File Management: How to Backup and Restore Files

How to Backup and Restore Files using FTP

Saving a backup to your personal computer:

1. (Optional) Create a zip archive of the files you want to download (see how).
2. Connect to your account using FTP (see tutorials).
3. Download your file(s).

Restoring a backup from your personal computer:

1. Connect to your account using FTP (see tutorials).
2. Upload your file(s).
3. (Optional) If you uploaded a zip archive, unzip it using Archive Gateway (see how).

How to Backup Files Using Site Backup and Restore

Site Backup and Restore gives you access to our automatic backups of your website files. Because cannot store an infinite number of backups of your website files, older backups are regularly replaced with newer backups. If you are interested in keeping older backups you can download a zip archive onto your personal computer by following these steps:

1. Log in to your Control Panel.
2. Go to Site Backups and Restore (buy now if you do not have it already).
3. Use the drop-down to select an existing backup.
4. Click Select to view the selected backup.
5. Check the box for each item you want to archive.
   • Important: Selecting a directory does not automatically select all of its contents. You will need to click on the directory first to show its contents then click on the contents individually.
6. Click Download in Zip Archive. This may take some time to initiate the download after clicking this button.
   

How to Restore Files Using Site Backup and Restore

You can use the Site Backup and Restore tool to restore automatic backups only. Manual backups can only be restored by using FTP (to upload the files) and Archive Gateway (to unzip the files, if necessary). Use the following steps to restore an automatic backup:

1. Log in to your Control Panel.
2. Go to Site Backups and Restore (buy now if you do not have it already).
3. Use the drop-down to select an existing backup.
4. Click Select to view the selected backup.
5. Check the box for each item you want to restore.
   • Important: Selecting a directory does not automatically select all of its contents. You will need to click on the directory first to show its contents, then click on the contents individually.
6. Click Restore on Server.
   

Important: Any files and directories you restore will save over existing files and directories of the same name.