Regular backups are essential. cPanel provides tools to create and download backups of your website files, databases, email data, and account settings.
Please note: Screens and options may vary slightly depending on your cPanel version and hosting plan.
Downloading a Full Backup
A full backup creates a compressed archive of your entire account.
- Log in to your cPanel account.
- In the Files section, click Backup (or Backup Wizard).
- Click Download a Full Account Backup.
- Choose the Backup Destination:
- Home Directory — Saves the backup to your account (you can download it later via File Manager or FTP). - Remote FTP Server — Sends the backup directly to an external FTP server. - Remote FTP Server (passive mode) — Same as above, using passive FTP. - SCP — Sends the backup via SCP to a remote server.
- Optionally enter an email address to be notified when the backup completes.
- Click Generate Backup.
Note: Full backups cannot be restored through cPanel. They must be restored by your hosting provider or server administrator.
Downloading Partial Backups
Partial backups let you download specific parts of your account:
- On the Backup page, scroll to the partial backup sections.
- Download the components you need:
- Home Directory — All files in your home folder. - MySQL Databases — Click a database name to download its SQL dump. - Email Forwarders/Filters — Download configuration for a specific domain.
Restoring from a Partial Backup
- On the Backup page, scroll to the Restore section.
- Choose the type of restore:
- Home Directory — Upload a previously downloaded home directory backup. - MySQL Databases — Upload a .sql or .sql.gz file. - Email Forwarders/Filters — Upload the configuration file.
- Click Choose File, select your backup file, then click Upload.
Tips
- Download backups regularly and store them offsite (e.g. on your local computer, an external drive, or cloud storage).
- Before making major changes to your website (plugin updates, theme changes, migrations), create a backup first.
- Full backups can be very large. Ensure you have enough disk space in your account to generate one.
- If your hosting provider offers JetBackup or a similar tool, you may have access to automatic daily backups with self-service restore — check the Backups category for more information.
What Next?
- Using the Backup Wizard — A guided step-by-step backup process.
- Backing Up and Restoring a Database — Database-specific backup guide.
