How to Create a Full cPanel Backup
Regular backups are essential for protecting your website. cPanel provides built-in tools to create full account backups as well as partial backups of specific components like files, databases, and email forwarders.
Full Backup vs. Partial Backup
| Type | Contents | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| Full Backup | All files, databases, email accounts, settings, DNS zones | Complete account migration or disaster recovery |
| Partial Backup | Selected components only (home directory, databases, or email) | Quick backup of specific data |
Note: Full backups cannot be restored directly through cPanel. They are designed for account migration or manual restoration by your hosting provider. Use partial backups if you need to restore individual components yourself.
Creating a Full Backup
- Log in to cPanel.
- Navigate to Files → Backup (or Backup Wizard for a guided experience).
- Under Full Backup, click Download a Full Account Backup.
- Choose the Backup Destination:
- Home Directory — saves the backup file to your account (most common)
- Remote FTP Server — transfers the backup to an external FTP server
- Remote FTP Server (Passive) — uses passive FTP mode
- Secure Copy (SCP) — transfers via SCP to a remote server
- Enter your email address to receive a notification when the backup is ready.
- Click Generate Backup.
The backup process runs in the background. Depending on your account size, it may take several minutes to complete. Once finished, you will receive an email notification, and the backup file will be available in your home directory.
Downloading the Full Backup
After the backup is generated:
- Go to Files → Backup in cPanel.
- Under Full Backup, you will see a list of available backup files.
- Click the backup filename to download it to your local computer.
The backup file is a compressed .tar.gz archive.
Creating Partial Backups
Under the Partial Backups section on the Backup page, you can download individual components:
- Home Directory Backup — all files in your account
- MySQL Database Backup — select and download individual databases
- Email Forwarders — export your email forwarding configuration
- Email Filters — export your email filter rules
You can also restore partial backups by uploading the corresponding file in the restore section on the same page.
Using the Backup Wizard
For a step-by-step experience:
- Go to Files → Backup Wizard.
- Click Back Up.
- Choose Full Backup or Partial Backup.
- Follow the prompts to generate and download your backup.
Best Practices
- Create backups before making major changes to your site (updates, migrations, redesigns).
- Store backup copies off-server — download them to your local computer or cloud storage.
- Set up automated backups through Softaculous or a backup plugin if available.
- Periodically test your backups by restoring them to a staging environment to verify they work.
- Large accounts may take significant disk space for backups — check your available storage before generating.