The men's 50 metre backstroke competition of the swimming events at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships was held on July 30 with the heats and the semifinals and July 31 with the final.

Prior to the competition, the existing world and championship records were as follows.

39 swimmers participated in 6 heats.

[1] The semifinals were held at 19:14.

[2] The final was held at 18:35.