# Keep a Backup from Auto Delete and Run Multiple Backup Schedules in xCloud

> Mark a backup Skip Delete so retention and auto delete keep it, and run a site's full backups on several schedules at once, such as daily and weekly.

You can now keep any backup from auto delete, and run a site's full backups on more than one schedule. **Skip Delete** keeps a backup that matters, such as the one before a big update, for as long as you need it. **Multiple schedules** let one site take, for example, a daily and a weekly full backup without a second destination.

Both are on every site's backup pages in the xCloud dashboard, and in the [xCloud Public API](/docs/how-to-access-the-xcloud-api/).

## Keep a backup from auto delete

A backup set to **Skip Delete** stays in the list, on the server and in your storage bucket. Auto delete and the retention period skip it until you set it back to **Allow Delete**. It covers the whole backup: the files archive and the database dump.

1. Open the site in xCloud and go to **Previous Backups** in the site menu.
2. Find the backup you want to keep and open its menu at the end of the row.
3. Choose **Skip Delete**.

The backup now shows a **Skip delete** badge, and xCloud confirms: "These backups will be kept: auto delete skips them."

To keep several backups at once, tick them and click **Skip Delete (n)** next to **Delete Selected (n)**.

### Keep an incremental backup

On an incremental destination, keeping a backup keeps its whole set, from its full backup up to the next full backup, so it can always be restored. xCloud asks you to confirm first, because **every incremental backup made after it is kept too**. Those newer backups stay until you allow delete again, so your storage use grows while a kept incremental backup is in place.

### Let auto delete remove it again

Open the backup's menu and choose **Allow Delete**, or tick several kept backups and click **Allow Delete (n)**. xCloud confirms: "Auto delete applies to these backups again." The next auto delete run treats them like any other backup.

### What Skip Delete does not stop

- **Deleting it yourself.** A kept backup can't be deleted from the list. **Delete Selected** is disabled while your selection holds one, and a delete is refused with a message to turn Skip Delete off first. Choose **Allow Delete**, then delete it.
- **Removing the destination or the site.** Removing a backup destination together with its files, or deleting the site, still removes kept backups. Both are explicit actions you take yourself.

If xCloud can't read the list of kept backups while an auto delete runs, that run deletes nothing and reports the error. A kept backup is never removed by mistake.

## Run full backups on several schedules

1. Open the site in xCloud and go to **Backup Settings** in the site menu.
2. Choose the **Local** or **Remote** tab for the destination you want to set up.
3. Set the backup type to **Full** and turn on **Automatic Backup**.
4. Under **Backup Schedules**, pick one or more of **Every 12 hours**, **Daily**, **Weekly** and **Monthly**. At least one stays selected.
5. Save the settings.

Every schedule saves to the same place, and you restore any backup the same way. **Previous Backups** shows the next run of each extra schedule. The schedules of one destination never run at the same moment: they take turns, and so does **Backup Now**.

### Things to know

- **Retention is shared.** All schedules keep their backups for the number of days set under **Backup Retention**. A weekly or monthly backup is not kept longer than a daily one. To keep one longer, set it to [Skip Delete](#keep-a-backup-from-auto-delete).
- **Incremental backups run one schedule.** An incremental destination keeps a single backup chain, so it offers one **Automatic Full Backup** frequency instead of the schedule picker.
- **Site settings only.** Team backup defaults and bulk apply still set one schedule per site. Add more schedules on each site's **Backup Settings** page.

## Use the Public API

- **Keep a backup:** send `PATCH /api/v1/sites/{uuid}/backups/{backupUuid}` with `{"skip_delete": true}`, or `false` to allow delete again. It needs a token with write access to site settings.
- **See which backups are kept:** `GET /api/v1/sites/{uuid}/backups` returns `skip_delete` on each backup.
- **Several schedules:** read and write `auto_backup_frequencies` in the site's backup settings.

AI agents connected to [xCloud MCP](/docs/how-to-connect-xcloud-mcp-to-ai-agent/) can do the same. Keeping or allowing delete on a backup asks you to confirm first.

## Related guides

- [How To Take Incremental Backup In xCloud](/docs/incremental-backup-in-xcloud/)
- [Global Backup Settings with xCloud](/docs/global-backup-settings-with-xcloud/)
- [How to Solve Automatic Site Backup Failures](/docs/how-to-solve-automatic-site-backup-failures/)