Getting started with Backup & Restore

The add-on Backup & Restore at one.com lets you easily save and restore your web space, database(s), email accounts, and Website Builder projects from automatically created backups. Daily backups help protect your data and make it possible to recover your files in just a few clicks.

In this guide, you’ll learn what the feature includes, how long backups are kept, and how to restore the different types of backups in the Control Panel.

Tip: We can't emphasise enough the importance of making regular backups as an extra layer of security.

Why Backup & Restore?

Regular backups act as a safety net and give you peace of mind. Installing a malicious plugin, accidentally deleting files, or overwriting content can happen to anyone.

Without backups, you risk losing everything. With backups, you can roll back to a recent clean version of your site or data.
What is Backup & Restore?
With Backup & Restore, you can easily save and restore backups of your:
- Web space
- Database(s)
- Email account(s)
- Website Builder projects
You can access this add-on from the Control Panel under Files & Security.

Backups for your web space, databases and email accounts are available for up to 14 days. You can restore a backup, download it to your computer, or save it on your web space under My backups for future use.
Available backups, backups saved on your web space and backups saved under My backups count towards your disk usage.

Backups for Basic Mail are stored for 14 days. Mail Exchange backups are stored for 30 days and managed securely by our partner Any.Cloud using encrypted, GDPR-compliant storage.

Website Builder backups work differently. They are stored indefinitely and up to 200 saved versions of your website are kept.

Note: Backup & Restore is included with an Enthusiast plan or higher, or with Website Builder Premium and E-commerce tiers. If only backups are included in your plan, you can still view backups but must upgrade to restore them. Check our guide about what is included in our plans.
How far back are backups kept?

On our servers, backups of your web space, databases, and email accounts are made daily and kept for up to 14 days, including for domains where Backup & Restore was activated later.

The exact time of day when backups are taken cannot be specified.

Note: Despite the daily backups, in rare cases, a daily backup may be missed due to server maintenance or migration.
Where can I find Backup & Restore?

You can access Backup & Restore in the one.com Control Panel under Files & Security. Even if Backup & Restore isn’t included in your current plan.

Website Builder backups must be restored from inside the Website Builder editor.
How long can I keep a backup?

Backups saved under My Backups can be kept indefinitely. However, older backups may become incompatible with newer software versions. We recommend saving new backups regularly so they reflect recent changes to your website.

You can download backups locally or save them on your web space. Backups saved on your web space count towards your disk usage.
How do I activate Backup & Restore?
You can activate Backup & Restore directly from the Control Panel.

If Restore isn't included in your plan, you will still follow the regular restore steps. When selecting a backup, a message will appear prompting you to upgrade.

Follow the steps below to purchase Backup & Restore.
1. Click the Restore button on the item you want to restore.
2. Choose your payment method and click Approve. You'll be charged for the remaining months in the current subscription period.
3. Continue with the regular restore steps.

How to restore different types of backups

Restore Website Builder backups

Website Builder Projects are stored on separate servers, and every save in the Website Builder editor creates a backup. We store up to 200 saved versions so you can revert your site to an earlier state when needed.

To restore a Website Builder project, you must use the built-in restore function inside Website Builder. More details can be found in our dedicated guide: Using Backups in Website Builder.

Note: Images and videos uploaded in Website Builder are not part of these backups. These are by default stored in the folder called /onewebmedia on your web space. We recommend backing up your web space regularly to keep these files safe.
Restore a web space
You can restore a web space backup directly from the list of available daily backups, or select one of your saved backups from My backups.
1. Log in to the one.com Control Panel and open Backup & Restore on the Files & Security tile.
2. Select the Web space tab.
3. Choose the date you want to restore.
4. Select Restore web space from this backup, then click OK.
5. Confirm by clicking Restore web space.
6. Enter your Control Panel password and click Restore web space.
7. The restore will now be initiated. You'll receive an email when the process is completed.
Note: For WordPress sites, be sure to restore the database from the same date.
Restore a database
You can restore a database backup directly from the available daily backups under Database, or from your saved backups under My backups.
What to do if you have deleted your database

If you previously deleted your database, you must create a new one before restoring.
1. Go to PHP and database settings in your Control Panel.
2. Click the button to add a new database.
Once the new database is active, you can restore your backup to it.
For detailed steps, see our guide: How do I manually create a database?
1. Log in to the one.com Control Panel and open Backup & Restore on the Files & Security tile.
2. Select the tab Database.
3. Choose the database you want to restore from the drop-down menu.
4. Select the backup date.
5. Select Restore backup to live database and click Ok.
6. Click Restore database to confirm.
7. Enter your Control Panel password and click Restore database.
8. The restore will now be initiated. You'll receive an email when the process is completed.
Note: For WordPress sites, restore the matching web space backups of the same date as well.
Restore an email backup
Email backups can be restored directly from the available backups under Email, or from your saved backups in My backups.
1. Log in to the one.com Control Panel and open Backup & Restore on the Files & Security tile.
2. Select the Email tab.
3. Choose the email address you want to restore from the drop-down menu.
4. Select the date you want to restore the backup from.
5. Choose Restore backup to a new mail account and click Ok.
6. Enter a new email address and password, and click Save. The account will be created and restored automatically.
7. The restore will now be initiated. You'll receive an email when the process is completed.
Tip: To merge your backed up emails into your standard email account, set up both accounts with IMAP in an email client and move emails and folders as needed. The settings you should use in an email client can be found in this guide.