Partial backups let you save a particular part of an account without creating a full migration archive. Choose the component according to what you need to recover; an email-forwarder backup is not a backup of every mailbox message.
IN THIS ARTICLE
What you need before you begin
For a dynamic website, collect both its files and its database from a consistent time. Identify the application database from its configuration. Protect downloaded backups because configuration files and SQL exports can contain passwords, personal data or business records.
01 Download cPanel website, database and email configuration backups
- Open Backup Wizard, select Back Up and choose a partial component, or use the corresponding downloads in Backup.
- Download Home Directory for account files. This can include mail data in the home directory, but review the archive rather than assuming every component is covered.
- Download each required database separately. Use clear filenames that identify the database and capture date without exposing credentials.
- Save email forwarder and account-level filter backups if you need those configurations. Per-mailbox filters and an external email provider may require their own export.
- Keep the related files together with a short note about the application version and the time of the backup.
02 Example: choose a partial backup by the recovery goal
| What you need to recover | Components to collect | Check before relying on them |
|---|---|---|
| A database-backed website | The relevant website files and its matching database export. | The database is the one named in the application configuration, and both components come from a compatible point in time. |
| Email forwarding rules | The relevant forwarder configuration export. | The required addresses and destinations are present. This is not a copy of mailbox messages. |
| Account-level email filters | The account filter configuration export. | The rules belong to the intended account. Check separately for any mailbox-specific or external-provider settings. |
Keep the component files together with a note of the capture time and intended restore category. The correct download is the one that covers the data you actually need.
Check the backup or recovered data
Open the archive or SQL file with an appropriate local viewer and check that it is not an error page or an empty download. Compare the selected database with the one used by the application.
Will separately downloaded files and databases form a consistent backup?
If data is actively changing, files and database taken far apart may not restore cleanly. Use a maintenance window or an application-aware backup process. For restoration, match each partial backup to its correct restore category rather than uploading it to an unrelated component.
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