cPanel provides several ways to create and restore backup data. The main customer-facing tools are Backup, Backup Wizard, and, when enabled, File and Directory Restoration.
Use backups before major website changes and keep important copies somewhere other than the hosting account itself. A backup stored only on the same account can be lost along with the account if the underlying storage becomes unavailable.
Main backup choices
- Full account backup: packages the account into a compressed archive for safekeeping or server-level restoration.
- Partial backup: downloads specific account components such as the home directory, a database, email forwarders, or global email filters.
- File and Directory Restoration: restores individual files or directories from local server backups when that feature is enabled.
Before restoring anything, identify the correct backup date and understand what newer data could be overwritten.
