diff --git a/deploy.sh b/deploy.sh
index 477aad4..1990b43 100755
--- a/deploy.sh
+++ b/deploy.sh
@@ -48,13 +48,15 @@ sshpass -p "$SERVER_PASS" rsync -avz --delete \
     --exclude '.git' \
     frontend/ $SERVER_USER@$SERVER_HOST:$SERVER_PATH/frontend/
 
-# Sync backend
+# Sync backend (exclude .env to preserve server config!)
 sshpass -p "$SERVER_PASS" rsync -avz --delete \
     --exclude '__pycache__' \
     --exclude '.pytest_cache' \
     --exclude 'venv' \
     --exclude '.git' \
     --exclude '*.pyc' \
+    --exclude '.env' \
+    --exclude '*.db' \
     backend/ $SERVER_USER@$SERVER_HOST:$SERVER_PATH/backend/
 
 echo -e "\n${YELLOW}[5/5] Building and restarting on server...${NC}"