Back up your Discord server: create, download and restore backups

Discord has no recycle bin. A deleted channel is gone, along with its messages and permissions. A role structure that got clicked to pieces has to be rebuilt by hand, and after a nuke by a hijacked admin account you're left with an empty server.

A Discord backup takes that work off your hands: Lizbot remembers how your server is built and restores it at the push of a button. In this guide you create your first backup, set up automatic backups, keep a copy on your PC and learn which restore mode is right for which situation.

What Discord offers and what it doesn't

Discord has server templates: a link that transfers channels, roles and permissions to a new server. That's handy for sharing a structure, but it is not a backup. A template doesn't restore an existing server, and it contains no messages, no bans and no member roles. More on that in the guide on server templates.

The audit log shows you who deleted a channel, but you can't get it back from there. That's exactly what a backup is for.

What a Lizbot backup contains

Every backup always contains:

• roles with colors and permissions
• categories, channels and their order
• the permissions of every category and channel
• channel settings such as topic and slowmode
• server settings such as name, icon and verification level

When you create a backup, you can also add:

1. Create your first backup

Open your server in the dashboard and go to Backups. Click Backup, give it a name such as "Before the rebuild" and choose what else to include. Create backup starts the backup. Afterwards, View contents shows how many roles, channels and members were saved.

In Discord you use /backup create. /backup list shows all backups, /backup info the details of a single one. Only admins can use the backup commands.

The Free plan includes two saved backups, Pro ten and Studio fifty. Create your first backup right after setup and a new one before every major server rebuild.

2. Automatic backups (Pro)

From Pro on, Lizbot backs up on its own. In the Automatic backups section, turn on Back up automatically and set:

• Every how many hours a backup is made, between 6 and 168 hours. Every 24 hours is a good value for most servers.
• Keep how many automatic backups are kept, up to 50. Lizbot deletes older ones.

Automatic backups don't count against your limit for manual backups. They don't include levels and XP. A backup you definitely want to keep can be protected with Protect from automatic deletion in the dashboard or with /backup lock.

3. Back up messages (Studio)

On Studio, Lizbot can also back up messages: up to 1000 per channel from up to 20 text channels. It saves text, author, time and embeds. Images and files are stored only as links. Discord lets those links expire after a while, so keep important files somewhere else as well.

When restoring, you choose how the messages come back:

• As an archive file: Lizbot puts an HTML file with the full history into each channel. That takes seconds and is usually the best choice.
• Repost one by one: Lizbot writes the messages back through a webhook, with the names and avatars of the original authors. Discord limits the pace, so it takes about eleven minutes per 1000 messages. This only works on the same server.

4. Keep a backup on your own PC

In the dashboard, Download saves any backup as a .kbak file. That gives you a copy that still exists even if the backup was deleted from Lizbot.

The file is signed. If it has been modified, Lizbot rejects it when you restore it. That way nobody can slip you a tampered file that grants someone else permissions.

5. Restore

Restore saved backups in the dashboard with Restore or in Discord with /backup restore. A downloaded file can only be restored through Discord: run /backup restore and attach the file in the datei field. It can be at most 25 MB.

There are two modes:

Missing only is the safe way after a nuke: whatever still exists stays untouched. Full first deletes channels and roles and rebuilds them from the backup. Messages in deleted channels are lost. So you can still go back, Lizbot first creates a safety backup that is kept for 30 days.

Under What should be restored? you pick individual parts, for example only roles and channel permissions. Bans, member roles and server name, icon and verification level are off by default and have to be ticked on purpose.

Before every restore Lizbot asks once more. In the dashboard you type a confirmation word, in Discord you confirm with a button. That way nobody rebuilds the server by accident.

Important: Lizbot can only create and edit roles that sit below its own role. Before restoring, drag Lizbot's role as high as possible in the server settings.

6. Copy a server (Pro)

With Copy to another server you restore a backup on a different server where Lizbot is present and you are an admin. Handy for a test server or for reusing a proven structure for a second community. You confirm by typing "COPY".

Copying comes with rules that protect your members: bans are not copied, and saved messages only arrive as an archive file, not under the names and avatars of their original authors.

Checklist

• a current backup exists
• automatic backups are running (Pro)
• important versions are protected from automatic deletion
• a .kbak copy is stored on your PC
• Lizbot's role is high up in the role list
• your team knows that "Missing only" is the safe mode

Common mistakes

• No backup before a rebuild: especially before big changes to roles and channel permissions, a fresh backup pays off.
• Full instead of Missing only: after a nuke, "Missing only" is almost always enough. Full is meant for a complete rebuild.
• Bot role too low: Lizbot can neither create nor adjust roles above its own role.
• Only stored online: if the backup is deleted from Lizbot, only the downloaded file can help.

A backup is your last line of defense. How to stop a nuke from happening in the first place is covered in the guide on anti-nuke protection.