Version Control/Backups That Maintain Cell Links

Jack Doherty

I have seen some posts referencing similar pain points, but thought I would try to distill it into one idea post:

Smartsheet is awesome at so many things, but one place where it lags behind other cloud productivity solutions is in its ability to backup, back rev, and implement version control. Yes, you can view history on sheets or cells. Yes, you can schedule weekly workspace csv backups. Yes, you can duplicate a workspace. These are good features, but all can fall short on usability and have limitations. I have several workspaces with more than 100 items and tons of cell links and have yet to find a good way to structure version control and backups for them without having to risk rebuilding a lot of the linking and sharing manually. Something akin to Microsoft 365's ability to go back to a previous version without data and feature loss would be fantastic. As would the ability to copy a workspace with more than 100 items.

I am currently exploring workaround options for this with the API, but a native feature would be so much better for my users!

Gorka

Hi Jack,

I agree with you and this looks to me as a basic feature, not a nice to have. We have had issues with mistakes and recovering from those is beyond painful.

Honestly, not being able to recover a previous version is such a basic safety feature that we are considering moving into another tool for next year. It is not feasible nor reasonable to have to manually recover, if i.e. accidental deletion of data within a sheet happens.

Jack Doherty

Hi Gorka,

Yes, I've had similar thoughts. I've been experimenting with the Java backup tool (Backup Tool | Smartsheet) which is better than most of the other options natively available in Smartsheet, as it allows backup of all data by an administrator, instead of just sheets you have access to, but it still requires a lot of manual processes both to run and to recover lost data.

neisdorfer

This would be incredibly helpful! The inability to copy more than 100 items to effectively backup without losing all of your links is like an automatic admission that this program is not for complex solutions or larger enterprises no matter what the marketing material states.

Ramon Schibli

Most of the features are really smart, backup isnt. Rebuild a core sheet need to much time. I‘ve done this the last 60 hours.

We need a full functional backup of the sheets, reports e.g.

Also needed in backup is, cell-history, forms, sheet summary, auto formatting, formulas, column description, chat and all of the attachements in the specific rows. Excel cant solve this.

Amanda Fulbright

I just ran into this as well. I've been maintaining a "non-prod" version of my workspace for several months but when I tried to save it as a new copy I got the dreaded message that I can't because I have more than 100 items. I've been touting this as a great solution within the company and had no idea of this limitation. If it's not resolved quickly we'll likely have to move our solution to another tool as others have stated.

Jason Nairnsey

This has been raised as a risk in our organisation. Due to the power of the Smartsheet platform it does save a lot of time, however the lack of ability to restore sheets and other Smartsheet artefacts without many hours of work can easily undo any productivity gains. Please implement this ASAP - thanks, as we would like to keep using Smartsheet.

Kelly Kindred

This has also been raised as a significant issue for our organisation as we have only just learned of this limitation. I am a definite fan of Smartsheet and have been advocating for its use over the last few years. Unfortunately I have been directed to seek an alternative tool.

Marc Shecter

+1 (and I voted)

fyi@Mindy.cordova89921

Gorka

I have shared the same feedback in few channels already. No action seems to be taken.

This risk is big enough to avoid organizational roll-out and to move into an alternative product. It hard to understand how such a basic feature is missing.

Rick Olsen

Agree that this has become a very big pain point as we continue to improve.

Brad Jones

This is sorely needed.

Actual, factual, fully functional backups. That not only keep the links alive, but also clearly associates attachments to which row, etc.

Ilse Ickx

Yes please....grant us a possibility to either request via Support team a last back-up or version history as in 0365... Unexpected behaviour of Automation workflow using new Run Now option has serious messed up a production workfile and we'll need hours to recover it.... not smart for Smartsheet..... Better back-up plan is urgently needed. Thanks in advance.

M Sanchez

Yes, I agree! The core files are critical and must be backed updailywith the links intact.

Valeriia Sitolenko

Hello everyone!

If you need more advanced backup options, FluentPro Backup solution forSmartsheet backup and restoremight help you. This solution continuously automatically backs up the items you select, removing the need for manual backups. You can choose your data and set up the frequency of running backup. It allows you to access the backed-up data whenever needed and restore it from a specific point-in-time backup version.

Read the comparison ofFluentPro Backup and Smartsheet native backup.

clageweg

Backups imply that you can restore a previous version EXACTLY the way it was. Why else backup? I was shocked to learn that Smartsheet backups are so limited. It makes me question its viability as an enterprise level tool.