In this article, you will learn:

• Why you should back up your website, and how often
• How to perform a manual backup
• How to restore a backup
• Common issues
• Frequently asked questions

A website backup can save you in a situation where someone attacks your website, you accidentally delete a file, or is damaged by a problem with the installation or update of a content management system.

We back up regular Webhosting (NoLimit, LowCost) once a week. These backups are used to restore data in the event of a server crash, so they are not intended for restoration at the customer’s request.

We back up Webhosting Extra once a day. Backups are available up to 5 days back, we restore data free of charge on request.

You can read more about our backups in the Backups article.

We do not provide backups older than 1 week.

Send backup restoration requests via the contact form. Include the following information:

• Webhosting name or service/order number
• Backup data: FTP folder, database names, or both
• Preferred date of the backup (a technician will contact you with more specific information on backup availability)
• Restoration method: overwrite all current FTP data, or load data into a separate FTP folder. Databases are always uploaded to FTP, unless otherwised arranged with technical staff.
• Agreement with restoration fees according to the current price list.

Our system performs backups automatically, regardless of whether you are currently making changes or not. Therefore, if you are going to make a major change or update on the website, for example deleting files or installing (updating) a new content management system/plugin, back the system up manually. This will prevent situations where our backup is too old and does not contain, for example, recent changes, or is too new and we no longer have the original functional website available.

Make your own backup also in case the website is attacked. You may discover an attack weeks or even months after malicious files are uploaded or clean code is overwritten, and our backups will therefore also be compromised.

We recommend saving the last 3 backups in case the last one is damaged or infected.

To perform a full site backup, you typically need to save:

• FTP files – the codes, styles, scripts, and media that make up your website. Every website has files on FTP.
• Database data. A database is used by most websites, including those built on content management systems (WordPress, Joomla, etc.).

Follow these steps to create a backup of your files from FTP:

1. Create a folder in your computer to store the backup. We recommend writing the date in the name for easy sorting or searching, for example backup_domain-tld_221231.
2. Log into FTP and find your website’s folder – usually www, or www/domains/(your website’s domain).
3. Download the files and folders into the prepared folder:
   • WebFTP: Check the web folder and/or files and click the Download button.
   • FileZilla client: Drag and drop the files in the client interface.

The WebFTP client packs files into an archive before downloading, but due to limited performance (it is a web application) it is not suitable for large websites or websites containing a large number of files. In that case, we recommend the FileZilla client.

After downloading the files, perform an antivirus scan of the backup folder.

To back up database files, follow the instructions for exporting the database in the article Webhosting – Database Import/Export in phpMyAdmin.

Save the exported file in the file backup folder. Unless you have these files in an archive (zip), we recommend saving the database file in an easily identifiable folder of its own.

If you request a restore from a WEDOS backup, you may ask us to overwite the original files, or even (in exceptional cases) the database.

To restore a website from backup manually, follow these steps:

1. Log into FTP and make sure the basic structure is intact.
2. Find the website directory – usually www, or www/domains/(your website’s domain). If it doesn’t exist, create it.
3. If the website directory contains old files, delete them.
4. Upload the new files using WebFTP or the FileZilla client.
5. Import the database according to the guide Webhosting – Database Import/Export in phpMyAdmin.
6. Clear the browser cache and make sure the website works correctly.

Common backup issues include:

• Inaccessible FTP
• Deleted Webhosting service
• Non-functional WEDOS backup
• Broken website after restoring own backup

Issue: Cannot log into the Webhosting’s FTP.

Cause: FTP is most commonly inaccessible for disabled services.

Solution: If the Webhosting expired no longer than 5 days ago, customer support can turn on FTP for you in order to get a backup. Send a request for temporary activation via the form and specify the name of the Webhost service. Support can refuse to temporarily turn on Webhosting, or charge a fee.

If the service itself is active, follow the FTP troubleshooting guide.

Issue: I don’t see Webhosting in my account. How do I access the data?

Cause: If you don’t see the service in your account and the site expired 30 or more days ago (7 if you terminated it), the service and all its data are completely deleted from our side.

Solution: You can create the service again, but we cannot recover the data from our side. Restore your own backup, if you have one, or create a new website.

Issue: The technician performed the backup restoration, but the website still doesn’t work.

Cause: Technicians typically perform data recovery by overwriting the original FTP files (unless the option to restore to a separate folder is requested) and uploading the database backup to FTP. Importing the database is usually not part of the recovery.

Also, the source of the problems on the site may have been active before the backup was taken, and thus the restore did not resolve the issue.

Solution: Make sure that the original data has been overwritten with the backup and that you have imported the database backup uploaded by the technician to FTP. If the website is properly restored, but not working, the problem is unfortunately already part of our backup. Use an older backup of your own, or solve the problem with an expert (we do not deal with the repair of hacked or otherwise damaged websites).

The backup restoration fee, even if it did not resolve the issue, is non-refundable.

Issue: We have deleted all the FTP content and uploaded a backup, but the website is still not working.

Cause: Deleting FTP often results in damaging the basic structure.

Solution: Make sure the basic Webhosting FTP structure is intact. If the problems persist, create temporary support FTP access and ask for help using the form. Requests are handled directly by support or the CMS department normally within 1 working day, but this is an intervention beyond the scope of normal support, so the reaction time can be significantly longer.

Question: Should I also delete the database before importing?
Answer: No, do not delete the database or the data it contains before importing. A deleted database can no longer be imported into or recreated.