Backups are the single most important thing you can do for your website. Hacks, accidental deletions, bad plugin updates, and corrupted databases all happen. The difference between a 5-minute recovery and a catastrophic loss is whether you had a recent backup. Ultra Web Hosting includes cPanel backup tools on all plans, and this guide covers every backup method available to you.
Back Up Before Every Change
Before you update WordPress core, install a new plugin, edit theme files, or make any significant change to your site, take a backup. It takes 2 minutes and can save you hours of rebuilding.
- ✓ cPanel > Backup for full account snapshots
- ✓ Softaculous for one-click WordPress backups
- ✓ UpdraftPlus plugin for automated cloud backups
- ✓ Always keep at least one copy off-server
Server Backups Are Not a Substitute
Ultra Web Hosting maintains server-level backups for disaster recovery, but these are for server-wide emergencies (hardware failure, data center issues), not for individual account restores on demand. You are responsible for maintaining your own backups. The tools below make it easy.
01. cPanel Full Backups
A cPanel full backup captures everything in your account: all files, all databases, email accounts and messages, email forwarders and filters, cron jobs, DNS zone records, and SSL certificates. It's the most thorough backup available.
How to Generate One
- Log into cPanel - go to your hosting control panel
- Click "Backup" - in the Files section (not "Backup Wizard," which is a simplified version)
- Click "Download a Full Account Backup" - select "Home Directory" as the backup destination. Enter your email address to get notified when it's done
- Click "Generate Backup" - cPanel creates a .tar.gz file in your home directory
- Download the backup file - once generated, download it to your local computer or an external storage service
Full backups can be large (several GB for established sites). If you're on a slow connection, consider generating the backup to the home directory and then downloading it overnight. The backup file stays in your home directory until you delete it, so it doesn't need to be downloaded immediately.
Full backups count against your disk quota. A site with 5GB of files will create roughly a 5GB backup file. If you're close to your disk limit, either download and delete the backup promptly, or use partial backups instead.
02. Partial Backups (Files or Database Only)
Sometimes you only need to back up specific parts of your account. cPanel offers these partial backup options on the same Backup page:
Home Directory Backup
Downloads a compressed archive of all files in your account. This includes everything in public_html, email directories, and any other files in your home directory. Use this when you want a file-only backup without databases.
Individual Database Backups
Each MySQL database is listed separately. Click the database name to download a .sql.gz file. This is useful when you're about to make database changes (like a WordPress update or a search-and-replace) and want a quick rollback option.
Email Forwarders and Filters
These are also downloadable separately. If you have complex email forwarding rules, backing these up before making changes saves you from having to recreate them manually.
03. Softaculous WordPress Backups
If you installed WordPress through Softaculous, it has its own backup system that's specifically designed for WordPress sites. This is often the most convenient option for WordPress users.
Manual Backup
- Open Softaculous - in cPanel, click Softaculous Apps Installer
- Click the Installations icon - (the blue box icon) at the top of the page
- Find your WordPress installation - click the Backup icon (looks like a download arrow) next to it
- Click "Backup Installation" - Softaculous creates a snapshot of your files and database
Scheduled Backups
Softaculous can take automatic backups on a schedule. In the Installations page, click "Edit" (pencil icon) on your WordPress installation, scroll to the "Backup" section, and configure:
- Automated Backups - enable and set the frequency (daily, weekly, monthly)
- Backup Rotation - how many backups to keep before deleting the oldest
Softaculous backups are stored on the server and count against your disk quota. Set a reasonable rotation (we recommend keeping 3-4 weekly backups) and periodically download copies to your local machine.
04. WordPress Backup Plugins
For WordPress sites, a backup plugin gives you the most flexibility, especially for storing backups off-server (which is critical for real disaster recovery).
UpdraftPlus (Recommended)
UpdraftPlus is the most popular WordPress backup plugin, and the free version covers everything most sites need:
- Scheduled automatic backups - files and databases on separate schedules
- Remote storage - sends backups to Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3, or other cloud storage
- One-click restore - restore any backup directly from the WordPress admin
- Selective restore - restore just the database, just plugins, just themes, or the full site
Install it from Plugins > Add New in your WordPress admin. Go to Settings > UpdraftPlus Backups to configure your schedule and remote storage destination.
Other Options
- BlogVault - premium service with incremental backups (only backs up changes, not the whole site each time). Good for very large sites
- Duplicator - more of a migration tool, but also works for backups. The Pro version adds scheduling
- BackWPup - free alternative to UpdraftPlus with similar features
05. Setting Up Automated Backups
The best backup is one you don't have to remember to take. Here's our recommended schedule based on how often your site changes:
Weekly Full + Daily Database
- Weekly - full backup (files + database)
- Daily - database only backup
- Keep - 4 weekly + 7 daily backups
- Store - at least one copy in cloud storage
Daily Full + Hourly Database
- Daily - full backup (files + database)
- Hourly - database only backup (via cron)
- Keep - 7 daily + 24 hourly backups
- Store - cloud storage with versioning
For the hourly database backup, you can set up a cron job in cPanel. See our Cron Job Guide for instructions. A basic mysqldump cron looks like:
mysqldump -u dbuser -p'dbpassword' dbname | gzip > /home/youraccount/backups/db_$(date +\%Y\%m\%d_\%H\%M).sql.gzIf you put database credentials in a cron command, make sure the backup directory is outside of public_html so it's not accessible from the web. Better yet, use a .my.cnf file in your home directory with the credentials so they don't appear in the command line.
06. Restoring From a Backup
Restoring a cPanel Partial Backup
For file restores, go to cPanel > Backup > Restore. Upload the home directory backup .tar.gz file. cPanel will extract the files to their original locations, overwriting existing files.
For database restores, go to cPanel > Backup > Restore a MySQL Database. Upload the .sql.gz file. It will overwrite the existing database contents.
Restoring a Full cPanel Backup
Full account restores require root access. Upload the backup to your home directory and open a support ticket asking us to restore it.
Restoring a Softaculous Backup
In Softaculous > Installations, click the Backup icon next to your WordPress site. You'll see a list of available backups with dates. Click "Restore" next to the one you want. Softaculous handles everything.
Restoring with UpdraftPlus
In WordPress, go to Settings > UpdraftPlus Backups. Your existing backups are listed with Restore buttons. Click Restore, select which components to restore (database, plugins, themes, uploads, or all), and UpdraftPlus does the rest.
07. Backup Best Practices
Backups only work if they're done right. Here are the practices we recommend based on years of seeing what goes wrong:
- Store backups off-server - a backup sitting on the same server as your site doesn't help if the server has a problem. Use Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3, or even download to your local machine
- Test your restores - at least once a quarter, actually restore a backup to verify it works. An untested backup is a backup that might not work when you need it most
- Back up before changes - every plugin update, theme change, or configuration edit should be preceded by a backup
- Keep multiple generations - don't just keep one backup. If your latest backup captured a problem you haven't noticed yet, you need an older clean copy to roll back to
- Include the database - for WordPress and other CMS sites, the database IS the site. Your posts, pages, settings, and user data all live in the database. A file-only backup without the database is nearly useless
- Document your restore process - write down the steps for your specific setup. When you need to restore, you'll be stressed and in a hurry. Having the steps already written saves critical time
If your site gets hacked and you need to restore from backup, see our Hacked WordPress Recovery Guide first. Restoring a backup without closing the vulnerability that allowed the hack means you'll get hacked again.
Need Help With Backups or Recovery?
If you need help setting up automated backups, restoring from a backup, or recovering from data loss, our team is here to help.
Open a Support TicketQuick Recap: Never Lose Your Website
If you only do 5 things from this guide, do these:
- Set up automated backups now - use Softaculous, UpdraftPlus, or cPanel cron jobs
- Store at least one copy off-server - Google Drive, Dropbox, or download to your computer
- Back up before every update - plugins, themes, WordPress core, and config changes
- Keep multiple generations - at least 3-4 rotating copies
- Test a restore at least once - make sure your backups actually work
Last updated March 2026 · Browse all Hosting Control Panel articles
