File Extension Guide📖 What is an MBK File?
An MBK file is the copy that Marg ERP writes to a folder you choose. It packs the table files of a company and a financial year so they can be brought back after a crash, a deleted file or a damaged table.
The extension is shared. FileInfo lists two other kinds of MBK file: a dBase index copy and a handset backup made by Alcatel and Motorola tools for MediaTek phones. Neither of them relates to accounting. FileInfo does not list the Marg kind, so the identification here rests on Univik's own test. Marg's Financial Year backup wrote .MBK files in Univik's lab in October 2026.
A backup differs from the live company. The live company is the set of table files in the Data folder, which the Marg data file guide explains. It is a copy made at one moment and it never updates itself.
Check the date before you trust it
A restore brings the company back to the moment the file was made. Entries keyed after that moment are not in it. Look at the dates in the restore window and pick the last one on which the data was still correct.
🔎 Which Marg Backup Do I Have?
Marg Care describes more than one kind. Each one sits in a different place and restores through the same prompt.
Financial Year backup
You start it when you leave the software. It saves one company and one financial year to a folder that you pick, for example a second drive.
D:\MargBackupServer backup
A second copy of the company data kept on the server. The folder sits on the server's C: drive unless a path was set.
Server backup pathIMP backup
A copy of the company data used for recovery after a corruption alert. The restore window lists its self, server and carbon copy paths.
Self, server and carbon copy pathsProtected backup
Hidden automatic copies that the restore dialog can list by date and time. Treat them as a last resort and copy them before you use them.
Listed in the recover window♻️ How Do You Restore an MBK Backup?
These steps follow Marg Care's articles on the server backup and the IMP backup. The menus use the keyboard, so keep your hands on Esc, Enter and the Spacebar.
| Step | What you do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Open the software and select the company. If an alert names a corrupted file, click Ok |
| 2 | Press Esc and confirm the exit |
| 3 | In the backup window, choose Backup. Select the company and financial year with the Spacebar and press Enter |
| 4 | Read the backup paths on screen and press Enter |
| 5 | In the recover window, pick the backup date when the data was last correct and press Enter |
| 6 | In the Attention Please window, choose Only This or All Files, then type SURE |
The software closes itself when the restore ends. Start it again and open File maintenance, as Marg Care tells users after an Order file repair.
🔀 What Is the Difference Between Only This and All Files?
The Attention Please window offers two choices. The wrong one costs entries.
| Choice | What it restores | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| Only This | The one damaged file named in the alert, such as the entries table | One table is broken and the rest of the company is fine |
| All Files | Every table of the backup | Many tables are damaged or the company will not open |
Our advice: start with Only This. It leaves the entries of the other tables untouched. A mismatch between one restored table and its neighbours shows up as a ledger balance that does not agree, which is a reason to restore all files instead.
🛡️ What Should You Do Before an MBK Restore?
- Copy the live folder. Take a copy of the whole install folder to another drive. A restore overwrites files.
- Copy the backup. Keep the backup in two places. Restore from the copy.
- Note the date. Write down the newest voucher date in the live company. After the restore, the entries between the backup date and that date must be keyed again.
- Close every terminal. Other PCs on the network must be out of the software while the restore runs.
Step 3 is where a data reader earns its place. A copy of the damaged live folder still holds entries that the backup lacks. Univik Marg Data Recovery Software reads that copy and exports the entries, so you can compare them with the restored company.
⚠️ Why Does an MBK Restore Fail?
| Symptom | Cause and remedy |
|---|---|
| The No Data Found alert on restore | Marg Care names a damaged file inside the copy or a pile of temp files. Either take a fresh Financial Year backup or delete the CDX and temp files before restoring a second time (source) |
| The data after the backup date is missing | Expected. A backup holds only what existed when it was taken. Key the later entries again or read them from a copy of the damaged folder |
The blog on a restore that says No Data Found covers the causes in more detail.
📂 Can You Read an MBK Backup Without Restoring It?
Marg Care documents one use for the file, which is the restore prompt. Univik's software works on a Data folder and not on an MBK file. To look inside one, restore it into a spare folder first and point the viewer at that folder.
- Restore to a spare folder. Use a copy of the install folder, never the live one.
- Open the spare Data folder. Univik Marg Data Viewer lists accounts, items, bills and entries from it.
- Compare with the live copy. Univik Marg Data Forensic Analyzer includes Compare two copies. It shows what was added, deleted and changed between the backup and the live folder.
The comparison is the practical answer to a common question. The data files keep no history of edits, so an older copy is the only way to see what a record used to say.
⚔️ How Does an MBK File Compare?
| File | Purpose | Written by | Restored or read in |
|---|---|---|---|
| .MBK (accounting) | A backup of a company and year | The backup window | The restore prompt |
| table.a01 | One live table | The software while you work | The software or a data reader |
| .MBK (dBase) | An index backup | dBase | dBase |
| .MBK (phone) | Apps, contacts and messages | Phone backup tools | The same tools |
The dBase and phone rows follow FileInfo's listing for the extension.
❓ MBK File Questions
An MBK file is a backup written by Marg ERP when a company is backed up. It holds the table files of a company and a financial year. The software brings it back through its restore prompt. The same extension is also used for dBase index copies and for some phone backups.
No. FileInfo lists a dBase index copy and a handset backup from MediaTek phones that also end in .mbk. Check the folder it came from, the file date and the PC that made it. A Marg file sits in the folder that was chosen in the software.
Open the software, press Esc and confirm the exit. In the backup window choose Backup and select the company and year. Pick the backup date on which the data was last correct. In the Attention Please window choose Only This or All Files and type SURE.
Only This restores the one damaged file that the alert names. All Files restores every table of the backup. Start with Only This when a single table is broken, because it leaves the other tables as they are.
No. Excel does not read a Marg backup, and renaming the file does not change that. Restore it through the software, or export the restored company to Excel with Univik Marg Data Converter.
Univik Marg Data Recovery Toolkit reads a Data folder and not a backup file. Restore the backup into a spare copy of the folder first, then open that copy in the viewer. The live folder stays untouched.
Marg Care gives two likely causes: a damaged data file in the backup, or temporary files that have piled up. The fixes are a fresh Financial Year backup, or removing the temporary and CDX files and restoring again.
Everything keyed after the backup date. A backup is a copy from one moment and does not update itself. Read those later entries from a copy of the damaged folder, or key them again.
📝 MBK Files in Summary
- An MBK file is a backup of a company and year
- Other programs use .MBK for unrelated backups
- The restore runs from the recover prompt
- Type SURE to confirm
- Only This restores the damaged file
- All Files restores every table
- A backup lacks newer entries
- Copy the live folder first
Read a restored data folder: Univik Marg Data Viewer →
About this page Dated 12 October 2026
Prepared by Univik. That the extension belongs to a Marg backup comes from a test in Univik's lab. The restore steps and error causes trace to the Marg Care articles linked in the text. FileInfo is the source for the other uses of .MBK. Univik and Marg Compusoft are unrelated companies, and Marg is the property of its owner.