Ensuring the safety of your website data is crucial. Plesk offers built-in backup tools that allow you to configure additional backups for your subscription. This guide walks you through creating, scheduling, and restoring local backups using Plesk’s default features.
Accessing the backup manager
To begin, log in to your Plesk panel. Navigate to Websites & Domains. Under the Dashboard tab of the domain name you want to configure, click on Backup & Restore to open the Backup Manager. Here, you can manage all your backup tasks.
Creating an on-demand backup
To generate a manual backup of your subscription:
- In the Backup Manager, click Back Up.
- Under Back up the subscription, choose what to include:
- Configuration – includes hosting and service settings.
- Mail messages – includes mailbox data.
- User files – includes web files and content.
- Databases – includes all databases related to the subscription.
- Under Store in, select Server storage.
- Choose the Type:
- Full – backs up everything each time.
- Incremental – backs up only changed web and mail data since the last backup (databases are always backed up in full).
- (Optional) Enter Comments to identify the backup.
- (Optional) Enable:
- Exclude log files to reduce backup size.
- Exclude specific files from the backup to skip certain paths.
- When a backup task is completed, send a notification email to – enter an email to receive status updates.
- Click OK to start the backup. The task will appear in the Backup Manager once complete.
Scheduling automatic backups
Plesk also lets you configure a recurring backup task to protect your subscription automatically:
- In the Backup Manager, click Schedule.
- On the Scheduled Backup Settings page, check Activate this backup task.
- Under Run this backup task, select your preferred schedule:
- Daily – set the time in hours and minutes, and confirm the correct timezone.
- Weekly – choose the day of the week and the time.
- Choose the backup type:
- Use incremental backup – stores changes since the last backup.
- Perform full backup – stores everything each run.
- Set Maximum number of full backup files to store. Plesk enforces a server-level limit, shown on screen. Your number must be equal to or less than this limit.
- Under Back up, select what to include (configuration, mail messages, user files, databases).
- Under Store in, select Server storage (local backups only).
- (Optional) Enable:
- Exclude log files
- Exclude specific files from the backup
- If errors occur during the execution of this backup task, send a notification email to
- Click OK to save your scheduled backup.
Restoring from a backup
To restore a backup stored in server storage:
- In the Backup Manager, locate the backup you want to use.
- Click the backup date to open details.
- Select what you want to restore (entire subscription, files, mail, databases, or configuration only).
- Click Restore and confirm.
Best practices for local backups
- Always keep at least several recent backups for safety.
- Use a mix of full and incremental backups to balance storage and speed.
- Check the available server storage regularly to avoid failed backup tasks.
- Use descriptive comments when creating backups to make restoration easier.
