Backing Up NinjaTrader 8

Protecting your NinjaTrader 8 configuration is essential. Your workspaces, chart templates, indicators, custom NinjaScript files, and strategy settings represent hours of work. A reliable backup strategy ensures you can recover quickly from hardware failure, a failed update, or any unexpected issue — without starting from scratch.

This guide covers three backup methods, from the simplest to the most robust.

Important: Regardless of the backup method used, always restore using the same version of NinjaTrader 8 that was active when the backup was created. Restoring a backup from a different version may produce unexpected results. For this reason, we also recommend keeping a copy of each NinjaTrader installer file alongside your backups. Older versions are not always available for download from the NinjaTrader website, and having the installer ensures you can reinstall the exact version you need if required.

Method 1 — NinjaTrader Built-In Backup

NinjaTrader 8 includes a built-in backup feature accessible directly from the Control Center. This is the official method and is suitable for occasional, manual backups.

⚠️ Important reliability notice: Based on our experience, this method is not always reliable. We have encountered multiple instances where restoring a backup simply failed — the data was there, but NinjaTrader would not restore it, leaving no recourse. We recommend using Method 2 or Method 3 as your primary backup strategy.

For more information about this method, refer to the official NinjaTrader backup guide.

Creating a Backup

1. Disconnect from all data providers in NinjaTrader (if currently connected).
2. In the Control Center, go to Tools → Export → Backup File….
3. Select the items you want to include in the backup (workspaces, templates, NinjaScript files, configuration files, etc.).
4. Click Export.
5. Choose a destination folder and specify a file name. Including the current date in the file name is recommended (for example, NT8_Backup_2026-03-18).
6. Click Save.

The backup file is saved as a .zip archive. By default, NinjaTrader also saves a copy to Documents\NinjaTrader 8 Backup\ on your PC.

Restoring a Backup

1. Disconnect from all data providers in NinjaTrader (if currently connected).
2. In the Control Center, go to Tools → Import → Backup File….
3. Navigate to the location of your backup file and select it.
4. Choose the items you wish to restore.
5. Click Restore.

Method 2 — Manual Folder Copy (Simple and Reliable)

This method is straightforward and highly effective. All of NinjaTrader 8’s settings, workspaces, templates, indicators, and NinjaScript files are stored in a single folder under your Windows Documents directory.

This method is reliable. Because you are copying the files directly, there is no import/export process that can fail. Restoring is as simple as copying the folder back.

What to Back Up

The folder to back up is:

C:\Users\<YourUsername>\Documents\NinjaTrader 8\

This single folder contains everything NinjaTrader needs to restore your complete setup.

Note: Do not confuse this with the NinjaTrader application installation folder (typically located under C:\Program Files\NinjaTrader 8\). That folder contains the application itself, not your personal settings, and does not need to be backed up.

How to Create a Backup

1. Close NinjaTrader completely before copying the folder. This ensures all files are properly saved and no files are locked by the application.
2. Open File Explorer and navigate to C:\Users\<YourUsername>\Documents\.
3. Right-click the NinjaTrader 8 folder and select Copy.
4. Navigate to your backup destination — this can be:
   • A different location on the same drive
   • An external USB drive or SSD
   • A network drive
   • A cloud-synced folder (such as OneDrive or Google Drive)
5. Right-click and select Paste.
6. Optionally rename the pasted folder to include the date, and NinjaTrader version for example: NinjaTrader 8 v8.1.6.3 – Backup 2026-03-18.

How to Restore a Backup

1. Close NinjaTrader completely.
2. Rename or move the current NinjaTrader 8 folder in your Documents as a precaution (for example, rename it to NinjaTrader 8 – Old).
3. Copy your backup folder to C:\Users\<YourUsername>\Documents\.
4. Rename it back to NinjaTrader 8 (the name must match exactly).
5. Launch NinjaTrader. Your settings, workspaces, and files will be restored.

Method 3 — Restic (Recommended)

✅ Restic is our preferred backup method. It is a free, open-source backup tool that works from a PowerShell terminal and offers significant advantages over the two methods above:

• Fast subsequent backups: After the initial backup, Restic only processes files that have changed since the last snapshot. To give you a sense of the performance, a repository containing over 83 GiB of NinjaTrader data across more than 1.1 million files completed a new snapshot in just over 2 minutes. Performance will vary depending on your hardware and backup destination.
• Efficient storage: Restic uses deduplication — it stores each unique block of data only once, even across many snapshots. Keeping months of daily backups requires very little additional disk space.
• Fast and precise restore: You can restore from any snapshot (any point in time) quickly and reliably.
• Encryption: All backup data is encrypted, making it safe to store on external drives or cloud storage.

No prior experience with PowerShell terminal is required. Each step includes the exact commands to type.

Step 1 — Download Restic

1. Open your browser and go to https://github.com/restic/restic/releases/latest.
2. Under Assets, download the file named restic_X.X.X_windows_amd64.zip (where X.X.X is the current version number).
3. Extract the .zip file. Inside, you will find a single file named restic_X.X.X_windows_amd64.exe.
4. Rename this file to restic.exe for convenience.
5. Move restic.exe into C:\Windows\System32\. Placing restic.exe in System32 means Windows can find it from any PowerShell window without any PATH configuration — you can invoke it simply by typing restic.

Step 2 — Verify the Installation

1. Open Terminal (Admin) by right-clicking the Start menu and selecting Terminal (Admin).
2. Type restic version and press Enter. You should see Restic print its version number, confirming it is ready to use.

Step 3 — Create a Backup Repository

A Restic repository is a folder where all your backup snapshots are stored. You only need to create it once.

The following steps use an external drive as the backup destination. Replace E:\NT8_Backup with any path you prefer (a local folder, a network drive, etc.).

All commands below should be run in Terminal (Admin). Before running any command, navigate to your home directory to ensure a consistent working directory:

cd ~

In Terminal, run:

restic init --repo E:\NT8_Backup

Restic will prompt you to enter a password. This password encrypts all backup data. Store this password in a safe place (for example, in a password manager). Without it, your backup data cannot be accessed.

Example output:

enter password for new repository:
enter password again:
created restic repository 3f2a1c8b4d at E:\NT8_Backup

Please note that knowledge of your password is required to access
the repository. Losing your password means that your data is
irrecoverably lost.

Step 4 — Run Your First Backup

Close NinjaTrader before running the backup to ensure all files are saved. Then, in Terminal (Admin), run:

cd ~
restic -r E:\NT8_Backup backup "Documents\NinjaTrader 8" --tag v8.1.6.3

You will be prompted for your repository password.

The --tag flag associates a label with the snapshot. We recommend entering the NinjaTrader version number as the tag (for example, --tag v8.1.6.3). This makes it easy to identify which version of NinjaTrader was running when each snapshot was created — which is important when you need to restore, as covered in the introduction.

Restic will scan and back up the entire NinjaTrader 8 folder. The first backup will take longer as all files are processed for the first time. Once complete, you will see a summary:

Files:       1945 new, 0 changed, 0 unmodified
Dirs:        56 new, 0 changed, 0 unmodified
snapshot 7a4e3f12 saved

Each backup creates a new snapshot identified by a unique ID (for example, 7a4e3f12). All snapshots are stored in the same repository.

Step 5 — Run Subsequent Backups

For subsequent backups, run the same command as in Step 4. Because Restic only processes files that have changed, subsequent backups are very fast relative to the amount of data involved.

Step 6 — List Your Snapshots

To view all available snapshots in your repository, run:

restic -r E:\NT8_Backup snapshots

Example output:

ID        Time                 Host   Tags      Paths
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
7a4e3f12  2026-03-15 17:12:44  MYPC   v8.1.6.3  C:\..\Documents\NinjaTrader 8
c9d2b810  2026-03-17 17:45:03  MYPC   v8.1.6.3  C:\..\Documents\NinjaTrader 8
f3e1a729  2026-03-18 17:02:17  MYPC   v8.1.6.3  C:\..\Documents\NinjaTrader 8

Step 7 — Restore from a Snapshot

To restore your NinjaTrader 8 folder from a specific snapshot:

1. Close NinjaTrader completely.
2. Rename or move the current NinjaTrader 8 folder in your Documents as a precaution (for example, rename it to NinjaTrader 8 – Old).
3. In Terminal (Admin), navigate to your home directory and run the restore command, replacing 7a4e3f12 with the snapshot ID you want to restore from:

cd ~
restic -r E:\NT8_Backup restore 7a4e3f12 --target .

To restore from the most recent snapshot without looking up its ID, use the keyword latest:

restic -r E:\NT8_Backup restore latest --target .

Restic will restore the NinjaTrader 8 folder to the exact state it was in at the time of the selected snapshot. Launch NinjaTrader once the restore is complete.

Summary