Overview:

The following guide describes the steps required to create, download and remove a full account backup for your cPanel service. Be sure to review your Disk Space usage - as you will need around 60% of free space so that the backup can be generated and saved within cPanel.

Creating a cPanel account backup:

1. Log into the WHM area for your server (if you do not have WHM access, log into cPanel directly and skip to step 4 in this section).

2. Search for "List Accounts" in the search box up at the top-left, then select "List Accounts" from the list of results.

3. Click on the cPanel icon (shown as "CP") next to the account you want to back up.

4. Click on the "Backup" tool shown under the "Files" section.

5. Click on the "Download a Full Account Backup" link at the top of the page.

6. Set the "Backup Destination" to "Home Directory" and enter your email address into the "Email Address" field below that.

7. Click on the "Generate Backup" button to start creating the backup.

The backup will then start being created, and once completed, an email will be sent to the email address you entered.

The backup will be placed into the cPanel account itself, and thus the account will temporarily be larger than before (as it will have a backup copy of the website sitting within it).

Downloading a cPanel account backup:

1. Log into the WHM area for your server (if you do not have WHM access, log into cPanel directly and skip to step 4 in this section).

2. Search for "List Accounts" in the search box up the top-left, then select "List Accounts" from the list of results.

3. Click on the cPanel icon (shown as "CP") next to the account you want to download a backup from.

4. Click on the "Backup" tool shown under the "Files" section.

5. Click on the "Download a Full Account Backup" link at the top of the page.

6. If a backup exists and is ready to be downloaded, it will be displayed up the top under the "Backups Available for Download" section.

7. Click on a backup to start downloading it.

NB: Once downloaded, it can be moved (eg to an external USB).

Removing a cPanel account backup:

As the backup you create will be stored within the cPanel account, it's best to remove it after you've downloaded it.

1. Log into the WHM area for your server (if you do not have WHM access, log into cPanel directly and skip to step 4 in this section).

2. Search for "List Accounts" in the search box up the top-left, then select "List Accounts" from the list of results.

3. Click on the cPanel icon (shown as "CP") next to the account you want to download a backup from.

4. Click on the "File Manager" tool shown under the "Files" section.

5. A backup file will exist within the folders/files on the right and be named something like "backup-07.09.2021_15-43-35_cpanelusername.tar.gz".

6. Click on that file once, then click on the "Delete" button that's on the top of the page.

7. In the pop-up, click the "Skip the trash and permanently delete the files" button, then click "confirm".