---
title: "Rocket Chat MongoDB Backup and Restore Guide"
slug: "mongodb-backup-and-restore"
description: "Learn to back up and restore MongoDB for Rocket Chat. Ensure secure messaging, reliable collaboration, and scalable open source deployments with data safety."
updated: 2026-05-13T13:36:58Z
published: 2026-05-13T16:26:42Z
canonical: "docs.rocket.chat/mongodb-backup-and-restore"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.rocket.chat/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# MongoDB Backup and Restore

Maintaining backups of your workspace data is a very important practice. These data backups can act as a safety measure where data can be recovered or restored in case of an emergency.

Rocket.Chat uses MongoDB as its database. With MongoDB, you have multiple built-in backup options depending on the deployment method.

In this guide, we are going to focus on how to:

1. [Perform a backup of your Rocket.Chat workspace data](/v1/docs/mongodb-backup-and-restore#mongodb-backup-with-mongodump)
2. [Restore your Rocket.Chat workspace data](/v1/docs/mongodb-backup-and-restore#mongodb-restore-with-mongorestore)

## MongoDB backup with `mongodump`

`mongodump` allows you to create backups from standalone, replica sets or sharded cluster deployments.

> [!NOTE]
> From MongoDB server 4.4, you need to install the `mongodump` utility separately. Visit the [official documentation](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/database-tools/mongodump) for more details.

### Backup a MongoDB standalone instance

To backup a simple MongoDB standalone instance, use:

```bash
mongodump <options> <connection-string>
```

- Running `mongodump` without any options assumes the database is running on `localhost` at port `27017` with no authentication.
- When the backup completes, a `/dump` directory is created in your current working directory.

### Backup a remote MongoDB instance

Backing up a remote MongoDB instance can be done with the following command:

```bash
mongodump --uri="mongodb://<host URL/IP>:<Port>" [additional options]
```

You can include additional authentication or configuration options depending on your environment. For the complete list of supported options, refer to the [official documentation](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/database-tools/mongodump/).

You should see something like the image below when the command is running:

![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/6ae79a05-7252-45d0-96e8-8f375e07b1b2/Images/Documentation/mongodump command executing.png)

mongodump command executing

## MongoDB Restore with `mongorestore`

`mongorestore` restores data from a backup created with mongodump. You can restore an entire database, selected collections, or specific BSON dump files into a MongoDB instance.

> [!NOTE]
> Before restoring, drop any existing database schema that shares the same name as the one you are restoring. Failing to do so may result in data conflicts.

- The syntax for the `mongorestore` command is as follows:

```bash
mongorestore <options> <connection-string> <directory or file to restore>
```

- To restore from a `dump` directory to a local mongod instance running on port `27017`, run:

```bash
mongorestore  dump/
```

- To restore data to a remote MongoDB deployment, run:

```bash
mongorestore --uri="mongodb://<host URL/IP>:<Port>" /dump
```

> [!NOTE]
> You can also restore a specific collection or collections from the `dump/` directory. Visit the [official documentation](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/database-tools/mongorestore/) for more details.

In a successful command execution, you should see a screen like the one below:

![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/6ae79a05-7252-45d0-96e8-8f375e07b1b2/Images/Documentation/mongorestore command executed.avif)

mongorestore command executed

> [!NOTE]
> As a workspace user, you can also download your personal data on the workspace as HTML or export it as JSON. Refer to [Manage Your Account Settings](/v1/docs/manage-your-account-settings#my-data) for more details.