Creating backups and restoring

intermediate · Last updated 8 May 2026

At xaweho, automatic backups run daily and are kept for 7 days — you can roll back yourself, no ticket needed. On top of that: manual backups whenever you want, backups to an external FTP target, and targeted single-file restore. Here’s how it works.

The backup concept at xaweho

What we do automatically

Daily backup: every night, all data (files, mailboxes, databases, Plesk config)
7 days retention: you can go 7 days back, one version per day
External storage: backups land on a separate backup server, not on the same server as your data — if the server crashes, your backups are safe

What you can do yourself on top

Manual backup at any time (e.g. before a risky plugin update)
Backup to an external FTP target (e.g. your Synology at home)
Auto-backup schedule with your own frequency

What you don’t see as an end customer

Server snapshots at the hypervisor level, RAID-level backups — that’s server admin territory. You work with Plesk backups.

Opening the Plesk backup manager

In Plesk: Account → My Profile → Back Up & Restore (or via the domain detail page → Backup tab).

You’ll see:

a list of existing backups (date, size, contents)
actions: restore / download / delete
a plus button: create a new backup

Creating a manual backup

Click Back Up:

Contents: everything or selective (mail, files, database, config)
Storage location: local (in your Plesk web space) or remote FTP / cloud storage
Format: Plesk format (for restoring back) or ZIP/TAR
Comment: optional, what the backup is for

Click OK → the backup runs in the background. For large setups (>10 GB): can take hours.

You get a notification when it’s done.

External backup target

In Plesk: Account → Back Up & Restore → Remote Storage Settings:

FTP: for a Synology at home or a NAS backup
Amazon S3 / Backblaze B2 / Google Cloud
Wasabi

Set it up with the server details, test the connection, save.

Auto-backup with an external target:

frequency: daily / weekly
number of backups: 7 (or more)
pre-backup hook (optional): a script that runs before the backup

Restoring from a backup

In the Plesk backup list: select a backup → Restore.

Options:

Full restore

Restores everything — files, mail, database, config. The site returns to the state it was in at backup time.

Careful: data created after the backup time is gone. If you take a backup this morning and something breaks in the afternoon, you can go back to the morning backup — everything from before noon is lost.

Selective restore

files only (not mail / database)
database only
mail only
a specific file (single-file restore)

Click the backup → Explore contents → find the file → Restore.

Single-file restore is the most common action: WordPress config broken, a single plugin file lost — pull back exactly that, not the whole backup.

Restoring from the daily backup

The server-side backups (the ones we make) are visible in Plesk too — as additional backups in the list.

Clicking restore works exactly the same as for your own backups.

For big restores (full site, many GB): can take a few hours. Notification on completion.

Backups before risky changes

Recommended workflow:

Before a plugin update: WordPress Toolkit backup
Before a PHP version switch: manual Plesk backup
Before a domain migration: full backup including config
Before SSL changes: config-only backup

The WordPress Toolkit has its own per-site backup — it complements the Plesk backup and uses the same storage layer.

Restoring to a different domain / different server

If you want to load a backup onto a different domain (domain change, migration):

upload the backup to the new Plesk server (via FTP or the Plesk migration tool)
set up the domain there
backup → restore → adjust the domain mapping

For migrations to us: open a ticket, we’ll handle it.

Backup size and quota

Backups count against the web space in your plan. Big sites + lots of backups: quota full.

Solutions:

external backup target (FTP to your own NAS)
delete old backups
upgrade your plan

What’s not in the Plesk backup

Server OS configuration (we handle that at the hypervisor level)
Plesk itself (we handle that too)
Other Plesk accounts (multi-tenant — you only see your own account)
Server-side VPN/SSH configurations

Everything that belongs to your account (domains, files, mail, databases, Plesk settings): included.

Emergency restore — what to do when everything is gone

Worst case: account completely deleted or Plesk unreachable.

Open a ticket. We have:

off-site backups
Plesk account snapshots
hypervisor snapshots

Restore time: typically 1-4 hours, depending on size.

Frequently asked questions

How big are my backups? Plesk → Back Up → the list shows the size per backup. Compressed, typically 50-70% of the original size.

Can I download backups from the Plesk server? Yes. Backup → Download → ZIP/TAR format. Handy for a local archive.

Restoring takes very long — can it go faster? On large sites, lots of small files slow things down. Plesk restore is optimized, but not magic. For truly huge sites: server-side restore via us.

Can I restore a single MySQL table? Via the Plesk backup manager: not directly — only whole databases.

Workaround:

Restore the database from the backup as a separate database
In phpMyAdmin, export only the table you need
Import it into the current database

Backing up while the site is live — any risk? Plesk does hot backups — the database is backed up consistently with no downtime. Risk is low.

Restore overwrites — can I check first? Explore contents shows what’s inside. Also: before important restores, take an additional fresh backup so you can go back if it goes wrong.

How long are server-side daily backups kept? 7 days by default. Extendable on request (for an extra charge). Open a ticket.

Encrypting backups — possible? Plesk backups have an encryption option. Keep the password safe — an encrypted backup without the password is useless.