Moodle cannot restore a backup made on a newer version. Backup Converter opens the .mbz file in your browser, removes or rewrites what the older version does not understand, and gives you a converted backup with a report of every change. Nothing is uploaded: the file never leaves your computer.
What it does
- Targets Moodle 4.5, 4.1, and 3.11, plus experimental profiles for 5.1, 5.0, 4.4, 4.3, 4.2, and 4.0.
- Detects activities the destination does not support and asks before removing them.
- Refuses to “convert” to a newer version: that is a normal restore.
- Downloads the converted .mbz and a JSON report of the changes.
What you need
- A recent desktop browser with enough memory for the backup.
- A Moodle backup (.mbz) of up to 768 MB.
- Permission to restore courses on the destination site.
Installation
Nothing to install
Open Backup Converter on moodlia.com. It runs entirely in your browser, with no account.
First use
Make a backup of the course on the newer Moodle site and download the .mbz file.
In Backup Converter, select the file and choose the destination version.
Read the report. Approve the removal of unsupported activities only if you agree.
Download the converted backup and restore it into an empty test course first.
Good to know
- A successful restore cannot be guaranteed: Moodle and third-party plugins validate their own data.
- Moodle 4.x question banks cannot be reliably converted to 3.11; the converter blocks this by default.
- Test experimental profiles before using them with a real course.