Taking Your Own Backup in cPanel: Files, Database and Email

On our plans, accounts are backed up automatically twice a week. Still, no backup replaces a copy you hold yourself. Before a major update, a redesign or a move to another host, taking your own backup takes only a few minutes.

What does a website backup include?

• Files: public_html and any addon domain folders. Images, themes and plugins live here.
• Database: posts, settings, users and orders for applications like WordPress.
• Email: messages in your mailboxes and settings such as forwarders and filters.

Backing up only the files is as incomplete as backing up only the database. A site can't be restored without both.

Method 1: the cPanel Backup tool

If Files › Backup is enabled on your account, you can download the whole home directory as one file, or databases separately. Partial backups (just the home directory or a single database) are faster to create and easier to restore.

Method 2: File Manager and phpMyAdmin

1. Open File Manager, select the public_html folder and use Compress to create a .zip archive.
2. Download the archive to your computer, then delete it from the server. Archives left on the server are a risk for disk space and security.
3. Open phpMyAdmin, select your site's database and download it in SQL format from the Export tab.

If you don't know which database your site uses, check the DB_NAME line in wp-config.php for WordPress.

Where to keep backups

A backup is only useful if it lives somewhere other than the server. Keeping a second copy in a cloud storage service or on an external drive, in addition to your computer, is a good habit. Database backups can contain customer data, so don't leave these files exposed in shared folders.

Taking a backup isn't enough; test it

A corrupt or incomplete backup is as good as none when you need it. Try opening your backup in a test environment now and then. Our guide to testing a backup by restoring it explains how.

When you should always back up

• Before WordPress, theme or plugin updates. See the safe update guide.
• Before changing the PHP version. See the PHP version checklist.
• Before moving the site to another host. See the rollback plan.