How do I backup my site in cPanel?
It is important to have your own backup procedure in place to protect yourself from losing all your files. It is extremely easy to backup your site using cPanel and we strongly recommend that you backup your mySQL databases more often than your files.
Login to your control panel and click on 'Backups' which is under 'Site Management'. cPanel offers you various backup options.
Download or Generate Full Backup is recommended for the first backup you perform. Please note that this procedure will generate a complete backup of all files, e-mails, mySQL databases, and account information. Depending on the size of your website, this could take many hours to complete.
Home Directory will download all files located in your home directory (which includes all files on your account). This is a good backup to perform if your website is file-based, meaning that it's not a database driven website.
Download a MySQL Database Backup is by far the most important backup you can do. MySQL databases are much more likely to become corrupt, but they are generally small and take seconds to backup. If your website has any database-driven applications such as a blog, mailing list or forum, then this should be part of your routine.
CPanel also offers a Backup Wizard option which allows you to download a zipped copy of your entire site or parts of it onto your computer. It also features a restore option which allows you to restore parts of your cPanel by uploading your partial backup zip files that you downloaded from the backup feature.