--- title: Is Actorly a backup? Store history vs backup · Actorly description: Actorly is not a copy of your store. It keeps a backup of what changed, from install. How that differs from a full backup, and when you need which. canonical: https://actorly.app/blog/is-actorly-a-backup --- [← Blog · Product](https://actorly.app/blog) # Is Actorly a backup? Store history vs backup Actorly is not a copy of your store. It keeps a backup of what changed, from install. How that differs from a full backup, and when you need which. Actorly team Oct 13, 2026 5 min read Actorly is not a backup of your whole store. It is a backup of what changed, from install: it keeps the old and new value of the changes it sees, and can put 15 named fields back one at a time. A full backup holds a copy of the store itself, and Actorly does not restore a whole store. ## Two different jobs A store backup answers "give me the store as it was." A change history answers "what changed, when, from what to what, and who made it when Shopify reports it." They overlap when something goes wrong, which is why people search for one and find the other. Actorly is the second. Its own description is a searchable record of what changed in a Shopify store, so that "what changed?" gets an answer instead of a guess. It keeps changes, not a copy of the store. ## What Actorly keeps For each change it recorded, Actorly keeps the old value and the new value, the time, and the name Shopify reported with its confidence word where that applies. It tracks 25 parts of a store, including products, variants, inventory, collections, discounts, themes, pages and menus. The exact list, and what each part records, is on the [Coverage page](https://actorly.app/coverage). Because the unit is the change, you can find an edit without scrolling through copies. Search the change summary, the item's name, field names and values. ## What Actorly is not These come from what Actorly says about itself: - **Not a copy of your store.** It keeps changes, not a snapshot of the whole store. - **Not a restore of a whole store.** Restore is one field of one record at a time. - **Not point-in-time.** You cannot choose a date and roll back to it. - **Not bulk.** Restoring many things at once does not exist. - **Not able to show history from before it was installed.** The record starts at install. - **Not able to recreate a deleted item.** Deleted items are kept and shown in a Deleted view. If you need a copy of a product catalog, Shopify's own export is an option: from Products, choose Export and pick a CSV file. Shopify says the file can be used for creating a backup of your products, and notes that product images are not included in it. ## What Actorly can put back For 15 fields Actorly can write an earlier value back: product title, status, vendor, type, description, theme template and tags; variant price; collection title, description and sort order; location name; market name; file alt text; shipping profile name. It checks the field first, asks you to confirm the exact value, writes it, then asks Shopify again to confirm the value took. That is useful when one field went wrong. It is not a substitute for a copy of a store. The detail is in [Can you undo a change in Shopify?](https://actorly.app/blog/can-you-undo-a-change-in-shopify). ## Which do you need Think about the thing you are afraid of. - **"Someone changed something and I do not know what."** A change history answers that. See [how to see who changed a product](https://actorly.app/blog/how-to-see-who-changed-a-product-in-shopify). - **"I need a copy of my catalog or theme files in case the store is gone."** That is a backup job. Actorly does not do it, and you should look at tools made for it. Actorly does not restore a theme: Shopify allows an app to change a theme only with an exemption Actorly does not hold. - **"I want both."** They can sit side by side. A history tells you what changed, and a backup holds a copy. We would rather say that plainly than have you find out later. ## Four questions to ask any tool in this space These apply to Actorly as much as anyone. Ask what it keeps: a copy of the store, or the changes. Ask what it can put back, and whether it checks the value afterward. Ask whether it shows a name beside a confidence word and says so when it cannot tell who. And ask what it says it cannot cover. Actorly's answers: it keeps the changes it saw from install; it can put back 15 named fields and checks the value Shopify holds afterward; it shows a name beside Likely or Possible and says Unknown when Shopify records no one; and the [Coverage page](https://actorly.app/coverage) names what it cannot track, with the reason. ## What it costs Actorly Watch is free: three months of change history and one restore a month. Actorly Restore is $29 a month or $240 a year, with unlimited history while you stay on it, unlimited restores and export. Billing is Shopify's, on your usual invoice, and there is no charge per change. See [pricing](https://actorly.app/#pricing). ## Frequently asked questions ### Does Shopify back up my store? Shopify's help page on exporting products says a product CSV can be used for creating a backup of your products. Beyond that, check Shopify's help center for your plan; this page is about what Actorly does. ### Can Actorly restore my whole store? No. A restore changes one field of one record, after you confirm. ### Can Actorly bring back a deleted product? No. Actorly keeps deleted items and shows them in a Deleted view, but does not recreate them. Shopify says deleted products can't be restored. ### Is it a backup if Actorly keeps the old value? It is a backup of what changed, from install: each change with its old and new value. It is not a backup of the whole store. For the full picture of what Shopify keeps by itself, read [Does Shopify keep a history of product changes?](https://actorly.app/blog/does-shopify-keep-a-history-of-product-changes) ## Keep reading [Guides Why did my Shopify discount stop working?:](https://actorly.app/blog/why-did-my-shopify-discount-stop-working)[Guides What Shopify keeps when someone edits a price:](https://actorly.app/blog/what-shopify-keeps-when-someone-edits-a-price)[Comparisons Shopify's activity log vs Actorly:](https://actorly.app/blog/shopify-activity-log-vs-actorly)