Backing Up Your Website In cPanel
1. Log onto cPanel with your username and password. You already have this information, because your host required it when you set up your account. The main CPanel screen will open, and you will see a column on the left and a column on the right with sections of icons. Look in the right column for the section titled "Files."2. In the "Files" section, find an icon labeled"Backup Wizard.
3. Now you will see two options, Backup and Restore. Just select the Backup option
4. Now click on Full backup button
5. Choose Home Directory as a Backup destination and beneath the "Backup Destination" window is a box for your email address. Type your email address in the box, and click on "Generate Backup." A screen will appear that advises you that a Full Backup is in progress and that you will receive email confirmation of its completion. Receiving the email message allows you to proceed to the next step, which is to download the backup to your computer.
6. Click on "HOME" (in the top-left corner of the screen) to go back to the main cPanel screen.
Downloading The cPanel-Backup File To Your Computer
Now that you've done the backup within cPanel, you need to download the backup file to your computer. Here are the final steps:7. Check your email inbox to ensure that you have received confirmation that your cPanel backup is complete.
8. From the cPanel homepage, look for the section labeled "Files" In the "Files" section, click on "File Manager" A small screen called "File Manager Directory Selection" will appear with four options.
9. Select the "Home-Directory" option, and ensure that the name of your site (with its filename extension) appears in the box below the options. Then click "Go."
10. This will take you to another "File-Manager" screen with folders on the left side and a scroll box on the right. Scroll down the right column until you find the backup file you just created. (Once you find the area in the column where the backups are posted, you'll have to look for backup with the correct date and time, because the backups do not post in chronological order.) The cPanel-backup filename will look something like:
11. Select the applicable cPanel-backup file by clicking on it once.
12. At the top of the "File-Manager" screen, click on the icon labeled "Download" (Your browser may post a security-block message above the menu bar asking for your permission to proceed. Click on the message, then click on "download" Once you're past the security block, you'll have to click on the "Download" icon at the top of the "File-Manager" screen again.)
13. A small "File-Download" box will appear that asks you if you want to save the file or find a program online to open it. Click on "Save."
14. A screen will appear that will allow you to select the folder and to rename the backup file. My recommendation is to leave the backup filename as it is, but it makes sense to create a special folder on your computer for your backup files. Click on "Save" and the backup file will be saved to the folder you've created.
15. Open Windows Explorer to confirm that the backup file is saved to your computer's hard drive in the folder you created.
