Does our Data from old instance version gets deleted after upgrading to latest version?

[SohamTipnis]

Hii Community,

Can somebody tell me about the procudure of upgrading to new version from old version, recently I have been working in Xanadu version since the beginning, but now I have decided to upgrade my instance with Zurich which is the latest for current quarter.

For able to use the latest plugins and upgrades I want to switch to Zurich

Do let me know  what are the changes I will see from Xanadu to Zurich and whether I will lose my old data or not?

Thanks in advance!!

[Kieran3]

Hi @SohamTipnis,

Upgrading your instances retains all of your data including configurations made and any customisation to the platform and installed applications. Think of it like updating the software on a smart phone or a pc - the software updates but your data stays where it was.

When the upgrade is done, check the Upgrade History table and you may find "Skipped records" which are customisations to ServiceNow files which couldn't be upgraded due to the customisation. You can choose to skip these or revert them to OOB.

Here are some useful links around upgrades:
https://support.servicenow.com/kb?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0678054

https://www.servicenow.com/docs/bundle/zurich-release-notes/page/release-notes/upgrades/reference/up...

For what's new in Zurich, please check here: New features and products in Zurich

[KuldeepVaghela · Accepted solution]

Hi there,

Great choice moving to Zurich! You are correct, Zurich is the latest release (Q4 2025).

Since you are moving from Xanadu, you are actually skipping one version in the middle (Yokohama). This is a supported upgrade path (N-2 to N), so you don't need to install Yokohama first, but it does mean you will be getting a lot of new features at once.

Here are the answers to your questions:

1. Will I lose my old data?

No, you will not lose your data. Your Incidents, Scripts, Users, and custom tables will remain safe.

However, you need to be careful about "Skipped Records" (customizations you made to out-of-the-box files).

• When you upgrade, if you modified a standard script in Xanadu that ServiceNow also updated in Zurich, the system will keep your version and mark it as a "Skipped Record."

• Action: After the upgrade, go to System Diagnostics > Upgrade Monitor and review the skipped records to ensure you aren't missing important updates.

2. The Procedure

• If this is a Personal Developer Instance (PDI):

Log in to the ServiceNow Developer Portal, click your profile/instance icon, and look for "Manage Instance." You should see an option to "Upgrade Instance." Select Zurich from the dropdown. It usually takes about 2-3 hours.

• If this is a Client/Company Instance:

You need to schedule this via the Now Support (HI) Portal. Search for your instance, go to the "Instances" dashboard, and click "Manage Instance" -> "Upgrade." You’ll pick a date/time for the upgrade to run.

3. Changes you will see (Xanadu -> Zurich)

Since you are jumping two versions, you get features from both Yokohama and Zurich:

• From Yokohama: You'll likely see the new AI Agent Studio and major improvements to the "Data Management Console" for tracking storage.

• From Zurich: The biggest changes are in developer tools. Look for the ServiceNow IDE updates and Dark Mode support in Studio/Builder tools. There are also new granular permissions for Playbooks.

Hope your upgrade goes smoothly!

Let me know if it helped. Please mark kr helpful if it did!

[Ankur Bawiskar]

@SohamTipnis 

Answer is no -> there is no data loss

To see what's new in Zurich, go through Release notes

Release notes summaries for Zurich features 

Everything you need to Know about ServiceNow Zurich Release Updates 

💡 If my response helped, please mark it as correct ✅ and close the thread 🔒— this helps future readers find the solution faster! 🙏

[Ankur Bawiskar]

@SohamTipnis 

Thank you for marking my response as helpful.

As per new community feature you can mark multiple responses as correct.

💡 If my response helped, please mark it as correct ✅ as well so that this helps future readers find the solution faster! 🙏