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Tutorials › UniFi
BeginnerUniFi · about 15 min · 20 October 2026

Back up a UniFi console and restore it

A UniFi console holds your whole network: Wi-Fi, VLANs, firewall rules and every adopted device. If it dies and you have no backup, you're rebuilding from memory. This takes ten minutes and saves you a very long day.

Before you start

  • You need admin access to the console (a Cloud Gateway, Cloud Key, or UniFi OS Server).
  • Only the Owner of a Cloud Gateway can manage cloud backups.
  • There are two kinds of backup. A console backup covers all UniFi applications and settings. A Network-only backup is a .unf file that covers just the UniFi Network application, which is what you use when moving a self-hosted Network application to a new host.

Part 1: Download a backup file

  1. Sign in to your console, either locally or through unifi.ui.com.
  2. Open Settings.
  3. Select Control Plane > Backups.
  4. Download a backup file. Save it somewhere off the console, such as your documentation system or a secure file share, and name it with the site and date.
  5. If you only need the Network application (for a migration between self-hosted servers), download the Network-only .unf backup from the same page.
Treat backup files as sensitive. They contain your network configuration, including Wi-Fi settings.

Part 2: Switch on automatic cloud backups

  1. Go to Settings > Control Plane > Backups.
  2. Tick System Backups.
  3. A cloud backup will now be created every week, and before each major update.
  4. To see or download your cloud backups, go to account.ui.com/backups and sign in with the Owner account.

Part 3: Restore a backup

A restore replaces the current configuration on the console. Download a fresh backup of the current state first, so you can go back if the restore isn't what you expected. Do this out of hours, as devices may drop while the console comes back.
  1. Go to Settings > Control Plane > Backups.
  2. Select Restore.
  3. Choose your most recent cloud backup, or upload a backup file you saved earlier.
  4. Restore All Applications and Settings is ticked by default. Untick it if you only want to restore selected applications, settings or admin accounts.
  5. Confirm and wait for the console to finish restoring.

Part 4: Move to a new console

  1. On the old console, go to Settings > Control Plane > Backups and download a local backup.
  2. Swap the old console or Cloud Gateway for the new one. Leave the cables to switches and access points as they were.
  3. During setup of the new console, choose to restore the backup. You can also do it later from Settings > Control Plane > Backups.
  4. If the new device is a different model, it must be running UniFi OS 3.1 or later.
UniFi Protect camera recordings do not move to the new console. They stay on the old one. If you reuse a hard drive from the old console, it has to be reformatted, which deletes the recordings on it. Export any footage you need first.

Check it worked

  • On the Backups page, you should see a recent backup listed, and System Backups should be ticked.
  • At account.ui.com/backups, the console should show at least one cloud backup.
  • After a restore or migration, open Devices in UniFi Network and check every switch and access point shows Online. Give them a few minutes.
  • If a device stays offline or shows Managed by Another Console, Ubiquiti's advice is to factory reset it and adopt it again.
  • After a migration, Forget the moved devices on the old console so they don't try to reconnect to it.

Sources

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