We create automatic backup copies for all sites hosted on our servers. You can use these copies to restore your whole website or just parts you need specifically, like files, databases, and emails.
Additional features like manual backup creation, hourly backups, and backup downloads are also available depending on your hosting plan or your use of our Premium Backup service.
The backup will include all your website’s files, databases, emails, and even Staging copies.
Note that if you create a backup of your site, the next automated backup which our system creates on a daily basis will be created 24 hours after the creation time of your manual backup.
IMPORTANT! Bear in mind that if you plan to delete your site, you will no longer have access to its backups. To keep your site data after the site is deleted, you should either use our Premium Backup service and download your backup prior to the site deletion, or you should manually create a copy of your files and databases on your local computer.
How to find my automatic daily backups?
All your backups are listed in the first tab of the Manage Backups Section. If you want to specifically see the daily backups created for free for all our customers, click on the Daily tab.
IMPORTANT! There is no option to preview the backup version before the restore is made. If you are not sure of the exact date from which to restore your website, you can always restore it again from another available backup date.
How to restore all files and databases
If you want to restore your whole site, you should choose the Restore All Files and Databases option and confirm you are OK to have your current site replaced with the backup.
If you want to restore specific databases, you should select the Restore Database option. Then, choose which databases you want to restore from the list of all databases backed up on the chosen date.
To restore only your email accounts, select the Restore Emails option. In the following pop-up window, choose the email accounts you want to restore and confirm with the Restore button.
What are the Premium backup features and how to use them?
The premium backup features are available only for sites subscribed to our Premium Backup Service. The Premium Backup Service provides additional backup copies and the option to download all your backups.
The backups do not use your disk space and are stored on separate servers to enhance availability and redundancy.
How to find my additional premium backups?
5 additional manual backup slots
Sites with Premium Backups are provided with 5 additional slots for manual on-demand backups. Based on the hosting plan, sites with the Premium Backups service will have:
5 slots on StartUp
10 slots on GrowBig, GoGeek, and Cloud
Once created, manual backups can be found in the Manual tab of the Manage Backups section.
For sites with Premium backup, we will try to create and keep hourly backups for the past 48 hours.
There are some rare cases in which we may not be able to create a backup for your site every hour (see why). However, we will always do our best to make backups on the lowest possible interval.
These backups can be found in the Hourly tab of the Manage Backups section.
The backup system generates a single .tar.gz archive. This archive contains all the components of your website from the selected backup date, making the download process significantly easier and faster. Within this archive, you will find your PostgreSQL databases located in the pgsql folder, each compressed in .gz format. Similarly, your MySQL databases will reside in the mysql folder, also in .gz format. Email accounts are stored in the mail folder, and all website files are consolidated within the home folder.
Frequently asked questions
How SiteGround backups make my site safer?
In case your site is negatively affected by a recent event (malware injection, software update, or a developer’s honest mistake at an upload) having a recent backup can save the day. So in such cases, it is extremely convenient to use the restore functionalities of our backup tool.
We also store your backups on a server that is different from the one hosting your site, which reduces the risk of data loss. For most of our sites, this is not only a different server in the same data center but rather a server in a different geographical location. This further reduces the risk of having one and the same negative event affect both your site and its backups.
Is the Premium Backup service renewed automatically?
By default, the Premium Backup Service is set to automatically renew, so you don’t have to worry about service suspension due to missed renewal payments.
You can manage your auto-renewal or make a manual renewal yearly payment from Client Area > Websites > Actions menu of the website > Website Settings > Added Extras section > Actions menu of the Premium Backups service > Renewal Settings.
To cancel your Premium Backups plan, go to your Client Area > Websites > Actions menu of the website > Website Settings > Added Extras section > Actions menu of the Premium Backups service > Cancel.
IMPORTANT! You are eligible for a refund if less than 30 days have elapsed from the payment date and you have not used any of the premium backup features. Your standard backup features will remain active even after your premium backup is canceled.
When are premium hourly backups delayed?
When your site is using the Premium Backup service, we’ll try to create hourly backups for the past 48 hours. Normally a backup is initiated one hour after the start of the previous one.
If a site backup requires an exceptionally long time (more than one hour) to be completed, we may need to increase the interval on which subsequent backups are initiated and keep less than 48 backups.
Some of the reasons that hourly backups may take longer than one hour are:
your databases use more than 10GB space;
you have more than 50 databases;
you have more than 50 database users;
your site’s inode or disk usage is extremely high.
To ensure the integrity and reliability of your data backups, we may need to extend the backup window to accommodate the additional time required for the backup to be created. If such a permanent extension of this window is needed for any of your sites, you will be informed by our support team via a ticket.
How to import emails from a backup I downloaded?
The backup archive you’ve downloaded from the Backup tool contains the email messages of all email accounts existing in your Site Tools. You can select the messages of a specific email account and import them into an inbox of your choosing.
Here is how you can import emails into a Webmail inbox.
Find the file backup archive on your local computer. It is a .tar.gz file, usually located in the Downloads folder.
You can now select the zip file you’ve prepared. Finally, press the Import button to upload the messages into the Webmail inbox. 👁 Importing emails in Webmail
These steps are specific to our Webmail client. If you use another email service, contact the new service provider and provide them with your backups so they can assist in importing them.
What happens with backups if my site is in suspended/offline mode?
While a site is in a suspended mode for any reason (you have put it in Offline mode, your hosting account has expired or is violating our terms of use, etc.), no standard or premium backups are created. The existing backup copies are also being deleted gradually.
