How to Back Up and Restore Your Website in cPanel

Your backup options at a glance

Option	What it covers	Who keeps it	Best for
Daily backups (paid plans)	Whole account, every day, 30 days	Braysons Host, on separate infrastructure	Undoing a mistake from yesterday or last week
File and Directory Restoration	Restore single files/folders/databases from daily backups	You click, we store	Quick self-service restores
Backup Wizard — partial backups	Home folder, one database, or email settings	You download	Your own off-server copies
Full account backup	Everything in one .tar.gz	You download	Moving hosts; long-term archive

The Free plan has no daily backups — use the Backup Wizard regularly.

Part A: Download your own backup with Backup Wizard

Step 1: Open Backup Wizard

In cPanel, go to Files → Backup Wizard and click Back Up.

Step 2: Choose Partial Backup

Choose what to download (do each one you need):

• Home Directory — all your files: website (public_html), other folders, and email messages stored in mail.
• MySQL Databases — click each database to download it as .sql.gz.
• Email Forwarders & Filters — the forwarding and filter rules (small files).

Step 3: Store it safely

Save the files to your computer, then copy them to Google Drive, OneDrive or an external disk. A backup kept only on the same server is not a backup.

Full account backup (optional)

Files → Backup → Download a Full Account Backup → Home Directory → Generate Backup. You will get an email when the .tar.gz is ready (minutes to hours depending on size). Download it from the same page, then delete it from the server — it counts against your disk space. Full backups are mainly for moving hosts; restoring one on shared hosting is done by our team.

Part B: Restore from our daily backups (paid plans)

Step 1: Open File and Directory Restoration

In cPanel, go to Files → File and Directory Restoration.

Step 2: Find the file or folder

Browse to the item — for example public_html/wp-content/themes/yourtheme or a single page like public_html/contact.php. Click it to see the dates it was backed up.

Step 3: Restore

Choose a date before the problem started and click Restore. Confirm the warning. The item is replaced with the backup version.

Restoring a database

Databases appear in the same tool (or under Databases). Restoring a database replaces all its current data — any orders, posts or form entries since that backup will be lost. Export the current database first with phpMyAdmin.

Need a whole-account restore?

WhatsApp +254 733 338 989 or open a ticket with the date you want. Full restores are typically completed within about 2 hours.

Part C: Restore your own downloaded backup

Files → Backup Wizard → Restore, then choose:

• Home Directory — upload the backup-…_yourusername.tar.gz home directory file.
• MySQL Databases — upload the .sql.gz file for the database.
• Email Forwarders & Filters — upload the rules file.

For large files, upload them with FTP and ask support to restore them.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Cause	Fix
“Disk quota exceeded” while generating a backup	Not enough free space for the archive	Delete old backups and large files; see Check disk usage
Backup email never arrives	Large account still processing, or email went to spam	Check Files → Backup — the file appears when ready
Restored WordPress shows old content	You restored files but not the database (or vice versa)	Restore both from the same date
No daily backups listed	You are on the Free plan	Upgrade, or rely on your own downloads

Frequently asked questions

How long are daily backups kept? 30 days, on infrastructure separate from your web server.

Do I still need my own backups? Yes. Our Terms ask customers to keep independent copies. It also protects you if you accidentally delete something and only notice weeks later.