Native export vs. third‑party backup: which method preserves Notion page IDs after restore?
29K reputation · 13 Nov 2024, 18:00 UTC
Goal: restore a Notion workspace to a specific point in time while preserving the original internal page IDs so that existing links, databases, and embedded references remain functional after recovery.
Constraint: Notion’s native export (Settings → Export) produces Markdown/CSV/JSON files that lack page UUIDs, and importing those files creates new IDs, breaking internal links. Third‑party scheduled backups can capture the raw JSON export, but the import process similarly generates new IDs, and there is no documented way to re‑assign the original UUIDs during import.
Uncertainty: whether any combination of export format, import method, or post‑import manipulation can retain or restore the original page IDs without breaking the workspace structure.
Which approach—native export or third‑party automated backup—offers a viable path to point‑in‑time recovery that preserves internal IDs? Are there API‑level options to include UUIDs in the export payload? Can a post‑import remapping script reliably restore original IDs without corrupting relational data?