diff --git a/backup_named_volumes.sh b/backup_named_volumes.sh
index c7eb8cd..2e58f9e 100644
--- a/backup_named_volumes.sh
+++ b/backup_named_volumes.sh
@@ -10,22 +10,26 @@ if [[ ! -f "$COMPOSE_FILE" ]]; then
   exit 1
 fi
 
-# Determine the project name (same as docker-compose uses)
+# Determine project name (Docker Compose style)
 PROJECT_NAME=$(basename "$WORKDIR")
-
 echo "📦 Working in (${PROJECT_NAME})"
 
-# Get all services using yq
+# Get original user details (in case script is run via sudo -E or similar)
+ORIGINAL_USER="${SUDO_USER:-$USER}"
+ORIGINAL_UID=$(id -u "$ORIGINAL_USER")
+ORIGINAL_GID=$(id -g "$ORIGINAL_USER")
+
+# Get services
 SERVICE_NAMES=$(yq e '.services | keys | .[]' "$COMPOSE_FILE")
 
 for SERVICE in $SERVICE_NAMES; do
   echo "🔍 Found service (${SERVICE})"
 
-  # Get the volumes for the service
+  # Get service volumes
   VOLUMES=$(yq e ".services.${SERVICE}.volumes[]" "$COMPOSE_FILE" 2>/dev/null || true)
 
   while IFS= read -r VOLUME; do
-    # Clean up quotes and whitespace
+    # Clean up quotes/whitespace
     VOLUME=$(echo "$VOLUME" | sed 's/^"//;s/"$//;s/^[[:space:]]*//;s/[[:space:]]*$//')
 
     # Skip bind mounts
@@ -33,30 +37,30 @@ for SERVICE in $SERVICE_NAMES; do
       continue
     fi
 
-    # Get the source volume name (before colon)
     SOURCE=$(echo "$VOLUME" | cut -d':' -f1)
-
     echo "📁 Found named volume (${SOURCE})"
 
-    # Prompt the user
-    read -rp "→ Would you like to tar.gz and save to this location as ${SOURCE}.tar.gz? (Y/n) " REPLY
+    read -rp "→ Tar.gz and save as ${SOURCE}.tar.gz? (Y/n) " REPLY
     REPLY=${REPLY:-Y}
 
     if [[ "$REPLY" =~ ^[Yy]$ ]]; then
       VOLUME_PATH="/var/lib/docker/volumes/${PROJECT_NAME}_${SOURCE}/_data"
+      OUTPUT_FILE="${WORKDIR}/${SOURCE}.tar.gz"
 
-      if [[ ! -d "$VOLUME_PATH" ]]; then
-        echo "⚠️  Volume path $VOLUME_PATH not found! Skipping..."
+      if ! sudo test -d "$VOLUME_PATH"; then
+        echo "⚠️  Volume path not found: $VOLUME_PATH"
         continue
       fi
 
-      OUTPUT_FILE="${WORKDIR}/${SOURCE}.tar.gz"
+      echo "📦 Backing up $VOLUME_PATH → $OUTPUT_FILE"
 
-      echo "📦 Backing up $VOLUME_PATH to $OUTPUT_FILE"
+      # Use sudo to read, but write file as your user
+      sudo tar -czf "$OUTPUT_FILE" -C "$VOLUME_PATH" .
 
-      tar -czf "$OUTPUT_FILE" -C "$VOLUME_PATH" .
+      # Fix ownership in case sudo did anything funny
+      chown "$ORIGINAL_UID:$ORIGINAL_GID" "$OUTPUT_FILE"
 
-      echo "✅ Backup complete: $OUTPUT_FILE"
+      echo "✅ Backup done: $OUTPUT_FILE"
     else
       echo "⏭️  Skipping ${SOURCE}"
     fi