Backup Manager

The Backup Manager allows you to browse and restore from automatic backups created before bulk operations.

Opening Backup Manager

Open using one of these methods:

  • Menu: Tools > Backup Manager
  • Toolbar: Click the Backup Manager button
  • After bulk operation: Click "View Backups" in the result dialog

Automatic Backups

Backups are created automatically before:

  • Bulk Price Edit
  • Bulk Inventory Edit
  • Bulk Description Edit
  • Bulk Field Edit (Tags, Status, Vendor, Product Type)
  • Bulk SEO Edit
  • AI Description Generation

Backup Types

Type Color Data Stored
Description Blue Product ID, title, HTML description
Price Green Variant ID, price, compare-at price
Inventory Orange Variant ID, inventory item ID, location, quantity
Field Purple Product ID, field name, original value
SEO Teal Product ID, SEO title, SEO description

Interface Overview

Backup List

The left panel shows all backups:

  • Date/Time - When the backup was created
  • Type - Color-coded backup type
  • Count - Number of items in the backup
  • Store - Which store the backup is from

Backup Details

Select a backup to see:

  • Individual items backed up
  • Original values
  • Product/variant information

Filtering Backups

By Type

Use the dropdown to filter:

  • All Types - Show all backups
  • Descriptions - Description backups only
  • Prices - Price backups only
  • Inventory - Inventory backups only
  • Fields - Field (tags, status, etc.) backups only
  • SEO - SEO backups only

By Date

Backups are sorted newest first. Scroll to find older backups.

By Store

If using multiple stores, backups are labeled by store domain.

Restoring from Backup

Restore Entire Backup

  1. Select a backup from the list
  2. Click Restore
  3. Review the confirmation dialog
  4. Click Confirm
  5. Wait for restoration to complete

All items in the backup are restored to their original values.

Restore Selected Items

  1. Select a backup
  2. In the details panel, select specific items
  3. Click Restore Selected
  4. Confirm the operation

Only selected items are restored.

Restoration Process

During restoration:

  1. Original values are retrieved from backup
  2. Changes are sent to Shopify via API
  3. Progress is shown for each item
  4. Results summary displays successes/failures

What Gets Restored

Backup Type Restored Data
Description Product description HTML
Price Variant price and compare-at price
Inventory Quantity at specific location
Field Original field value (tags, status, etc.)
SEO SEO title and description

Managing Backups

Deleting Backups

  1. Select a backup
  2. Click Delete
  3. Confirm deletion

Warning: Deleted backups cannot be recovered.

Clear All Backups

  1. Click Clear All
  2. Choose backup type to clear (or all)
  3. Confirm the operation

Storage Limits

  • Maximum 20 backups per item (oldest auto-deleted)
  • Backups stored in local SQLite database
  • Storage location: %LocalAppData%\HFProductManager\

Best Practices

  1. Review before restoring - Check the items to be restored
  2. Restore promptly - Products may have changed since backup
  3. Keep important backups - Don't delete until you're sure
  4. Regular cleanup - Delete old, unnecessary backups

Storage Information

The Backup Manager shows total storage used:

  • Combined size of all backup databases
  • Per-store breakdown if multiple stores

Reducing Storage

  1. Delete old backups you don't need
  2. Clear backups for specific types
  3. The oldest backups auto-delete when limit reached

Troubleshooting

"Backup not found"

  • The backup may have been auto-deleted (limit reached)
  • Check the backup type filter
  • Ensure you're viewing the correct store

"Restore failed for some items"

Common causes:

  • Product was deleted on Shopify
  • Variant no longer exists
  • API error (try again)

"Cannot restore inventory"

  • Inventory location may have changed
  • Product may have inventory tracking disabled
  • Check for inventory app conflicts

"Storage full"

  • Delete old backups
  • Clear all backups of a specific type
  • Backups auto-cleanup at 20 per item

Backup File Location

Backups are stored locally:

%LocalAppData%\HFProductManager\description_backups.db

This SQLite database contains all backup types.

Manual Backup

To manually backup the backup database:

  1. Close ProductManager
  2. Copy description_backups.db to a safe location
  3. Restart ProductManager

Data Retention

Item Retention
Backup batches Until manually deleted or auto-cleanup
Items per product 20 most recent (per backup type)
Old items Automatically deleted when limit reached

See Also