How to Back Up Your Website in cPanel

In cPanel you can back up your website in two ways: a full account backup (everything in the account, mainly for moving to another server) or partial backups you can download separately: the home directory (files), each MySQL database, and email forwarders and filters. For routine protection, partial backups are easier to restore. Always store a copy off the server.

Your host may also run automatic backups with a separate tool (such as JetBackup); check what your plan includes. Your own copies are still worth keeping.

Full backup vs partial backups

	Full backup	Partial backups
Contains	Home directory, databases, email accounts and settings, DNS zones and more	Chosen parts only
Restore	Usually by the host or a server administrator	You can restore files and databases yourself in cPanel
Best for	Moving the whole account to another server	Regular backups and quick restores

Make a full backup

1. Log in to cPanel and open Files → Backup (or Backup Wizard).
2. Click Download a Full Account Backup.
3. Choose Home Directory as the destination (or a remote FTP destination if offered), enter an email for the notification, and click Generate Backup.
4. When the email arrives, return to the Backup page and download the .tar.gz file.
5. Delete the archive from the server after downloading, so it does not use your disk space or sit where it could be found.

Make partial backups

On the same Backup page:

• Home Directory: click Home Directory to download a .tar.gz of all your files.
• MySQL Databases: click each database name to download its .sql.gz file.
• Email Forwarders and Filters: download if you use them.

Download the database and files together, so they match the same point in time.

Using the Backup Wizard

The Backup Wizard offers the same options step by step: choose Back Up, then Full or Partial, then the item. It also has a Restore path for partial backups.

Where to keep your backups

• On your computer and in cloud storage, not only on the hosting server.
• Name files with the date, for example example-com-2026-10-04-files.tar.gz.
• Keep several versions (for example weekly copies for a few months).
• Encrypt or protect backups that contain customer data.

See backup security.

How often to back up

• Before every major change: updates, new plugins, design changes.
• Weekly for most small sites; daily for stores and active sites (often automated by your host or a plugin).

WordPress sites can automate backups with a plugin; see WordPress backups.

What to exclude to keep backups small

Large backups take longer, fail more often and are less likely to be downloaded regularly. When backing up files manually (or configuring a backup tool), consider excluding:

• cache folders (for example wp-content/cache), which are rebuilt automatically;
• old backup archives stored inside the account;
• log files you do not need to keep;
• temporary or session files created by applications.

Never exclude uploads, configuration files or databases, which cannot be recreated.

Check your backup is usable

• Open the archive on your computer and check it contains your files.
• Check the database file is not empty.
• Occasionally test a restore to a test location; see how to restore a website from a backup.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Fix
Backup fails or never finishes	Account near its disk quota; free space or ask support
Download too slow or interrupted	Use partial backups, or download via FTP
Backup option missing	Your host may provide backups through another tool; ask support

A simple backup routine you can keep

For a small business site where the host also runs automatic backups, this routine adds an independent copy without much effort:

When	What	Where to store
Weekly (e.g. every Monday)	Database download(s) from the Backup page	Computer + cloud storage folder
Monthly	Home directory download	Cloud storage folder
Before any major change	Database + home directory	Computer, labelled "before-update"
Quarterly	Test restore of a recent backup to a test location	—

Name and date every file, and delete copies older than your retention period (for example, keep 8 weekly database copies and 6 monthly home-directory copies).

Backing up from the command line (if you have SSH)

If your plan includes SSH, you can create backups without the browser, which is useful for large sites:

# Database dump, compressed
mysqldump --single-transaction -u acme_dbuser -p acme_db | gzip > ~/backups/acme_db-$(date +%F).sql.gz

# Files, excluding cache folders
tar -czf ~/backups/site-$(date +%F).tar.gz --exclude='public_html/wp-content/cache' public_html

Keep the backups folder outside public_html so the archives cannot be downloaded from the web, then copy them off the server with SFTP.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a full backup include email?

Yes, mailboxes and their settings are included in a full account backup. Partial backups include forwarders and filters, not the messages themselves.

Can I schedule backups in cPanel?

cPanel's built-in Backup page is manual. Scheduled backups depend on your host's backup system or a CMS plugin.

Related reading

Backups are essential to website security basics. cPanel is included with the ServerNeed shared hosting plans.

Sources

• cPanel documentation: Backup
• cPanel documentation: Backup Wizard