borg-undelete(1)

📦
version 2.0.0b25 · 3 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

✨ borg-undelete ✨

okay bestie, gather round, because this is the manual page for borg-undelete from the borg backup tool and it is literally the "oops undo" button you've been manifesting 💅

🌸 NAME 🌸

borg-undelete — undeletes archives. that's it. that's the whole vibe. un-delete. bring it back. resurrection era 🦋

📜 SYNOPSIS 📜

borg [common options] undelete [options] [NAME]

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

so like, this command undeletes archives in the repository. archives that got soft-deleted? yeah, they come back. iconic behaviour honestly 👑

important important IMPORTANT: undeleteing archives is only possible before compacting. once borg compact has run, all the disk space occupied only by the soft-deleted archives is freed, and undeleting is no longer possible. gone gone. like actually gone 😭 so do the undelete before the compact, bestie, do not play yourself.

when in doubt (and honestly, same), use --dry-run --list to see what would be undeleted before you commit to anything. peek first, act second, that's the rule 🫶

also!! you can undelete multiple archives at once by specifying a match pattern using the --match-archives PATTERN option. want the deets on those patterns? run borg help match-archives. it's giving bulk-restore main character energy ✨

⚙️ OPTIONS ⚙️

common options for Borg commands live over in borg-common(1), go check that out if you need them.

🎀 arguments

  • NAME — specify the archive name. that's the one you're bringing back from the void 💫

🍓 options

  • -n, --dry-run — do not change the repository. just a little sneak peek, no actual edits, no commitment, we love a low-stakes trial run 🙈
  • --list — output a verbose list of archives. receipts, basically 💅

🌈 Archive filters

  • -a PATTERN, --match-archives PATTERN — only consider archives matching all patterns. see borg help match-archives.
  • --sort-by KEYS — comma-separated list of sorting keys; valid keys are: timestamp, archive, name, id, tags, host, user; default is: timestamp.
  • --first N — consider the first N archives after other filters are applied.
  • --last N — consider the last N archives after other filters are applied.
  • --oldest TIMESPAN — consider archives between the oldest archive's timestamp and (oldest + TIMESPAN), e.g., 7d or 12m.
  • --newest TIMESPAN — consider archives between the newest archive's timestamp and (newest - TIMESPAN), e.g., 7d or 12m.
  • --older TIMESPAN — consider archives older than (now - TIMESPAN), e.g., 7d or 12m.
  • --newer TIMESPAN — consider archives newer than (now - TIMESPAN), e.g., 7d or 12m.

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

💜 Author 💜

The Borg Collective — yes, really, that's the credited author, no cap 🧚

and that's the whole page, bestie!! this was the borg backup tool manual for borg-undelete, version-flavoured borg-undelete(1), dated 2026-10-07. now go forth, undelete responsibly, and remember: compact later, undelete first 🌟💖✨

📦 where this page comes from