Podio Backup

How to migrate from Podio without losing data

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Before you move anything, take a complete copy of your Podio, with files, comments and the links between apps, and keep it after the move. A migration is the moment data gets lost: fields that don't map, files that don't follow, relationships that break. A full copy is what lets you check the result and recover what went missing. We build a Podio backup service, so we care about this step more than most.

Why is moving out of Podio hard?

Podio data isn't just rows. Items point to other items, files hang off items, and the context of a decision often sits in comments. Most tools you might move to can import a spreadsheet, but a spreadsheet is exactly what loses those links. And Podio's own Excel export leaves out files, images, comments, tasks and activity: we cover its limits in How to export Podio data.

What should you save before you start?

Take this copy right before the migration, and keep taking it until the day you switch off Podio. Data changes while you work on the move.

How do you plan the migration?

  1. List what you have. Organizations, workspaces and apps, with a rough item count for each. Most accounts have apps nobody uses anymore: leave them out.
  2. Map the fields. For each app, decide where each field goes in the new tool, and what happens to relationship fields.
  3. Move one app first. Pick a small app, import it, and compare it with the copy: item counts, a few fields, a few files.
  4. Move the rest in order. Start with the apps other apps point to, so links have something to point to.
  5. Switch over. Choose a day, ask the team to stop editing Podio, take a final copy and run the last import.

What about the tool you're moving to?

Some tools offer their own importer from Podio. Check what it really copies, especially files, comments and relationships, and test it on one app before trusting it with everything. Whatever it does, your full copy is the reference to check it against.

What do you do after the move?

Keep Podio read-only for a few weeks if your plan allows it, so you can look things up. And keep your last full copy for good: months later, someone will need an old file or the history of a deal, and it'll be there.

If you want that copy without building it yourself, Podio Backup downloads your whole Podio, app by app or all at once.