What is a Workspace Backup?
Why SaaS teams export their project data and what's included
A workspace backup is a complete export of your project management data — projects, tasks, team, time entries, comments, and client information — saved to a file you control.
Most teams don't think about workspace backups until something goes wrong: a team member accidentally deletes a project, a vendor goes out of business, or the team switches tools and needs to migrate data. By then, the options are limited.
A regular backup practice means the worst-case scenario is 'restore from last week's backup' rather than 'that data is gone.'
What a Complete Workspace Backup Includes
A full workspace backup covers every record in the system:
- Projects — names, descriptions, statuses, settings, and all project metadata
- Tasks — every task across all projects, including subtasks, descriptions, assignees, and deadlines
- Comments — all discussion history on tasks and projects
- Team members — employee profiles, roles, and timezone settings
- Time entries — all logged hours with task, project, user, and timestamp
- Clients — CRM client cards with contact details and linked projects
Backup File Formats
Workspace data is typically exported in one of two formats:
**JSON** — a structured data format that preserves all relationships between records. Projects link to tasks, tasks link to assignees, time entries link to tasks and projects. JSON is the most complete format — nothing is lost in export. The tradeoff is that JSON isn't human-readable without a viewer or parsing step.
**CSV** — a spreadsheet-friendly format that's easy to open in Excel or Google Sheets. Good for time entries and individual data types. Not ideal for full workspace backups because CSV doesn't preserve relationships between records well.
Task Version History vs. Backup
A workspace backup and task version history solve different problems.
A **backup** is a snapshot of the entire workspace at a point in time. Use it to recover from data loss or migrate to another tool.
**Task version history** tracks who changed what on a specific task and when — showing the before and after state of each edit. Use it to investigate a specific change (who moved this deadline? who changed the assignee?) without restoring an entire backup.
Both are useful. Backup = disaster recovery. History = change accountability.
How Often to Run a Backup
Frequency depends on how fast data changes:
**Weekly backups** — appropriate for active agencies with multiple ongoing projects. A week of data loss is recoverable; a month is not.
**Monthly backups** — appropriate for teams with slower project cycles or primarily completed projects.
**Before major changes** — always run a backup before switching PM tools, offboarding a large client, or making structural changes to projects.
Store backups in a location separate from the workspace — Google Drive, Dropbox, or a local drive.
Backup & History in Melororium
Melororium's Backup & History module exports the full workspace in a single click. The file downloads as {workspace_name}_backup_{date}.json — a complete JSON export of all projects, tasks, comments, employees, and time entries. A separate CSV export is available for time entries specifically.
Task version history stores the before/after diff of every task change for 90 days — who changed it, what it said before, what it says now.
Backup & History is included in Agency ($59/mo, 10 users) and Studio ($119/mo, 25 users) plans.
Melororium
Backup & History in Melororium Agency
Project management, time tracking, CRM, and invoicing — one flat monthly fee. Starter $29/mo · Agency $59/mo · Studio $119/mo.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I import a workspace backup back into Melororium?
The JSON backup file is a complete data export. For migration or restore purposes, contact support — restoring from backup requires coordination with the workspace admin.
How long is task version history stored?
Task version history is stored for 90 days. Changes older than 90 days are no longer accessible through the history view. This is separate from the backup, which is a point-in-time snapshot you store yourself.
Does a workspace backup include file attachments?
The JSON backup includes references to file attachments (filenames and metadata) but not the actual file contents. Files uploaded to tasks and projects should be backed up separately from your cloud storage (Supabase, S3, or your configured storage provider).
Put it into practice
Manage it all in Melororium
Project management, time tracking, CRM, and invoicing — one workspace, one flat fee. From $29/mo.