Taking backups is only half the job — the other half is being able to restore them when you need to. Whether you’re recovering from a mistake, a hack or a failed update, here’s how to restore files and databases through cPanel.
Know what you’re restoring
A website is files plus a database, and a full restore means bringing back both. Restore only the files and your site won’t have its content; restore only the database and it won’t have its theme or images. For a complete recovery, restore both from backups taken at the same time.
Restoring with the Backup Wizard
The friendliest route is the Backup Wizard under the Files section.
- Open the Backup Wizard and choose Restore.
- Pick what to restore: Home Directory (your files) or MySQL Databases.
- Upload the relevant backup file from your computer.
- Confirm, and cPanel unpacks it into place.
Do this for the files and again for the database to complete a full restore.
Restoring a database with phpMyAdmin
If you have a database backup as a .sql file, you can also restore it through phpMyAdmin. Select the target database, click the Import tab, choose your .sql file, and go. For a clean restore, empty the existing tables first or import into a fresh, empty database.
Restoring files with File Manager
If your file backup is a zip archive, upload it via File Manager to the correct folder and use the Extract option to unpack it in place. This is quick and gives you control over exactly where the files land.
After the restore
Once everything’s back, a few checks: for WordPress, re-save your permalinks (Settings → Permalinks → Save) to refresh rewrite rules, clear any caches, and click through the site to confirm it works. If wp-config.php came from a different setup, double-check its database name, user and password match your current database.
Restoring after a hack
If you’re restoring to recover from a compromise, restore a backup from before the site was hacked, then immediately change all your passwords and update everything to close the hole. Restoring an already-infected backup just brings the problem straight back.
When a full account backup is involved
Full account backups (the complete package including email and settings) are restored from the server side rather than through the panel. If you need one of those restored, or a restore isn’t going smoothly, open a ticket — we handle restores regularly and can bring your account back cleanly.
