Your backup plan depends on both the database backend and the attachment storage backend.

Default data directory layout

~/.memos/
├── memos_prod.db   # SQLite database (default)
└── assets/         # Uploaded files and attachments

The location is controlled by MEMOS_DATA. Override it at runtime or use the default.

What to back up

the database itself
local attachment storage when attachments are not stored in the database
deployment configuration such as environment variables, compose files, and proxy config

SQLite backup

The safest offline approach is to stop Memos and copy the database file:

sudo systemctl stop memos
tar -czf memos-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz -C ~/.memos .
sudo systemctl start memos

For online backups while Memos is running, use SQLite's built-in .backup command which handles WAL mode correctly:

sqlite3 ~/.memos/memos_prod.db ".backup ~/.memos/memos_backup.db"

Automated daily backup with 7-day retention:

#!/bin/bash
BACKUP_DIR="/var/backups/memos"
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)
MEMOS_DATA="${MEMOS_DATA:-$HOME/.memos}"
mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"
sqlite3 "$MEMOS_DATA/memos_prod.db" ".backup $BACKUP_DIR/memos-$DATE.db"
tar -czf "$BACKUP_DIR/assets-$DATE.tar.gz" -C "$MEMOS_DATA" assets
find "$BACKUP_DIR" -name "memos-*.db" -mtime +7 -delete
find "$BACKUP_DIR" -name "assets-*.tar.gz" -mtime +7 -delete

Add to cron: 0 2 * * * /usr/local/bin/backup-memos.sh

MySQL backup

# Backup
mysqldump -u memos_user -p memos_db | gzip > memos-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).sql.gz
tar -czf assets-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz -C ~/.memos assets

# Restore
gunzip < memos-backup.sql.gz | mysql -u memos_user -p memos_db
tar -xzf assets-backup.tar.gz -C ~/.memos

PostgreSQL backup

# Backup
pg_dump -U memos_user -d memos_db -F c -f memos-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).dump
tar -czf assets-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz -C ~/.memos assets

# Restore
pg_restore -U memos_user -d memos_db memos-backup.dump
tar -xzf assets-backup.tar.gz -C ~/.memos

Recovery mindset

Backups only matter if restore is realistic. Keep enough information to answer:

where the data lived
which database driver was in use
whether attachments were in the database, on disk, or in object storage
how the instance URL and proxy were configured

Operational advice

test restore at least once before you depend on the backup plan
record the storage backend alongside the backup process
treat attachment recovery as a first-class part of restore, not an afterthought

Backup & Restore