Webspace backups – back up and restore your website

In short

Every website is backed up automatically twice a day, and the backups are kept for 30 days – in every plan, at no extra charge. You create backups yourself in the web panel, and you also restore an earlier state yourself there under Advanced → Backups. Support helps if you get stuck. For important projects, also create your own backups outside Nexthosting.

What is backed up?

Content	In the automatic backups
Website files (public_html and home folder)	yes
Databases	yes
Email mailboxes	not promised – back up important emails yourself, for example via IMAP in an email program
Web panel settings (PHP version, cron jobs …)	not as a whole – note down special settings

How far back do the backups go?

1. TodayNewest backupautomatic, twice a day
2. YesterdayState from yesterday
3. Day 7State from a week ago
4. Day 30Oldest backupdeleted after that

If you only notice a problem after weeks (a hack, for example), every day counts: a clean state older than 30 days no longer exists.

Restoring a backup

Restoring calmly

1. ▶Save the current statein case you still need it
3. 2Choose the right datelast working state
5. 3Restorein the web panel or via Support
7. ✓Check the siteclear cache, click through

1. Log in to the web panel, open Websites and click the website.
2. Choose Advanced at the top and then Backups. You see the existing backups with date and time.
3. Choose the state you want to go back to and start the restore. Depending on the view, you can choose what is brought back, for example only files or only databases.
4. Wait until the restore is complete. Depending on size, this takes a few minutes.
5. Clear your browser cache and, if applicable, your cache plugin’s cache, and check the site.

Restoring overwrites

When you restore, the old state replaces the current one. Everything that has happened since – new posts, orders in your shop, comments, sign-ups – is gone afterwards. For shops: note down the orders since the time of the backup beforehand.

Only bring back one file or database? If you do not want to reset the whole website, restore only the affected part (e.g. only the database after a failed update, only the files after a deleted folder).

Restore by Support

You can create and restore backups yourself in the web panel. If you get stuck or the web panel is unreachable, open a ticket in the customer account (Support). Tell us:

• which website (domain or preview address),
• which state (date, ideally “last state before …”),
• what should come back: everything, only files or only the database.

Creating your own backup

In the web panel

If your web panel shows the Create backup button under Advanced → Backups, you can trigger an additional backup at any time. Enter a note (e.g. “before theme change”) and click Backup now. This is ideal right before a big update.

Backup to your computer

The backups at Nexthosting live in the same infrastructure as your website. A copy at your end also protects you if you accidentally delete something and only notice after 30 days, or if your contract ends. According to the terms and conditions, you are generally responsible for your own data backup; Nexthosting recommends an additional external backup.

Method	How it works
Files	Pack public_html as a ZIP in the file manager and download it, or download via SFTP/FTP
Database	Export in phpMyAdmin or wp db export
Complete WordPress	Backup plugin (e.g. “UpdraftPlus”) with a storage target outside the Webspace, such as a third-party cloud storage service
Emails	Archive the mailbox via IMAP in an email program

Via SSH, a complete backup of a WordPress site takes two commands:

cd ~ && wp db export backup-$(date +%F).sql --path=public_html
tar -czf backup-$(date +%F).tar.gz public_html backup-$(date +%F).sql

Then download the .tar.gz and delete it on the server so that it does not use up storage.

Rule of thumb: 3-2-1

Three copies of your data, on two different storage media, one of them off-site. Nexthosting’s automatic backups are one of them, a copy on your computer or with a third-party cloud storage service is the second.

Back up before these actions

• big updates of WordPress, WooCommerce, theme or page builder,
• switching the PHP version,
• pushing a staging site to the live site (Staging),
• search and replace in the database,
• deleting websites, databases or mailboxes.

Frequently asked questions

Can I download a backup?

Download files and databases via the file manager, SFTP or phpMyAdmin (see above). If you need a specific older state as a download, ask Support.

What happens to my data after the contract ends?

With a contract, the product is removed on the day the contract ends, and the backups are gone too. Download everything you want to keep yourself beforehand. Exactly when data is deleted is explained in Data after the end of the contract.

How often is a backup made and how long are backups kept?

Twice a day; the backups are kept for 30 days, in every plan.

I deleted a website. Is it gone?

Contact Support as soon as possible. Whether and how a deleted website can be brought back depends on the individual case.

Further reading

• Staging and cloning
• Fixing WordPress problems
• Databases and phpMyAdmin
• Data after the end of the contract