Release Notes

v0.9701 BETA current

Released 20 October 2026 · cPanel & Linux, Windows and Docker.

A fix for adding a client. Updating from 0.9613? Read the v0.9700 notes below as well: this version includes everything in them.

Fixed

• Adding a client. The connection wizard stopped with an error on its last step, Verify, so a new client could not be finished. Each step also named the wrong place to do it — for example “In Google Admin Console” on a step done in Google Cloud. Both are fixed.

Upgrading

Update as normal; nothing else changes. If you need to go back, 0.9700 installs over this version and reads your data as before.

v0.9700 BETA

Released 18 October 2026 · cPanel & Linux, Windows and Docker.

Missing a feature you used? Tell us. Apart from Linux server backup, which has been retired for good, any feature removed in this release can come back if enough of you find it useful. Depending on what we hear, we will either offer two versions of the product, a simple one and a fuller one, or bring the most-requested features back into this one. Email support@gwsbackup.com with the feature you used and what you used it for.

A bug fix, and a simpler GWS Backup. This release takes the console back to what it was built for: connect a workspace, back it up on a schedule, see what happened, and restore. Features that were not about backing up and restoring have been taken out, along with a few options that could cause more trouble than they saved. Your backups, settings, clients and destinations carry over untouched — there is nothing to reconnect.

Please read before you update

• Linux server backup has been retired. Scheduled Linux server backups stop once you update. Every backup already made stays in your storage. If you rely on it, stay on 0.9613 for now and get in touch — we’ll help you restore from your existing server backups.
• The workspace admin tools have been removed — suspending users, resetting passwords, aliases, spam triage, collaborative inboxes, login policies and usage reports. Please do these in Google Admin.
• The report builder has been removed, including PDF and Word reports. Each client’s backup history can be downloaded as a spreadsheet instead.
• Gmail retention labels have been removed. GWS Backup no longer adds labels to anyone’s mailbox. If a client was set to “label and skip”, their next backup includes the older mail that was being skipped.
• Backup Operator and Restore Operator are now one role, Operator, and each can both back up and restore. Review your team if you relied on the split.

Removed

• Linux server backup.
• The workspace admin tools, the report builder (with business details and report logo), and the charts and analytics.
• The drag-and-drop schedule planner, per-client retention policies (Gmail retention labels, the “pruning buffer” and shield rules), the Integrity Audit and Data Explorer tools, and investigative access to mailbox contents.
• Factory reset, client reset, appearance options, the news bell, the in-app Support page, the client contact fields, and the port setting (the installer or your container sets the port).

Changed

• Export CSV on each client’s Runs tab downloads the whole backup history: one row per backup, with what that run actually did. The figures are per run, so you can add them up safely.
• A new Schedules page shows every client’s schedule, with Pause all and Resume all.
• GWS Backup now asks Google only for read-only backup permissions, plus the restore permissions it always needed. Nothing needs changing in Google Admin.
• Connecting a workspace no longer asks you to choose an access level. Vendor notices now appear under Settings → Server & Licence, and Help opens our FAQ.

Fixed

• Fixed: changing your licence key could ask you to set up a storage destination first. A key the licence server does not accept is no longer shown as saved, and saving other settings can no longer clear your key.
• Fixed: workspaces connected with backup-only access did not find their user accounts. They are now found when you connect and refreshed before every backup.
• Security: connecting a Google Drive account as your backup destination must now be completed by an admin signed in to this console, and the backup integrity check confirms you are allowed to run it before it starts.
• Fixed: the Ledger’s Export CSV added up running totals, so its figures came out too high.
• Windows: old program files are cleared out when you update; installs stuck on port 3001 by an earlier bug are moved back to the normal port (a copy of your settings file is kept first); if the settings file ever goes missing, GWS Backup refuses to start rather than starting up empty; and Cloudflare tunnel setup points at the port your install actually uses.

Upgrading

Just update as normal. Your data and settings are untouched. As part of the update process, your encrypted databases are backed up — but please do your usual assurance beforehand.

If you need to go back, 0.9613 installs over this version and reads your data as before. Anyone you give the new Operator role after updating needs their role set again on 0.9613, and if you removed the old “Full Admin Automation” permissions in Google Admin, add them back before going back.

v0.9613 BETA 4 October 2026 · Linux server backup fixes

A round of fixes for Linux server backups.

• Fixed: saving a Linux server’s settings could clear its backup history from the console. Your backups were never affected and are still in your storage. If you notice missing history, get in touch.
• Linux server backups now work with Azure as the destination.
• Full backup mode now picks up new accounts and databases automatically, every run.
• The console now says exactly what a server backup includes: each account’s home folder (website files, email, SSL) and its databases — not DNS zones, cPanel account settings or database users.

Once you’ve updated, please run a new Linux server backup straight away (Run Server Backup), so you have a fresh, complete backup recorded in the console.

Upgrading

Just update as normal. Your data and settings are untouched. As part of the update process, your encrypted databases are backed up — but please do your usual assurance beforehand.

v0.9612 BETA 3 October 2026 · Linux backup fix

A fix for Linux server backups. An issue in the Linux server backup feature slipped through testing and stopped backups from starting when you pressed Run Server Backup. That’s now fixed, and backups start as expected. Scheduled backups were not affected.

Also in this release: lighter on memory when backing up large files with encryption switched on, and the app now holds off starting new scheduled backups while the server is short of memory.

v0.9611 BETA 8 September 2026 · a speed update

A speed update. On very large workspaces, Restore could take a long time to open — long enough to look like a timeout, and it occasionally held up other screens too. This release fixes that: Restore and the related screens now load in moments, whatever the size of the workspace. No backed-up data was ever affected.

v0.9610 BETA 2 September 2026 · the first public release

The first public release, on all three platforms.

What it does

• Backs up Google Workspace — Drive, Gmail, Calendar and Contacts — to a destination you own: Google Drive, S3-compatible storage, Azure, or a local disk. Your backups are never held by us.
• Per-client index databases — one file per client workspace, so each client’s catalogue is portable.
• Console database self-backup, on a schedule, to the same destination your client backups use — verified before anything older is pruned.
• Restore from any destination, including one you have since migrated away from.

Retention, and what is fixed

Three separate windows, which do not overlap:

• Version history — how many older copies of a file that still exists are kept. Operator-configurable.
• Vault pruning buffer — per client. How old a file may get before it is deleted from your storage altogether. Operator-configurable, and it applies to every destination: local disk, S3, Azure and Drive alike.
• Deleted items — anything gone from the customer’s Workspace is held for a fixed year. Not adjustable, and the other windows can’t cut it short.

Both of the windows that permanently delete data ship switched off — you turn them on deliberately.

Platforms

• cPanel & Linux — a standalone bundle and an installer that backs up your databases before it touches anything.
• Docker — a published image on GitHub Container Registry with a compose file. Data lives in a named volume, so an update replaces the container and leaves the databases alone.
• Windows — one installer, no prerequisites. Runs at boot before anyone signs in, with a notification-area icon for status and logs.

Older versions

Every version stays on this site. Its notes fold away above — open one to read it — and its files remain under Previous versions inside each platform on the download page.

Getting the current version

Everything is on the download page, with SHA-256 checksums for each file. Installation is covered per platform: cPanel & Linux, Windows, Docker.