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How to restore a full account or website

Maxim Tsitsejev
Updated

Applies to: All plans (self-restore on Self-Managed; Managed customers can ask us to do it).

Before you start: You need access to your cPanel account (log in via your client area), and you should know roughly the date you want to roll back to. A full restore overwrites your current files and databases with the snapshot, so any changes made after that snapshot will be lost.

A full restore rolls your entire hosting account — website files, databases, settings and cron jobs — back to how it was at a chosen point in time. We take daily backups with JetBackup (stored off-site on Backblaze B2), and you restore from a snapshot inside cPanel.

Tip: If you only need one file or one database back, a full restore is overkill. See How to restore a file or folder or How to restore a database instead.

When to do a full restore

A full restore is the right choice when:

  • Your whole site is broken after a bad update, a failed migration or a hack, and you want a clean rollback.
  • You cannot tell which file or database caused the problem, so restoring everything from a known-good day is safest.

Restore the whole account yourself (Self-Managed)

  1. Log in to cPanel from your client area -> Services -> My Services (open your service, then Log in to cPanel).
  2. Open the JetBackup area (look under the Files or JetBackup section of the cPanel home screen — the icon is labelled JetBackup).
  3. Choose the option for full account backups (often labelled Full Backups or Full Account Backups).
  4. Find the snapshot for the date you want and select the option to Restore it.
  5. Confirm the restore. JetBackup queues the job and works through your files and databases; this can take several minutes depending on the size of your account.

Result: When the job finishes, your site is back to exactly how it was on the snapshot date. Open your website in a fresh browser tab to confirm.

How far back you can go depends on your plan — see Backup retention by plan. Self-Managed Lite keeps a weekly snapshot, Plus keeps 7 days, and Pro keeps 14 days.

Ask us to do it (Managed)

If you are on a Managed plan, you do not have to do this yourself. Our team keeps daily, off-site backups for 30 days and will run the full restore for you. Start a chat or open a ticket, tell us your domain and the date or time you want to roll back to, and we will handle it. Self-Managed customers who would rather we take care of restores can add the Managed Backups add-on (€5/mo) — see The Managed Backups add-on.

A few things to know

  • DNS and email are not affected. Your DNS records live in your client area (managed by us, on our own nameservers), and your mailboxes are on Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace — neither is touched by a cPanel restore.
  • Keep your own copy too. Even with our backups, it is wise to keep an independent backup. See How to download a backup of your site.

Troubleshooting this task

  • I cannot find a snapshot for the day I want. You can only restore within your plan's retention window. If you need to go further back than your plan allows, contact us — and consider upgrading or adding Managed Backups for longer retention.
  • The restore finished but the site still looks wrong. Clear your browser cache and any LiteSpeed Cache, then reload. If it is still broken, the problem may pre-date the snapshot — try an earlier snapshot or contact us.
  • The restore option is greyed out or missing. Make sure you opened the full-account backups area and not the file-level view, then contact us if it still will not appear.

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