When the discussion is about maintaining your website, as a website owner, you must know how to make sure that any software updates do not take your website down. It is vital for a website owner to know how you can back up your website in cPanel as it gives you a sense of assurance that you can restore your site when an update is in place. A suite of built-in extensive backup tools comes with the cPanel. In this blog, we will take a look at how we can backup websites and do a cPanel restore backup.

A full cPanel backup guide

Here is a step-by-step guide on how you can back up a website using cPanel. If you want to create a compressed file that you can download and store on your local computer, this handy utility is your best bet for that.

• The first thing you need to do is to log in to the cPanel.
• Once you are done with that, you will see a backup manager option in the files section of the panel. Click on that option.
• Under the other cPanel backup plugins, you will see two options: the cPanel backups and file restoration. You need to click on the cPanel backups.
• Doing that will lead you to an interface where you will see the full backup section. Under that, there is an option to download a full account backup. 
• You need to make sure that the home directory option is selected in the next window. 
• Below that is a section where you can put down your email if you want a notification when the full backup is completed. If you do not want any notification on the confirmation, there is an option that you need to tick where it says, ‘Do not send email notification of backup completion.’
• To begin the full cPanel backup, you need to click on the generate backup button. Once clicking that, you will see that it says ‘full backup in progress,’ After a while, the full backup will complete, and if you have put in any email for confirmation, you will receive a notification on the email saying that the backup is completed.
• After all these processes, you can download the backup from your /home directory.

The process of downloading home directory backup in cPanel

Prior to the process of cPanel restore, if you are trying to know how you can download the home directory backup in cPanel, here are the steps you need to follow:

• Once again, the first thing you need to do is log into the cPanel.
• There, you will see the file section. Under the section is the backup manager, which you need to click.
• After that, you need to head over to the other cPanel backup plugins. In there, you need to click on the cPanel backups option.
• Once you are done with that, you need to go to the ‘Download a home directory’ section and click on the home directory button. Doing so, you will start downloading a backup of your home directory. Depending on the size of the file, the download may take several minutes to be finished.
• You can access the file under the download history section.

Also Read: Fast And Secure Web Hosting Services

Backup your website using the backup wizard

If you wish to back up a website using the backup wizard, we have you covered on that, too. Follow the simple instructions below to get started with it:

• Begin by logging into the cPanel.
• You need to head over to the files section. There, you will see the Backup wizard option, which you need to click on.
• You can simply restore or backup the files in your hosting account from the backup screen. Click on the Backup option.
• With the available selected directories and files, you can both partially and fully back up. The preferred choice is always full backup, as there might be some complications regarding the processes of partial backup.
• Choose where your backup will be located from the dropdown menu under the Backup destination. Depending on whether you want an email notification or not, you can put down your email or tick the option that says that you do not want any confirmation on your mail regarding the backup completion. 
• If you click on the Go Back option, you will be redirected to the download page, where you can find backups available for the download section and download them to your device. 

How to retrieve a backup from cPanel

Before we go ahead and discuss the processes to restore a backup from cPanel, you should know that the process of cPanel restore full backup will only work if you have saved one or more backups somewhere else instead of saving them locally.

• Yet again, the first thing you need to do is to log into the cPanel.
• Once you log in, you need to visit the file section; there, you will see a Backup Manager option. It is located right below the Disk Usage option. Click on the Backup Manager option.
• After that, you need to find the cPanel backups option and click on it.
• Find the ‘Restore a Home Directory Backup’ option, and you will see that there is an option where you can upload a file for backup. 
• Prior to uploading the file, please make sure you double-check externally if you are uploading the correct file. Doing so will save you from unnecessary hassles. After confirmation, proceed to upload the file.
• Once you do, you will see the name of the backup on the screen.
• You will also see the progress of your backup file being uploaded.

Wrapping Up

Let’s be honest: all website owners share the common fear of getting their website data erased during any software update. Since now you know the processes of backing up your data in cPanel and how you can restore the backed-up data, you can get rid of that fear and focus more on the constant development of your website.