Download a full backup of your hosting account

We back up your account every day, but it's good practice to keep your own copy too, especially before big changes, or if you're moving your website. There are two ways to download one from cPanel.

Which option should I use?

• JetBackup: download one of our daily backups from the last 14 days. Best for getting an older copy, or a single database or folder.
• cPanel Backup: creates a fresh backup of your account as it is right now. Best for taking a copy just before you make changes, or for moving your site to another cPanel host.

Option 1: Download a daily backup from JetBackup

1. Log in to cPanel from your service page under Services → My Services (https://www.hooplahosting.co.nz/client/clientarea.php?action=services).
2. In the JetBackup section, click Full Account Backups. (Or choose File Backups, Database Backups or Email Backups for just one part.)
3. Select the date you want and click Download.
4. JetBackup prepares the file in the background. Click Queue to check progress.
5. When it's ready, open Downloads in the JetBackup section and click the download link to save it to your computer.

Preparing a large account can take a while. Download links are kept for a limited time, so save the file once it's ready.

Option 2: Create a fresh backup with cPanel Backup

1. Open Backup in cPanel (type it in the search bar), or click Backup under Quick Shortcuts on your service page in the client area.
2. Under Full Backup, click Download a Full Account Backup.
3. Leave Backup Destination as Home Directory, enter your email address so you're told when it's done, and click Generate Backup.
4. When the email arrives, go back to Backup → Download a Full Account Backup. The file appears under Backups Available for Download, named like backup-10.2.2026_14-30-00_yourusername.tar.gz. Click it to download.

Delete the file from your account after downloading it. It's saved in your home folder and counts towards your disk space, so a few of these can fill your account quickly. Delete it with File Manager. See Disk space full or nearly full.

If your account is close to its disk limit, there may not be room to create a full backup. Use JetBackup instead, which doesn't use your disk space.

Partial backups

The same Backup page also has quick downloads for parts of your account:

• Home Directory: all your files, including websites and email folders.
• MySQL Databases: one database at a time, as a .sql.gz file.
• Email Forwarders and Email Filters: your forwarding and filter settings.

You can upload these partial backups again on the same page under Restore.

What's in a full backup?

Everything on your account: website files, databases, email accounts and messages, DNS records, cron jobs and settings. A full backup is designed to be restored by a hosting provider onto a cPanel server. You can't upload it yourself through cPanel. If you're moving to Hoopla Hosting from another cPanel host, open a ticket and we'll help you move it across. See Transferring cPanel accounts from other hosts.

To open it on your own computer, use a program that understands .tar.gz files, such as 7-Zip on Windows. Mac and Linux can open them directly.

Store it somewhere safe

Keep your copy away from your hosting account, for example on your computer and in cloud storage. A backup only helps if you can get to it when something goes wrong. To put a backup back later, see Restore files, databases or email from a backup.

Need help?

If you get stuck, open a support ticket and we'll help.