How to Create a Full Website Backup in cPanel

A full website backup includes all your files, emails, databases, and settings. Creating regular backups is essential to protect your website against data loss, hacking, or server issues. This guide covers how to create and download a full backup via cPanel.

Method 1: Using the Backup Wizard (Recommended)

1. Log in to your cPanel account.
2. In the Files section, click Backup Wizard.
3. Click Backup.
4. Select Full Backup.
5. Choose a Backup Destination — select Home Directory to save it on the server.
6. (Optional) Enter an Email Address to receive a notification when the backup is complete.
7. Click Generate Backup.
8. Wait for the process to complete. Large accounts may take several minutes to hours.
9. Once done, go to Backups in cPanel to find and download the backup file (a .tar.gz archive).

Method 2: Using the Backups Section

1. Log in to cPanel.
2. Click Backups in the Files section.
3. Under Download a Full Account Backup, click the backup file link.
4. The file will download to your computer.

Important Notes

• Full backups include everything: all files, email accounts and messages, databases, DNS zones, forwarders, filters, and cPanel settings.
• Full backups can only be restored by your hosting administrator (via WHM). You cannot restore a full backup yourself through cPanel.
• Backup files can be very large (several GB). Ensure you have enough disk space on the server and on your local computer.
• Full backups are stored in your /home/username/backup directory on the server. Remember to download and delete them to free up disk space.
• We recommend keeping at least 3 recent backups in different locations (server, local computer, cloud storage like Google Drive or Dropbox).

Troubleshooting

• "The backup file is too large to download": Full backups can be several GB. Use FTP (FileZilla) to download the file instead of your browser — FTP handles large files better and can resume interrupted downloads.
• Backup generation fails with "not enough disk space": Your cPanel account does not have enough free space to store the backup. Free up space by deleting old backups, large logs, or unnecessary files. Alternatively, ask your hosting provider to increase your disk space.
• Backup is stuck and not progressing: Large accounts with many emails can take a long time. Wait at least 30 minutes. If still stuck, contact support — the backup process may have hung.
• "This feature has been disabled by the server administrator": Your hosting provider may have restricted backup generation for performance reasons. Contact support to request a backup or have the feature enabled.
• Need to restore specific files, not the whole backup: Extract the .tar.gz file on your computer to access individual files. You can then re-upload specific files via cPanel File Manager or FTP.

Need help? Contact our support team.