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Protecting Your Website with Backups

Backups are your safety net. Whether you are making design changes, updating plugins, or simply want peace of mind, having a recent backup means you can always roll back to a working version of your website and email data. The FREAKHOSTING Web Hosting Control Panel makes it easy to create, manage, and restore backups — all from a single page. FREAKHOSTING provides both automatic backups (created for you twice daily) and manual backups (created on demand whenever you need them). You can also upload an external backup file if you are migrating from another host or restoring from a local copy.

Difficulty

Beginner

Time

5 Minutes

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Accessing the Backups Page

There are two quick ways to reach the Backups page in your control panel.
1

Log In to Your Control Panel

Navigate to web.freakhosting.com and log in with your FREAKHOSTING web hosting credentials.
2

Open the Backups Page

Use either of these methods:
  • Click the Backups tab in the top navigation bar.
  • Click the Backups quick-access button on your Home dashboard (located alongside the Clone button near the top of the page).
Both methods take you to the same Backups page. The dashboard shortcut is handy if you are already on the Home screen and want to jump straight in.

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Viewing Available Backups

Once you are on the Backups page, you will see a list of all available backups for your website. Each backup entry displays the following information at a glance:
ColumnWhat It Shows
Date and TimeThe exact date and time the backup was created (for example, “25/03/2026 at 17:30”).
Type BadgeAutomatic backups display an orange AUTOMATIC badge. Manual backups do not have this badge.
File SizeThe total size of the backup file, shown with a disk icon (for example, 2.39 MB).
Email CountAn envelope icon with a number showing how many email accounts are included in the backup (for example, 1 email).
RestoreA dropdown button that lets you choose how to restore from that backup.
Backups are listed with the most recent at the top, so you can always find your latest backup quickly.

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Automatic Backups

FREAKHOSTING creates automatic backups of your website and email data twice daily — typically at 05:30 and 17:30. You do not need to do anything — these backups happen in the background and are always available on the Backups page. Automatic backups are clearly marked with an orange AUTOMATIC badge next to the date and time, making them easy to distinguish from manual backups you create yourself.
With two automatic backups per day, you are never more than about 12 hours away from a restore point. If something goes wrong at 10:00 in the morning, the 05:30 backup from that same morning has your data from just a few hours earlier.
Automatic backups are included with your hosting plan at no extra cost. The retention period (how many days of backups are kept) depends on your specific plan. Contact support if you have questions about your backup retention.

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Creating a Manual Backup

A manual backup captures the current state of your website and email data right now. This is especially useful before making significant changes such as updating themes, installing new software, or editing configuration files.
1

Go to the Backups Page

Navigate to the Backups page using the top navigation bar or the dashboard shortcut.
2

Click Create Backup

Click the cyan Create backup button in the top-right corner of the page.
3

Wait for the Backup to Complete

The panel will begin creating your backup. Depending on the size of your website and email data, this may take a few moments. Once complete, the new backup will appear at the top of your backup list without a badge (since it is a manual backup, not automatic).
Always create a manual backup before making major changes to your website. If something goes wrong, you can restore to this exact point in time.

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Uploading a Backup

If you have a backup file from another hosting provider, a local copy, or a backup you previously downloaded, you can upload it directly through the control panel.
1

Go to the Backups Page

Navigate to the Backups page from the top navigation bar or the dashboard shortcut.
2

Click Upload Backup

Click the Upload backup button on the page. This opens a file picker where you can select a backup file from your computer.
3

Select Your Backup File

Choose the backup file you want to upload. The panel will process the file and add it to your list of available backups once the upload is complete.
The upload feature is particularly useful when migrating a website from another hosting provider to FREAKHOSTING. Simply export a backup from your old host, then upload it here.

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Restoring from a Backup

When you need to roll back your website or email data, the restore process is straightforward. Each backup in the list has a Restore dropdown button that gives you three options to choose from.
1

Find the Backup You Want to Restore

On the Backups page, locate the backup you want to restore from. Check the date, time, and size to make sure it is the correct one.
2

Click the Restore Dropdown

Click the Restore dropdown button on the right side of that backup entry. A menu will appear with three options.
3

Choose a Restore Option

Select one of the three restore options: Email, Website, or Custom. Each one is explained in detail below.

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Restore Options Explained

Selecting Email will restore only your email accounts and email messages from the backup. Your website files, databases, and other settings will remain exactly as they are now. Nothing on your website changes.When to use this: You accidentally deleted important emails or an email account, and you want to get them back without touching your website at all.Example scenario: You accidentally emptied your inbox and lost critical client correspondence from this week. You find the automatic backup from this morning (05:30) in the list, click Restore > Email, and your emails are back. Your website stays exactly as it is — nothing else is affected.
Selecting Website will restore your website files (HTML, CSS, images, databases, and other site data) from the backup. Your email accounts and messages will remain completely untouched.When to use this: A website update or change broke your site, and you want to roll it back to a previous working version without affecting your emails.Example scenario: You installed a new WordPress plugin this afternoon and it completely broke your site — visitors see a white screen of death. You find the automatic backup from this morning (05:30), click Restore > Website, and within moments your site is back to how it looked this morning, fully functional. All your emails remain untouched.
Selecting Custom gives you granular control over exactly what gets restored. You can pick and choose individual components — such as a specific database, specific website files, or specific email accounts — rather than restoring everything in a category at once.When to use this: You only need to restore one specific thing. Maybe a single database got corrupted, or you need to recover files from one subdirectory, but the rest of your site is fine and you do not want to overwrite it.Example scenario: You have three databases — one for your main site, one for your blog, and one for your online store. Only the blog database got corrupted. You click Restore > Custom, select just the blog database from the list, and restore only that. Your main site and store databases remain exactly as they are.

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Real-World Restore Walkthrough

Here is a complete, start-to-finish example of restoring a hacked website.
1

Discover the Problem

You log in on Wednesday morning and discover your website has been defaced — someone has replaced your homepage with spam content. You are not sure exactly when it happened, but your site looked normal on Monday evening.
2

Create a Backup of the Current State

Before doing anything else, go to the Backups page and click the cyan Create backup button. Yes, even though your site is hacked — this preserves the current state in case you need to examine it later or if the restore does not go as planned.
3

Find a Clean Backup

Look through your backup list for a backup from before the hack. Since your site was fine on Monday evening, the automatic backup from Monday at 17:30 should be clean. Check the date and the orange AUTOMATIC badge to confirm.
4

Restore the Website

Click the Restore dropdown on the Monday 17:30 backup and select Website. This restores only your website files and databases — your emails are left alone. Within a few moments, your site is back to its Monday state, clean and functional.
5

Secure Your Site

Now that your site is restored, take steps to prevent it from happening again: change all passwords, update your CMS and plugins, and review your security settings. If you need help, contact FREAKHOSTING support.
The key takeaway: always create a manual backup before you restore, even if your current site is broken. It costs nothing, takes seconds, and gives you an extra safety net if you need to undo the restore.

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Best Practices for Backups

Follow these recommendations to keep your website safe and make the most of the backup system.

Backup Before Changes

Always create a manual backup before installing updates, changing themes, editing code, or making any significant changes to your website. It takes seconds and could save you hours.

Know Your Restore Options

Remember: Email restores only emails. Website restores only your site files and databases. Custom lets you pick individual items. Using the right option means you only restore what you need without overwriting unrelated data.

Check Backup Dates

Before restoring, double-check the date and time of the backup to make sure you are restoring the version you actually want. With automatic backups running at 05:30 and 17:30, pick the one closest to when things were last working correctly.

Keep External Copies

For critical websites, consider periodically downloading or exporting a backup to keep an off-site copy in case you ever need it.
If you are about to make a big change and want extra safety, create a manual backup and make a note of the most recent automatic backup time. That way, you have two restore points to fall back on.

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Frequently Asked Questions

FREAKHOSTING creates automatic backups twice daily, typically at 05:30 and 17:30. This means you always have a restore point from within the last 12 hours. These backups are marked with the orange AUTOMATIC badge on the Backups page.
You can create manual backups as needed. However, storage space for backups may be subject to your hosting plan limits. If you are unsure, contact FREAKHOSTING support for details.
The Backups page is focused on creating, uploading, and restoring backups within the panel. If you need to export or download a copy, check for download options on the backup entry or contact support for assistance.
Restoring a backup is typically very fast and causes minimal or no noticeable downtime. However, for larger websites, there may be a brief period where the site is being updated. Your visitors are unlikely to notice.
That is exactly why we recommend creating a manual backup before every restore. If you restore and the result is not what you expected, simply go back to the Backups page and restore from the manual backup you created just before the first restore. You are essentially undoing the undo.
Yes. Each backup contains both your website data (files, databases) and your email data (accounts, messages). When you restore, you choose whether to restore emails, website, or both using the three restore options. The backup itself always contains everything.

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Need Extra Help?

Our support team is always here for you. Reach out through any of these channels:

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Last Updated: March 2026 | Web Hosting Support: Backup creation, management, and restoration.