Back Up and Restore n8n Workflows (Manual and Scheduled)

Create manual n8n workflow backups, schedule automatic daily, weekly or monthly backups with retention and restore a workflow export from the panel.

• Applies ton8n hosting plans
• Time needed8 min
• LevelBeginner

Your workflows represent hours of work. A backup lets you undo a mistake, move to another instance or recover after something goes wrong. The n8n management panel can create backups on demand and on a schedule.

Manual and scheduled workflow backups.

Create a backup now

1. Open your n8n service in the client area and choose the Workflows tab.
2. Under Backup Workflow click the button that creates a JSON backup of all your workflows.
3. When it finishes, the file appears in the list. Download it to your own computer as an off-site copy.

Schedule automatic backups

1. In the same tab find Automated Backup Schedule.
2. Choose the Backup Frequency: Daily, Weekly or Monthly.
3. Set Number of backups to keep (Retention Count). When the limit is reached the oldest file is removed, so disk space does not fill up.
4. Save the schedule.

Scheduled backups are designed to include your credentials too, so a restored instance can reconnect to your apps without you re-entering every key. Treat these files as sensitive: they contain access to your connected services.

Restore from a backup

1. Open the Workflows tab and choose the backup file you want. You can pick a different backup if you selected the wrong one.
2. Start the restore and wait for confirmation.
3. Open n8n, check your workflows and credentials, and test one important workflow manually before re-activating schedules.

Moving workflows between instances

• Export from the old instance (Download in n8n, or the workflow backup) and import into the new one.
• Credentials are stored encrypted and are tied to the instance's encryption key. A backup made by the panel includes what is needed to restore on the same instance. When moving to a different n8n installation, re-create credentials if they do not connect.
• After importing, re-activate workflows one by one so schedules and webhooks do not all fire at once.

What to keep outside n8n

• Any file or document your workflows generate. Execution data is pruned automatically (see n8n execution data pruning), so save important results to a sheet, database or storage.
• A note of which external apps call your webhooks, so you can update them quickly if the domain changes.

Last reviewed 19 October 2026. Need a hand? Contact DignityHost support or open a ticket from your client area.