How to back up a Render PostgreSQL database to Windows

Two things about Render's PostgreSQL make your own backups worth having:

• Free databases expire 30 days after creation and support no backups at all. After expiry there's a grace period to upgrade, then the database and its data are deleted.
• Paid databases get point-in-time recovery for a few days (depending on your workspace plan), restored inside Render.

A nightly pg_dump to your PC protects a free database until you decide what to do with it, and gives paid databases a copy outside Render that you can keep as long as you like.

Step 1: Get the external connection URL

In the Render dashboard, open your database → Info (or Connect) and copy the External Database URL. It looks like:

postgresql://myapp_user:[email protected]/myapp_db

The Internal URL only works from other Render services. Also check Access Control on the database: if it lists allowed IP ranges, add your PC's public IP.

Step 2: Back it up

Render requires SSL from outside its network:

$env:PGSSLMODE = 'require'
& 'C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\18\bin\pg_dump.exe' `
    -h dpg-abc123def456-a.oregon-postgres.render.com -p 5432 -U myapp_user `
    -F c -f "D:\Backups\myapp-$(Get-Date -Format yyyyMMdd-HHmm).dump" myapp_db

Match or exceed the database's PostgreSQL version with your client tools (the Info page shows it).

Step 3: Schedule it

Use the script from the main Windows guide:

$Database  = 'myapp_db'
$PgHost    = 'dpg-abc123def456-a.oregon-postgres.render.com'
$Port      = 5432
$User      = 'myapp_user'
$env:PGSSLMODE = 'require'

with this pgpass.conf line:

dpg-abc123def456-a.oregon-postgres.render.com:5432:myapp_db:myapp_user:YOUR_PASSWORD

Or generate everything with the script generator.

Moving off a free database before it expires

If your free database is about to expire and you'd rather not upgrade, a dump moves it anywhere:

1. Take a backup as above. It's a complete, portable copy.
2. Create the new database (another Render database, Neon, Supabase, a local PostgreSQL, anything).
3. Restore it with pg_restore --no-owner --no-privileges. See copying a database to another server.
4. Point your app at the new connection string.

Restoring

& "$bin\createdb.exe" -h localhost -U postgres myapp_copy
& "$bin\pg_restore.exe" -h localhost -U postgres -d myapp_copy --no-owner --no-privileges D:\Backups\myapp-20261014-0200.dump

More options in restoring a .dump file on Windows.

How PostgresBackup handles Render

Paste the External Database URL (add ?sslmode=require) into PostgresBackup's server dialog, test it, and create a nightly job. Its background service runs the backups from boot. Clone copies a Render database straight to another server, which is handy when a free database is about to expire. Clones are free, with or without a license.