Back up and restore environments

Note

The new and improved Power Platform admin center is now generally available. We're currently updating the documentation to reflect these changes, so check back to ensure that you're getting the latest updates.

It's important to protect your data on Microsoft Power Platform and in Dataverse and to provide continuous availability of service through system or manual backups.

System backups are automatically created for environments that have a database. System backups of production environments that have a database and Dynamics 365 applications are retained for up to 28 days. By default, backups of production environments without Dynamics 365 applications and other nonproduction environments are retained for seven days. However, for managed production environments without Dynamics 365 applications, the retention period can be extended up to 28 days using PowerShell.

Manual backups are backups that the user initiates. It's recommended for creating manual backups before performing major customizations, applying a version update, or making significant changes to the environment. You can create these backups for production and sandbox environments, but not for the default environment. Manual backups of production environments that have Dynamics 365 applications are kept for up to 28 days. Backups of environments that don't have Dynamics 365 applications are kept for seven days.

Supported retention period

Environment types	System backup	Manual backup
Production with Dynamics 365 apps	28 days	28 days
Production without Dynamics 365 apps*	7 days	7 days
Sandbox	7 days	7 days
Developer	7 days	7 days
Teams	7 days	7 days
Default**	7 days	Not supported
Trial	Not backed up	Not supported
Trial (subscription-based)	Not backed up	Not supported

* For managed production environments that don't have Dynamics 365 applications, we allow you to extend the retention period beyond seven days, to a maximum of 28 days, through PowerShell. Learn more in Change the backup retention period for production environments without Dynamics 365 applications.

** We don't support restoring a system backup of the default environment through the Power Platform admin center. Learn more in Backup and restoration of the default environment.

System backup and restore operations aren't supported for trial-type environments. To use the full set of features, including system backup and restore options, go to Convert either type of trial environment to a production environment.

System backups

Environments that have a database are automatically backed up and can be restored. All your environments, except trial environments (both standard and subscription-based), have system backups. System backups are created continuously using the Azure SQL Database automated backup feature. Learn more in Automated backups.

New admin center

1. Sign in to the Power Platform admin center.
2. In the navigation pane, select Manage, then in the Manage pane, select Environments.
3. On the Environments page, select an environment.
4. In the command bar, click Backup & Restore, then select Restore or manage.
5. On the System tab, select an available system backup by choosing a date and time.
6. Click Continue.
7. The Backup retention side panel displays the backup details.

Classic admin center

1. Sign in to the Power Platform admin center.
2. In the navigation pane, select Environments.
3. On the Environments page, choose an environment.
4. In the command bar, click Backup & Restore, then select Restore or manage.
5. On the System tab, select an available system backup by choosing a date and time.
6. Click Continue.
7. The Backup retention side panel displays the backup details.

About system backups

• System backups aren't counted toward storage capacity. To restore an environment, you need 1 gigabyte (GB) of free capacity. If you're over capacity, learn more in: Is there a database size restriction for backing up or restoring an organization through the user interface or API?.
• Copying and restoring data might take more than one day, depending on the size of the data, especially if you must copy audit data.
• Backup and restore operations include only apps (created by using Power Apps) and flows (created by using Power Automate) in a Dataverse solution.
• Downloading a copy of a database backup for offline use isn't supported.

Change the backup retention period for production environments without Dynamics 365 applications

For environments without Dynamics 365 applications, the default backup retention period is seven days. Admins who run production Managed Environments of this type can use PowerShell to change the retention period to 7, 14, 21, or 28 days. To change this setting, you must have an admin role, such as Power Platform admin or Dynamics 365 admin in Microsoft Entra ID.

Keep the these points in mind:

• If you adjust the backup retention period, the new setting applies to all future backups and existing backups within the retention period. The change may take up to 24 hours to apply, and some older backups may be removed earlier than expected. Because the change might take up to 24 hours to affect existing backups, some backups might be removed earlier than you expect.
• For all other nonproduction environments, including default-type environments, the backup retention period is seven days by default. For example, you create an environment on January 1. On that day, the system starts to make backups of your environment, and it stores those backups for a default period of seven days. Therefore, on January 8, backups from January 1 to January 8 are available for restoration. If you change the retention period to 14 days on January 8, the system starts to keep the backups for a longer time. Therefore, on January 16, backups from January 3 to January 16 are available for restoration. In this way, you have more flexibility and control over your backup data.

Prepare your environment for PowerShell

The PowerShell module for Power Platform Administrators is the recommended tool for managing administrative capabilities in Power Platform environments. For information that helps you get started with the PowerShell for Power Platform Administrators module, go to Get started with PowerShell for Power Platform Administrators.

Note

You can extend the backup retention period only for production environments where Dynamics 365 applications aren't enabled. For production environments where Dynamics 365 applications are enabled, a retention period of 28 days is used. For all other nonproduction environments, the default backup retention period of seven days is used, regardless of the setting's value.

Set the retention period

Set-AdminPowerAppEnvironmentBackupRetentionPeriod

Supply values for the following parameters:

• Set the EnvironmentName parameter to the environment ID of your environment.
• Set the NewBackupRetentionPeriodInDays parameter to 7, 14, 21, or 28.

Verify the retention period

Get-AdminPowerAppEnvironment -EnvironmentName "Environment ID"

Set the EnvironmentName parameter to the environment ID of your environment.

Restore system backups

You can't directly restore backups to production environments. To restore a backup to a production environment, you must first change the environment type to sandbox, perform the restore, and then switch the environment type back to production. If you want to restore a system backup to a production environment, you must first change the environment type to sandbox. Then, after the restore is completed, you can then switch the environment type back to production. Learn more in: Can I restore to a production environment?.

You must restore an environment in the same region where it was backed up. The target and source environments should be in the same region. When an environment is restored onto itself, audit logs aren't deleted. For example, when an environment is restored onto itself to a past time (t1), full audit data for the environment is available. This data includes any audit logs that were generated after t1.

New admin center

1. Sign in to the Power Platform admin center.
2. In the navigation pane, select Manage, then in the Manage pane, select Environments.
3. On the Environments page, select an environment.
4. In the command bar, click Backup & Restore, then select Restore or manage.
5. Under the System tab, select an available system backup by choosing a date and time.
6. Select Continue.
7. On the Backup retention side panel, select the target environment to overwrite.
8. Select Restore, then select Confirm to proceed with overwriting the environment.

Classic admin center

1. Sign in to the Power Platform admin center.
2. In the navigation pane, select Environments.
3. On the Environments page, choose an environment.
4. In the command bar, click Backup & Restore, then select Restore or manage.
5. Under the System tab, select an available system backup by choosing a date and time.
6. Select Continue.
7. On the Backup retention side panel, select the target environment to overwrite.
8. Select Restore, then select Confirm to proceed with overwriting the environment.

Note

• Only sandbox environments can be restored to. For information about the effects of changing the environment type, go to the section: Can I restore to a production environment?.
• Under Edit details, you can change the environment name.

If you don't see the environment that you want to restore to

These restrictions apply to restoration from both system backups and manual backups:

• You must restore an environment in the same region where it was backed up. The target and source environments should be in the same region.
• The source environment can be a production, sandbox, or developer environment. No other types of environments are supported.
• The target environment can be a sandbox or developer environment. If the target is a developer environment, the source must also be a developer environment.
• A Managed Environment can be restored only to another Managed Environment. A non-Managed Environment can't be restored to a Managed Environment.
• If the source environment has a customer-managed encryption key applied, the target environment must also have the same customer-managed encryption key applied.
• Backup and restore operations work only with source and target environments that have Dataverse.
• If there are any enterprise policies applied to the source environment, then the target environment should also have the same set of policies applied.
• Sandbox, Teams, and developer environments support self-restore backups.

Source type	Target type
Production	Sandbox
Sandbox	Sandbox
Developer	Sandbox, Developer
Teams	Teams (self-restore only)
Default	Developer

For more information about how to restore to a production environment, go to the section: Can I restore to a production environment?.

Manual backups

Although automated system backups are great, you should create your own backups before you do major customization or apply a version update. Manual backups might take up to 10 minutes to process before they're available for restoration. It's recommended to wait at least 10–15 minutes before attempting to restore from a manual backup. Therefore, wait at least 10 to 15 minutes before you try to restore your data from a manual backup.

About manual backups

• You can create backups of production, sandbox, Teams, and developer environments.

• You can't create backups of the default environment.

• Manual backups of production environments that have a database and Dynamics 365 applications are kept for up to 28 days. Manual backups for production environments that don't have Dynamics 365 applications are kept for seven days.

• Sandbox backups are kept for up to seven days.

• Check your expiration date.

  

• The label of the backup file that is created reflects the restore point timestamp. The restore point timestamp is the closest available time to the time when the manual backup was created. The timestamp label can't be edited.

• There's no limit on the number of manual backups that you can create.

• Manual backups don't count against your storage capacity limits, but restoring an environment requires at least 1 GB of available capacity.

• You must restore an environment in the same region where it was backed up.

• If you don't see your target environment, refer to the If you don't see the environment that you want to restore to section for possible reasons and troubleshooting steps.

Create a manual backup

New admin center

1. Sign in to the Power Platform admin center.
2. In the navigation pane, select Manage, then in the Manage pane, select Environments.
3. On the Environments page, select an environment.
4. In the command bar, click Backup & Restore, then select Restore or manage.
5. Select the Manual tab, then click Create a manual backup.
6. Fill in the information, then select Create to proceed.

Classic admin center

1. Sign in to the Power Platform admin center.
2. In the navigation pane, select Environments.
3. On the Environments page, choose an environment.
4. In the command bar, click Backup & Restore, then select Restore or manage.
5. Select the Manual tab, then click Create a manual backup.
6. Fill in the information, then select Create to proceed.

There's no real-time status indicator while the backup is being processed. However, you receive a confirmation message once the backup is successfully created. When the backup is completed, you receive the following message: "The <backup name> backup was successfully created."

Restore a manual backup

You can restore backups only to sandbox environments. You can't restore them to production environments. If you want to restore a manual backup to a production environment, you must first change the environment type to sandbox. Then, after the restore is completed, you can switch the environment type back to production.

Important

Changing the environment type to sandbox affects database retention. For more information about the effects of changing the environment type, go to the section: Can I restore to a production environment?.

New admin center

1. Sign in to the Power Platform admin center.
2. In the navigation pane, select Manage, then in the Manage pane, select Environments.
3. On the Environments page, select an environment.
4. In the command bar, select Backup & Restore, then select Restore or manage.
5. On the Manual tab, select a manual backup to restore, then select Restore in the command bar.
6. On the Backup retention side panel, select the target environment to overwrite.
7. Select whether you want to include audit logs. The inclusion of audit logs can significantly increase the time that's required to restore an environment. Therefore, audit logs are excluded by default. Learn more in Restore audit logs.
8. Select Restore, then select Confirm to proceed with overwriting the environment.

Classic admin center

1. Sign in to the Power Platform admin center.
2. In the navigation pane, select Environments.
3. On the Environments page, choose an environment.
4. In the command bar, select Backup & Restore, then select Restore or manage.
5. On the Manual tab, select a manual backup to restore, then select Restore in the command bar.
6. On the Backup retention side panel, select the target environment to overwrite.
7. Select whether you want to include audit logs. The inclusion of audit logs can significantly increase the time that is required to restore an environment. Therefore, audit logs are excluded by default. Learn more in Restore audit logs.
8. Select Restore, then select Confirm to proceed with overwriting the environment.

Restore audit logs

Restoration of audit logs can significantly increase the time that is required to restore an environment. Therefore, audit logs are excluded by default. Follow these steps to include audit logs when you restore a manual backup.

1. Complete steps 1 through 6 of the previous procedure.

2. Under Audit logs, select Click here.

   

3. Enable copying of audit logs.

   

4. Continue with step 8 of the previous procedure.

Delete a manual backup

You can delete manual backups. You can't delete system backups.

New admin center

1. Sign in to the Power Platform admin center.
2. In the navigation pane, select Manage, then in the Manage pane, select Environments.
3. On the Environments page, choose an environment.
4. In the command bar, select Backup & Restore, then select Restore or manage.
5. Navigate to the Manual tab. Select the backup to delete, then select Delete in the command bar.
6. Select Continue to confirm the deletion.

Classic admin center

1. Sign in to the Power Platform admin center.
2. In the navigation pane, select Environments.
3. On the Environments page, choose an environment.
4. In the command bar, select Backup & Restore, then select Restore or manage.
5. Navigate to the Manual tab. Select the backup to delete, then select Delete in the command bar.
6. Select Continue to confirm the deletion.

App-specific backups

For information about backup and restore for specific apps, refer to the documentation for the appropriate app:

• Dynamics 365 Marketing
• Dynamics 365 Finance
• Dynamics 365 Customer Service
• Azure Synapse Link for Dataverse
• Power Apps portals

FAQ

How are system backups made?

In the current version of the product, system backups occur continuously. The underlying technology is Azure SQL Database. Learn more in Automated backups.

How are manual, on-demand backups made?

In the current version of the product, system backups occur continuously. The underlying technology is Azure SQL Database. Learn more in Automated backups.

Because Azure SQL Database continuously makes backups, there's no need to make other backups. Your on-demand backup is just a timestamp and a label that reflects that timestamp. We store this information in our system and use it during restore requests. This behavior differs from the behavior in previous versions that took a full backup during an on-demand backup.

Why can't I see the status of the manual backup?

There's no real-time status indicator while the backup is being processed. However, you receive a confirmation message once the backup is successfully created. When the backup is completed, you receive the following message: "The <backup name> backup was successfully created."

Should I open a support ticket to make a full backup?

No. In the current version of the product, system backups occur continuously. This behavior differs from the behavior in previous versions, where backups were made once a day. The underlying technology is Azure SQL Database. For more information, see Automated backups.

Because Azure SQL Database continuously makes backups, and there's no specific way to make other, on-demand backups, we recommend that you use the on-demand backup capabilities for labeled backups in Power Platform admin center.

How long are my manual, on-demand backups and system backups retained?

System and manual backups for some production-type environments are retained for up to 28 days. Backups for other environment types are retained for only up to seven days. Learn more in the section: How do I determine if backups of a production environment are retained for 28 days?.

How do I determine if backups of a production environment are retained for 28 days?

Production environments that have been created with a database give you the option to enable one or more Dynamics 365 applications (for example, Dynamics 365 Sales or Dynamics 365 Customer Service). However, you must purchase licenses that entitle you to deploy those applications. Backups of production environments that have a database and Dynamics 365 applications are retained for up to 28 days. By default, backups of production environments that don't have Dynamics 365 applications are retained for seven days. However, for Managed Environments, you can increase the retention period beyond seven days.

Can I move my data from an online environment to an on-premises version?

It isn't possible to obtain a copy of your database backup. If you want to move your online data to Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement (on-premises), data migration is required. For smaller data sets, consider exporting data to Excel. For larger data sets, find a third-party data migration solution on Microsoft AppSource.

How can I download a copy of my backup?

It isn't possible to obtain a copy of your database backup. Moving your online data requires data migration. For smaller data sets, consider exporting data to Excel. For larger data sets, find a third-party data migration solution on Microsoft AppSource.

Is there a database size restriction for backing up or restoring an organization through the user interface or API?

There are no restrictions on database size (or storage capacity/entitlement) for backups that are made through the user interface (UI) or API. However, if an organization's storage capacity usage exceeds the entitled capacity, the following admin operations are blocked:

• Restore an environment (requires minimum 1-GB capacity available)
• Create new environment (requires minimum 1-GB capacity available)
• Copy an environment (requires minimum 1-GB capacity available)

To comply with storage usage requirements, customers can always free up storage, archive data, delete unwanted environments, or buy more capacity. To learn more about capacity add-ons, refer to the add-ons section in the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide or the Microsoft Power Platform Licensing Guide. You can work through your organization's standard procurement process to purchase capacity add-ons.

Can I restore to a production environment?

You can't directly restore to a production environment. This restriction helps prevent accidental overwrites.

If you want to restore to a production environment, you must first change the environment type to sandbox. Learn more in Switch an environment.

If you want to restore a system backup or a restore point from the past seven days, you can safely switch the environment type. If you think you might have to restore to a backup that is older than seven days, we strongly recommend that you keep the environment a production environment and consider restoring to a different environment of the sandbox type.

If you do switch a production environment to a sandbox environment for a manual restore, you can choose a backup only from the past seven days. After the restore is completed, be sure to change the environment back to a production environment as soon as possible, to help prevent the loss of any backups that are older than seven days.

Why is my organization in administration mode after a restore, and how do I disable it?

The newly restored environment is put in administration mode. To turn off administration mode, go to Set administration mode. You can set administration mode in sandbox or production environments.

After a restore, what steps are needed to ensure that flows work as expected?

• Flows – In the target environment, existing solution flows are deleted, but existing nonsolution flows remain. Review the flows in the target environment to ensure that triggers and actions point to the correct locations. Solution flows are turned off. Therefore, enable flows as required. Solution flows must be enabled or turned on for the PowerShell and API commands to work with them.
• Connection references – Connection references require new connections. Create and set connections on connection references.
• Custom connectors – Custom connectors should be reviewed and, as required, deleted and reinstalled.

Do apps that are shared with Everyone continue to be shared with Everyone in a restored environment?

No. Apps that are shared with Everyone in an environment that is backed up aren't shared with Everyone in the restored environment. Alternatively, a canvas app can be shared with a security group. In this case, the app in the restored environment is shared with that security group.

Are app identifiers the same after backup and restore operations?

Not for canvas apps. The app ID for a canvas app in a restored environment differs from the app ID when an environment was backed up.

If I restore my environment, do previous backups remain available?

Yes, all backups within the organization's retention period remain available.

How can I restore records after a bulk deletion without restoring over an organization?

To restore records after a bulk deletion without restoring over an organization, follow these steps.

1. Create a new, empty organization.
2. Restore the backup from the current organization to the new organization.

This approach keeps the original organization together with all the records that were added since the backup. At the same time, it creates a new organization that has the records that were deleted.

How can I restore a deleted environment?

You can recover a recently deleted environment (within seven days of deletion) by using the Power Platform admin center or the Recover-AdminPowerAppEnvironment Power Apps cmdlet. Production environments that have Dynamics 365 applications are available for up to 28 days.

For more information about the recovery environment, go to Recover environment.

Troubleshooting

The restore operation failed. What action can I take?

The restore process, especially for environments with large amounts of data, is a complex backend operation. If the restore operation fails, wait 30 minutes and retry the operation again. The other actions you can take are reset, delete, copy, or restore. To retry copy or restore, the failed environment must be the target environment for the operation.

You don't see the environment that you want to restore to

• The source environment can be a production, sandbox, or developer environment. No other types of environments are supported.
• The target environment can be a sandbox or developer environment. If the target is a developer environment, the source must also be a developer environment.
• The target and source environments should be in the same region.
• A Managed Environment can be restored only to another Managed Environment. Learn more in Managed Environments overview.
• If the source environment has a customer-managed encryption key applied, the target environment must also have a customer-managed encryption key applied. Learn more in Manage your customer-managed encryption key.
• If an environment is enabled for Virtual Network support, the target environment must be in the same enterprise policy as the source environment.
• Restoration of an environment requires 1 GB of available capacity. Learn more in the section: Is there a database size restriction for backing up or restoring an organization through the user interface or API?.
• Backup and restore operations work only with source and target environments that have Dataverse. Learn more in Add a Microsoft Dataverse database.
• If you don't have enough storage, go to Add Microsoft Dataverse storage capacity to request more storage.