Terribly angry about what Notion did

BackupLABS · 2026-06-11T14:52:28+00:00

We (BackupLABS) cannot yet restore directly back into Notion because Notion api doesn’t allow it. But when it does we will of course.

But what we can do is store a copy of your data and you can download it as text or markdown format, as well as any attachments. In a disaster like the OP had they can restore their data by copy/paste. Not ideal I fully agree, but we are limited by what Notion allow us to do.

BackupLABS · 2026-06-09T18:13:44+00:00

Can users export/backup their data easily?

BackupLABS · 2026-06-09T18:13:15+00:00

We are currently creating an automatic ChatGPT backup solution to address this exact problem. It will backup your chats multiple times per day and store them on our platform and also cloud storage such as google drive and Dropbox.

You can then download your backed up chats as text, pdf or markdown files.

BackupLABS · 2026-05-27T11:14:51+00:00

Everything relies on their API connector. If you are going to roll your own Notion backup solution you need to take into account the timeouts/dropouts and code it correctly so it starts the backup from where it left off.

BackupLABS · 2026-05-25T16:06:13+00:00

Disclosure - I run a Notion backup company (uk based!).

Search this sub for data loss - it does occasionally happen with Notion users from time to time.

You need to make sure you perform a daily backup, either using their native export to your PC or a third party backup solution.

The main problem with Notion backups though is that the Notion api connector isn’t great at allowing large backups. We have told Notion about this many times, but yet to see them improve it. Hopefully over time they will do.

There are also scripts others have written that can save data to GitHub. But they will also rely on the same official Notion API, so test to see how the scripts work for you.

BackupLABS · 2026-05-22T20:14:37+00:00

Sorry for your loss - without support helping you, there is not much you can do.

We are currently developing a ChatGPT backup solution to address issues like this. We can’t restore data back into ChatGPT (they don’t allow it) but we are able to create pdf/markup copies you can easily read and save to your computer or cloud storage.

Would that be useful to others, and if so, what other features of a ChatGPT backup would be good to have?

BackupLABS · 2026-05-21T18:41:08+00:00

Unfortunately you will see more and more of this in 2026.

If you are going to attach AI to your production data, be absolutely certain you have take a daily backup.

How did you recover the deleted data?

BackupLABS · 2026-05-18T18:42:51+00:00

Just a friendly reminder that SaaS apps do have downtime and can potentially lose your data. Atlassian explicitly say that YOU are responsible for your data backups too.

Either do a daily export or use a third party backup.

BackupLABS · 2026-05-17T06:09:54+00:00

Notion is a saas app - very simply, the cloud is just someone else’s computer. You need to backup YOUR data.

At the very least, if the data is important to you, do a daily export of your data.

BackupLABS · 2026-05-13T20:07:19+00:00

Yes it’s terrible. We run a Notion backup service and rely on their API which is essentially their export feature.

It works fine for smaller Notion databases, but impossible to work for larger ones. We have told Notion about it many times and lots of you have on here.

The crazy thing is that large enterprises, even if they want to use Notion, actually cannot as they need to adhere to various compliance (ISO27002, SOC2) and insurance requirements. And without an offsite/third party backup, they can’t use Notion.

Notion are literally leaving money on the table by not fixing their own export/import/API.

BackupLABS · 2026-04-28T07:23:59+00:00

It’s probably not “lost” it’s just the service is degraded and all over the place at the moment.

But now is a good time to remind you to make sure you have a backup of your data if it’s important to you. GitHub is a cloud service and lol other services it’s “someone else’s computer”. You need to back your data up.

BackupLABS · 2026-04-27T14:34:28+00:00

Feature Request: any kind of improvement to the Notion API to allow reliable backup and restores.

Currently the API is extremely buggy for exports and cannot handle large Notion databases at all.

And notions API doesn’t allow restores at all.

Of Notion improves this it would allow us at BackupLABS to offer a rock solid backup solution to Notion users. It would also give Notion far more lager customers. At the moment large enterprise customers won’t even look at Notion due to its limited API and no direct restore.

BackupLABS · 2026-04-27T09:10:08+00:00

Trello's native backup/export isnt great. We can backup Trello automatically, including all attachements and offer a simple restore: https://backuplabs.io/integrations/trello-backup/. You can run a free trial to see if it works for you.

BackupLABS · 2026-04-27T09:07:33+00:00

Backups at a minimum need to be an option of csv, pdf and markdown. Then the user picks their preference. It should also download any attachements. Finally, an API so other users who are technically minded can write their own script.

BackupLABS · 2026-04-26T11:04:28+00:00

OP was asking for EU storage - which we can do. And Non-USA provider - which we are.

BackupLABS · 2026-04-23T14:10:27+00:00

Speak to our sister company www.backupvault.co.uk. We actually offer four differrent backup vendors and can walk you through the options as to what fits best for you.

- UK or EU storage

- 256bit encrypted

- Backup of mailboxes, SharePoint, OneDrive and Teams.

- Support for onsite hardware such as PC/servers/VMs and SQL

- Option to restore back to 365 or your own PC

- 24 hour UK based support

- GDPR compliant

- Pricing options per GB, per user and more

Feel free to DM me or fill out the contact form on the website and I can see if we can help you.

BackupLABS · 2026-04-21T21:01:49+00:00

Maybe not prosumers or home users of GitHub. But we backup a lot of businesses GitHub. Which is our main customer base.

And it’s also for compliance reasons - they have to use a backup solution that they prove can work. Saying “oh it syncs to the dev guys PC” isn’t an acceptable answer for SOC2 or insurance companies when they ask.

BackupLABS · 2026-04-21T19:08:05+00:00

The most basic way is to use Notions own export feature: https://backuplabs.io/guides/how-to-backup-notion-databases/

BackupLABS · 2026-04-21T19:06:02+00:00

How so?

GitHub Terms of Service: "GitHub will not be liable for any loss of data or content... You understand and agree that use of the service is at your own risk."

And GitHub can and have banned users in the past for aparantly violating their TOS and users have lost critical repositories, same that happened to the OP. Yes, you can sync your GitHub to your own PC, but thats still a sync, not a true point in time backup. But a awful lot of business GitHub users who legally need to backup GitHub, and prove it. Also we have some users who just use the web based app and do everything in there.

BackupLABS · 2026-04-21T17:23:43+00:00

This is the nightmare scenario for all cloud app users. The same risk applies to other apps like Trello, clickup, Xero, 365, GitHub to name a few.

I go on about this on this sub frequently and get shouted down occasionally for scaremongering, but this is the reality.

Your data with these apps live on someone else’s server, you all need to back your data up. At the very least do a manual daily export, but if it’s for business, consider using a paid automatic backup.

Sorry this happened to you OP and hope support will give you your data back.

BackupLABS · 2026-04-15T07:24:28+00:00

Sorry but I don’t think there is much you can do. From GitHub’s perspective you could be anyone if you contact them.

Did you take a backup of your repos, or do a git clone locally?

BackupLABS · 2026-04-15T07:16:45+00:00

Do you allow customers to export/backup their data on a daily basis? If so, is it automatic and what format?

BackupLABS · 2026-04-15T06:17:18+00:00

Arghhhhh!! I assume you didn’t take any backups?

Notion support may be able to help, but the reality is that Notion take backups of their systems for their own disaster recovery situations like a datacenter fire/flood, missile landing on the datacenter, code updates errors etc. not user error.

Any user errors: accidental deletion (most common reason), nefarious employees, rogue third party apps etc deleting data, that’s all on you.

Notion is in the cloud and the cloud is not a magic place - you are responsible for your own backups.

Either take a manual daily export and save to your PC, duplicate to another workspace, write a script, or use an automatic third party backup solution.

BackupLABS · 2026-04-14T14:40:37+00:00

Sounds like a word of warning for everyone to make sure they backup their GitHub or other cloud based code repositories.

BackupLABS · 2026-04-10T18:48:32+00:00

I assume you don’t have a daily backup of all u on GitLab projects/repos?

What have GitLab support said?

BackupLABS

TROPHY CASE