Back up a Space or multiple Spaces
You can export a single space or multiple spaces to an XML backup in the Confluence administration console.
Multi-space backup is helpful when you want to export a large site in smaller batches or generate a backup based on a team, project, or topic.
You'll need System Administrator permissions to do this.
A single space XML backup can also be generated by Space Admins in Space tools.
Good to know:
You can't restore a multi-space XML backup into an earlier version of Confluence.
You can’t restore a multi-space XML backup to Confluence Cloud either. Use the Confluence Cloud Migration Assistant app to do this. This is pre-installed with your Confluence installation.
What’s included in a space backup (export)?
A space backup includes, but is not limited to:
- pages
- blogs
- comments
- attachments
- drafts
Basically, it’s everything in your space.
Create a single or multi-space backup (export)
To create an XML backup of one or more spaces:
- Go to Administration menu
, then General Configuration > Backup and restore - Select Back up site or spaces
- In the Create a backup screen:
- Select Spaces
- Select the spaces you want to include in your XML export file. You can type the name of a space, or select recent spaces from the dropdown menu.
- Give your XML export a file name prefix. Confluence will add a time stamp and unique identifier to the end of this file name. If this field is left blank, the file will be assigned a default prefix and time stamp, for example, for single spaces
Confluence-space-export-<SPACE KEY>-2015-04-14-11-07-36-639.xml.zipor for multi-space backups,Confluence-space-export-<NUMSPACES>-spaces-2015-04-14-11-07-36-639.xml.zip - Select Save permanently if you want your file to remain in the
<confluence-home>/restore/spacefolder. Otherwise, the backup will be deleted in 72 hours by default to maintain storage capacity. You can change the storage time by configuring the system propertyconfluence.backuprestore.backup.ttl-in-hours. See Configuring System Properties to learn how.
- Select Back up
- You will receive a confirmation message, select Back up now to start the task
This process can take some time if you have many large spaces selected.
Retrieve the space backup
Method 1
Once the back up is complete, you can download the XML backup zip file by selecting the file name. This download link is active for 72 hours by default in case you need it later.
Method 2
Confluence will also save the backup as a zipped XML backup file in your<home-directory>/restore/space folder. See Confluence Home and other important directories for more information to locate your home directory. The backup will be deleted from this location after a set amount of time if you did not choose to save it permanently during the back up process.
You'll need access to the Confluence server to retrieve the file this way.
Restore (import) the space backup
There are some restrictions on which Confluence versions you can import your backup into. The most important is that you can't import into an earlier version of Confluence or to Confluence Cloud. See Restore a Space or multiple Spaces for more information and troubleshooting tips.