How to Restore a Database from a Plesk Backup

If your database got corrupted, accidentally modified, or you need to roll back to an earlier version, Plesk lets you restore a single database from a backup without affecting the rest of your account.

Method 1: Restore from a subscription backup

If you have a full subscription backup that includes databases, you can pull out just the database you need:

1. Log in to your Plesk panel.
2. Go to Websites & Domains > Backup Manager.
3. Click the backup that contains the database version you want.
4. Under What do you want to restore?, select Selected objects.
5. In the Type of object to restore dropdown, choose Database.
6. From the Available list, click the database you want to restore. It will move to the Selected column.
7. Under Restore, choose what to bring back:
   • Configuration only — restores the database structure and user accounts, but not the actual data.
   • Configuration and content — restores everything including all tables and data.
8. If the backup is password-protected, enter the password.
9. Click Restore.

Method 2: Restore from a database dump (SQL file)

If you exported a database dump earlier (an .sql file), you can import it back:

1. Go to Websites & Domains > Databases.
2. Click on the database you want to restore into.
3. Click Import Dump.
4. Choose the .sql file from your computer or select one already uploaded to the server.
5. Click OK.

The dump file must match the database type — you can't import a MySQL dump into a PostgreSQL database.

Important things to know

• Restoring a database overwrites the current one. All existing tables and data in that database will be replaced with the backup version. Any changes made after the backup was created will be lost.
• Database users are restored too. When restoring with configuration, the associated database user accounts are included.
• One object type at a time. If you also need to restore files, you'll need to run a separate restore for those.
• Check your site after restoring. Make sure your application (WordPress, Joomla, etc.) connects properly. If the database username or password changed, update your site's configuration file.

How to export a database dump for safekeeping

It's good practice to export a quick dump before making database changes:

1. Go to Websites & Domains > Databases.
2. Click the database name.
3. Click Export Dump.
4. The .sql file will be saved to your server. You can then download it from File Manager.