Download & install
SQL Backup Tool is a Windows desktop application. Everything it needs is built in — you don't have to install any database software, add-ons or drivers.
- Download the installer and run it. Setup takes under a minute.
- Open the app. Your 15-day free trial starts automatically — every feature unlocked, no credit card, nothing to activate.
- On first launch the app offers to start with Windows. We recommend saying yes, so your scheduled backups always run even if you forget to open the app.
Your first backup in five minutes
Setting up a backup is answering four simple questions: Which database? How do I reach it? Where should backups go? How often? The app walks you through them one at a time — see the New Backup wizard below for a screenshot of every step.
Once you click Save, that's it. The app takes backups on your schedule from then on, forever, without being reminded — and emails you if anything ever goes wrong.
Dashboard — your backup health at a glance
The Dashboard is the first screen you see. Its job is to answer one question instantly: "is my data safe right now?"
The Dashboard: four summary cards, recent backups, and storage per destination.
What each part means:
- Databases protected — how many databases the app is currently backing up.
- Backups this month — how many backups ran recently, with a health percentage. 100% means every backup succeeded; anything less tells you something needs a look.
- Total stored — how much backup data you have, and (on the right) how it's split across your storage locations.
- Next run — when the next automatic backup will happen. You never have to trigger anything by hand.
- Recent jobs — the latest backups with their size and a green Success or red Failed badge. Click View all to open the full History.
The blue + New backup button in the corner starts the wizard — that's the only button you need on day one.
New Backup wizard — four questions, one backup plan
Click New Backup in the top menu (or the blue button on the Dashboard) and the app walks you through four steps. You can go back at any point, and nothing is saved until the final step.
Step 1 — Which database engine?
Pick the kind of database you want to protect: MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB or MariaDB. Not sure which one you have? Ask whoever set up your website or app — it's usually written in its settings screen.
Step 1: choose your database type.
Step 2 — How should we connect?
Enter the address of your database server, the username and the password — the same details your website or application uses. If you have a "connection string" (one long address that contains everything), switch to the Connection string tab and paste it instead.
Step 2: enter the connection details, then click "Test & list databases".
Click Test & list databases. The app checks it can reach the server and shows every database it finds — just tick the ones you want backed up. Your password is stored in Windows' own secure credential vault, never in a plain file.
Step 3 — Where should backups go?
Choose where your backup files will be kept:
- Local / NAS — a folder on your PC, an external drive, or a network drive.
- AWS S3, Wasabi, Backblaze B2, MinIO — cloud storage buckets (cheap and offsite, so a fire or theft can't take your backups with it).
- SFTP — any server you can reach over a secure file connection.
Step 3: pick a destination. For a local folder, just click Browse and choose it.
Step 4 — What's the plan?
Give the backup a friendly name, pick the backup type, and choose the schedule — for example "Daily at 2:00 AM". Here you can also switch on compression (smaller files) and encryption (locked files — see below), and decide how long old copies are kept.
Step 4: name it, schedule it, save it. The same wizard opens when you edit an existing job later.
Click Save & run now to take the first backup immediately, or just Save to let the schedule handle it.
Jobs — manage your backup plans
Every backup plan you create is called a job, and they all live on the Jobs screen. One row per job, showing its schedule, destination and how the last run went.
The Jobs screen — each row is one automatic backup plan.
Three buttons on the right of each row:
- Run — take a backup right now, outside the schedule (handy just before a big change to your website or app).
- Edit — reopens the wizard with everything filled in, so you can change the schedule, destination or options.
- Delete — removes the job. Backup files already stored are not deleted.
History — every backup, black on white
The History screen lists every backup that ever ran: when it started, how big the file was, how long it took, and whether it succeeded. This is your proof that backups are actually happening — no more "we think the backups are running".
History: filter by Success / Failed / Running, or search by name.
Use the filter pills at the top to show only failed runs, and the search box to find a specific database. A failed run shows a red Failed badge — open it to see the reason in plain text (in the example above, the database server couldn't be reached that night).
Settings — licence, defaults and alerts
The Settings screen is where everything app-wide lives:
Settings: trial & licence at the top, then engine checks and defaults.
- License — see how many trial days remain, or paste your licence key after purchasing.
- Cloud monitoring — optionally connect a free account to see your backup status from anywhere in a web browser.
- Engine readiness — green ticks confirming the built-in backup engines (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, MongoDB) are ready. If these are green, you're good — nothing to install.
- Defaults — the destination and retention new jobs start with.
- Email alerts — enter your mail settings once, and every job can notify you on failure (see Email alerts).
- Start with Windows — toggle whether the app launches quietly in the background when you log in.
Restoring a backup
Backups exist for one moment: the day something goes wrong. Restoring brings a stored backup file back to life as a working database — the app downloads it, unlocks it, unpacks it and rebuilds it for you.
Restore: pick where the backup lives, pick the backup, done.
Restores go into a fresh database (for example webshop_restored) rather than straight over your live one — so you can check everything is there before you switch over. That's the safe way, and it also means you can do a test restore any time without any risk.
Schedules — set it once, forget it
Every job runs on its own timetable: hourly, daily, weekly, monthly — or manual-only if you prefer to click Run yourself. You pick the exact time of day (most people choose the middle of the night). The app's scheduler runs continuously in the background and fires each backup on the dot, keeping your data protected without you lifting a finger.
Storage destinations — one backup, many safe places
A backup sitting next to the database it protects isn't much of a backup — one dead disk takes both. That's why the app can send every backup to multiple places at once: a local folder or NAS for fast restores, plus Amazon S3, Wasabi, Backblaze B2, MinIO or an SFTP server for an offsite copy. Each destination keeps its own copies and its own clean-up rules.
Compression & encryption — smaller and locked
Compression shrinks backups by 70–80% before they're stored, so they upload faster and cost less to keep. It's one toggle in the wizard and there's rarely a reason to turn it off.
Encryption locks each backup file with a password before it leaves your computer, using AES-256 — the same grade of encryption banks use. Whoever hosts your storage (Amazon, your NAS, anyone) only ever sees scrambled data. Even if a backup file were stolen, it would be unreadable.
Retention — old backups clean themselves up
Backups pile up fast: a daily backup makes 365 files a year. Retention rules keep that under control automatically. Tell each job to keep, say, the last 14 copies or everything from the last 30 days, and the app quietly deletes anything older after each successful run. Your storage never overflows, and you always have a healthy range of restore points.
Email alerts — know the moment something fails
The most dangerous backup is the one that stopped working months ago without anyone noticing. Enter your email settings once under Settings, and the app sends you a message the moment a backup fails — which job, which database, and what went wrong in plain words. You can also opt into a "success" email per job if you like the reassurance.
Runs in the background — close the window, keep the protection
Closing the app window doesn't stop your backups. The app slips into the Windows system tray (next to the clock) and the scheduler keeps running. Combined with Start with Windows, your backups survive reboots, log-offs and forgetfulness. To really quit, right-click the tray icon and choose Exit.