The desktop app keeps rotating backups of your project's database — put the whole project back to an earlier moment in a couple of clicks.

Project Backups

The desktop app keeps rotating backups of your project's database. If an import goes wrong, a mass delete removes more than you meant, or the project's database gets damaged, you can put the whole project back to an earlier moment in a couple of clicks, without keeping your own copies of the project folder.

Backups cover the embedded database (the default for desktop projects). If your project uses a Docker or remote database, back it up with that database's own tools. The Backups list says so when that is the case.

To go back to an earlier version of one record, or to bring back something you deleted, use History and Trash instead. A backup restores the whole project.

Where to find it#

In the launcher: hover a recent project and click the Backups button (the clock with an arrow, next to the folder button). Use this when the project is closed, or when it will not open.
In the editor: Settings → Project backups (under Editor preferences). This lists the backups of the project you have open.

When backups are taken#

When	What happens
Every 15 minutes while the project is open	Only if something changed since the last backup. Studio waits until you have not touched the keyboard or mouse for a minute, so a backup never interrupts you mid-stroke. If you work non-stop, it takes the backup anyway once it is 30 minutes late.
When you close the project	One backup of the final state, taken after the editor and game server have stopped, so it is an exact copy.
Before you publish	When you click Publish v… in Server → Publish (the Server Control window), Studio backs the project up first and the publish waits for it. If nothing changed since the last backup, that one counts and no new copy is made. Rolling back to an earlier published version from the same panel is backed up the same way, before your content is changed.
Before a Studio update changes the project	The first time you open a project after Studio's engine was updated (or rolled back), and before the new version applies its database updates, Studio takes one backup. Nothing has the project open yet, so it is an exact copy. On every other open nothing is copied. A project you open for the first time with this version of Studio is backed up once too.
Before "Take the cloud version"	When you open a cloud project and choose to take the cloud version over local changes that never synced, those local changes are backed up first.
Back up now	Whenever you click it, even if nothing changed.
Before a restore	A safety copy of the current state (see below).

A timed backup never runs while a publish, a cloud sync, an export or a restore is writing to the project. It waits until that has finished. The backup before a publish is not taken in the middle of a cloud sync, an export or a restore either: Studio tells you and asks what to do.

If a backup cannot be taken first#

A backup is all or nothing: it either appears in the list complete, or not at all. When the backup that should come before a publish or an update cannot be written, Studio stops and asks. Nothing goes ahead silently.

Before a publish. A dialog titled Backup before publishing failed says why (for example, that there is not enough free disk space, with how much the backup needs and how much is free).

Button	What happens
Cancel publish	Nothing is published. The publish panel says Not published, because no backup was taken first with the reason, and the review stays open so you can try again.
Publish without a backup	The publish runs. You cannot put the project back to how it was just before it.

Before an update. A dialog titled Backup before the update failed says why.

Button	What happens
Don't open	The project stays closed and untouched. Free some disk space, then open it again: Studio tries the backup again.
Open without a backup	The project opens and this version of Studio updates its database. That cannot be undone.

If an older backup already holds the project exactly as it is now (for example the On close backup from when you last closed it), that backup counts and you are not asked.

To free space, delete backups you no longer need from the Backups list (launcher, or Settings → Project backups).

Restore a backup#

Open the Backups list (launcher, or Settings → Project backups).
Find the moment you want to go back to. Each entry shows the date and time, why it was taken, and its size.
Click Restore… and read the confirmation.
Confirm.
- From the editor: the editor closes, the backup is restored and the project reopens by itself. Save any open panels first, because unsaved edits are lost.
- From the launcher: the project is restored in place. Open it as usual.
Check the result. If it is not what you wanted, restore the Safety copy before a restore entry to undo it.

The Backups list#

Field / button	What it does
Date and time	When the backup was taken (your local time), plus how long ago.
Reason	Automatic (the 15-minute timer), On close, Manual (Back up now), Before publish, Before an update, Before taking the cloud version, or Safety copy before a restore.
Size	How much disk space the backup uses.
"taken while editing"	The backup was copied while the editor was running. These restore fine in almost every case. On close, Before an update and Manual backups from the launcher are exact copies, so they are the safest choice if you have one from the right moment. A Before publish backup is taken while the editor runs, so it carries this note.
Back up now	Takes a backup immediately.
Restore…	Puts the project back to this backup (see the steps above).
Delete	Deletes this backup from disk. There is no undo.
Open folder	Opens the folder where this project's backups are stored.

If the project's database won't open#

When the database is damaged (for example, by a cloud-sync app; see Where to keep your projects), Studio repairs it automatically the next time you open the project:

The damaged database is set aside in the project's data folder as pglite.corrupt-<date> (or pglite-server.corrupt-<date> for the local game world). Nothing is deleted.
Studio starts from the newest copy that still opens. If there is none, it starts from a fresh copy of the starter world your project began with.
A Project database was repaired message tells you what happened and where the damaged copy is.

If your recent work is missing afterwards, close the project and restore a backup from before the problem (see Restore a backup above).

Gotchas#

Only the newest 10 backups are kept. Older ones are deleted automatically when a new one is taken. Safety copies made by restores are counted separately, and the newest 3 are kept. To keep a backup for good, click Open folder and copy it somewhere else.
Backups are stored on this computer only, in Studio's app-data folder (project-backups), not in your project folder. They do not travel with the project when you copy, export or sync it, and they are not uploaded anywhere. Uninstalling Studio and deleting its data deletes them.
"Nothing changed since the last backup" is not an error. Studio skips a timed backup when the project has not changed.
Not enough disk space: a backup is skipped if the disk would have less than about 512 MB free afterwards. A timed backup is just skipped; before a publish or an update Studio asks you first (see If a backup cannot be taken first). Free up space or delete old backups.
Play does not take a backup. Pressing Play also sends your content to the local game server, but only the publish you start in Server → Publish backs the project up first. A publish started by the AI assistant is not backed up first either.
Publishing counts toward the newest 10. Each publish that changed something adds one backup, so the oldest one drops off as usual.
If automatic backups are turned off (projectBackupsEnabled set to false in Studio's settings.json), the backups before a publish and before an update are off too, and nothing is asked. Back up now still works. There is no switch for this in the editor.
Restoring from the editor closes it. If you have unsaved changes, Studio asks whether to leave. If you choose to stay, the restore is cancelled; start it again from the launcher.
Cloud projects: after you restore a cloud project, the next open compares it with the cloud copy. If the cloud copy changed in the meantime, you are asked which version to keep.
Docker / remote databases are not backed up here. The Backups list tells you when a project uses one. A publish or an update on such a project goes ahead without a local backup and without a question.
A restore only replaces the project's database. Your media files, the .ed5proj file and other files in the project folder are not changed.
There is no feature flag — backups are always on in the desktop app. Studio Web projects are not backed up this way.