Data backup instead of backup: Better protection for your data

Traditional backups are becoming data backups: We've completely rethought data backup in Clockodo. Instead of relying on risky full restores, we now protect your data in two ways that provide much greater value in everyday use:

• CSV data backups – your most important data bundled into one package, stored in your account and available for download so you can keep a copy wherever you choose.
• Activity Log – a complete record showing who changed what, and when.

You can find the new Data Backup section, as before, under Settings → Export & Backup → Data Backups.

Attention: Nothing changes with the technical backups that Clockodo uses to protect your data against outages. These will continue to be created automatically. The only changes affect the backups that you have previously created manually for yourself in your account. 

Why we're replacing restorable backups

Until now, when something went wrong, the only option was to restore an entire backup. That meant losing every change made since the backup was created: tracked time, approved requests for absence, new projects, and more. Some companies even stopped entering new data before performing a restore, just to avoid losing recent work.

That's now a thing of the past. Instead of rolling everything back, you can correct exactly the one issue that needs fixing while leaving the rest of your data untouched. Clockodo is increasingly built around transparent change histories and immutable data. A full restore no longer fits this concept because it would distort the historical record. That's why we've taken a different approach—protecting your data before something goes wrong.

CSV data backups: Take all your important data with you

A CSV data backup bundles the most important data from your company account into a package of CSV files stored in Clockodo. You can now also download these files and store them wherever you like. If necessary, you can import individual records back into Clockodo or transfer them manually. This ensures that all other data in the application remains unaffected.

To make your backup as complete as possible, we've significantly expanded the export. A CSV data backup includes, among other things:

• co-workers and teams,
• customers, projects, and subprojects,
• hourly rates and planned hours,
• holiday allowances and carried-over balances,
• overtime transfers and adjustments,
• access groups, including their assignments,
• assignments to public holiday groups.

In short, all your master data and settings are now bundled into a single backup. Together with your time entries, which you can download separately as a CSV file, you'll always have all your important data at hand.

Automatic data backups remain available

If your plan previously included automatic backups, Clockodo will now create automatic CSV data backups at the same intervals. These are clearly marked in the list with their own label. Existing backups will be replaced by the new data backups over time.

Nothing changes with the technical backups that Clockodo uses to protect your data against outages. These will continue to be created automatically. The only changes affect the backups that you have previously created manually for yourself in your account. 

If something does get lost

If the unexpected happens, here's what to do:

1. Find the change: Use the Activity Log to see who changed or deleted which data and when.
2. Look up the previous state: Find the affected records in your CSV data backup as they existed before the change.
3. Restore only what you need: Import the affected records individually back into Clockodo or transfer them manually. All other data remains untouched.

This way, you recover exactly what was lost without rolling your entire database back to an earlier state.

How to use the new data backup

1. Open Settings.
2. Go to Export & Backup → Data Backups.
3. Create a new CSV data backup.
4. Download the completed backup whenever you need it.

With this update, you'll also notice a terminology change throughout the application: "Backup" is now consistently referred to as "Data Backup." The new term better reflects what the feature is designed to do. Your data stays protected without relying on risky full restores—through downloadable data backups and complete traceability of every important change.