or a network share. Consider organizing files by date so you can easily find a specific backup if you need it later.
Restoring Data from an Export
For data types that support upsert (such as inventory items, customers, vendors, and employees), you can re-import an exported file to restore your data. The import will match existing records by their key field and update them, or create new records for any that are missing.
Important Limitations
- Snapshot only — Each export captures a snapshot of your data at the time of export. It does not include deleted records or historical changes.
- Transaction data — For transaction-based data types (bank transactions, account transactions, outstanding invoices), exports are primarily useful for reference and record-keeping. Be cautious about re-importing transaction data, as these data types do not support upsert and re-importing will create new records.
- Not a full database backup — CSV exports cover individual data types but do not capture system settings, user permissions, audit logs, or other system-level data. For a complete backup of your entire database, use your database server's built-in backup tools.
Despite these limitations, regular CSV exports provide a practical safety net that allows you to recover your most important business data quickly when needed.