Generating and Downloading a Full Website Backup via cPanel

cPanel offers several backup options for its users: automatic full backup, a partial backup, and a manual backup.

Option 1: Automatic Full Account Backup

This type of backup solution lets you create a full account backup, including the website’s home directory, MySQL databases, emails, and DNS settings. It’s mainly used for transferring your account to another hosting provider.

Steps:

1. Head to the Files → Backup.

2. Under Full Backup, press Download a Full Account Backup.
3. On the Backup Destination drop-down menu, select Home Directory.

4. Click Generate Backup, and the backup will start automatically.
5. Press Go Back and check whether or not your files are ready for download. If it’s still in progress, wait for a few minutes and refresh the page.
6. You will see links under Backups Available for Download. Select the most recent one.

Option 2: Automatic Home Directory Backup

This backup method is the simplest out of the available options since it only requires a single click. However, it only saves your files and emails.

Steps:

1. From your cPanel dashboard, navigate Files → Backups.
2. Find the Partial Backups section, click on the Home Directory button.

3. The download process will start automatically.

Option 3: Manual Website Backup

This backup feature allows you to backup selected files only. However, the steps to backing up the site’s content without a specialized backup tool are a bit more complicated.

Steps:

1. Log into cPanel and head to Files → File Manager.
2. Locate the root folder of your site and right-click to Compress.

3. Choose a Compression Type. We recommend either Zip or Tar, then click Compress File(s).

4. Close the Compression Results window and head over to the File Manager to locate the generated file.
5. Select the file, in this case, public_html.zip. Head to the upper menu bar and click Download.

Option 4: Using the Backup Wizard

cPanel also has beginner-friendly backup software that is helpful for those who are new to website backups. If you’re scared to make a mistake when backing up your site manually, simply follow the steps below:

Steps:

1. Login to your cPanel, and go to Files → Backup Wizard.

2. Press the Back Up button.
3. Choose the type of backup you want – Full Backup or Partial Backup.
4. Pick Home Directory as the Backup Destination.
5. Feel free to type in your email address if you want to receive an email notification once the backup is complete.

6. Click Generate Backup, wait for a couple of minutes, and press Go Back.
7. Under the Backups Available for Download, click on the link to download the backup file.