HOSTING.COM • BACKUP & RECOVERY GUIDE
Hosting.com backups: know what you can recover
Compare the included protection, keep an independent copy and plan a restore before an update goes wrong.
Check Hosting.com plans & backup features →Use the recovery checklistAffiliate disclosure: MentorsReview may earn a commission from qualifying purchases through affiliate links, at no additional cost to you. This is a documentation-based guide, not a hands-on restore test.
Quick answer
Hosting.com’s current shared-hosting page advertises daily off-server backups and a 30-day restore history. Confirm your account’s scope and restore dates. Keep your own copy and preserve recent data before rolling a website back.
Check completed jobs and their timestamps.
Verify the dates available for your product.
Keep files and database outside the website server.
Protect new records before database recovery.
Does Hosting.com include backups?
Yes. Hosting.com’s current global shared-hosting page lists daily backups and describes copies stored off-server with a 30-day restore window. The current cPanel product page also promotes daily backups and a 30-day restore history. These are product-page statements, not a check of your individual account. Confirm the plan, platform and available restore dates in your own panel before depending on them.
A new plan and a legacy account can have different interfaces or allowances. Do not assume that a screenshot from an older A2 Hosting guide describes the service you are buying today. Ask support to identify the backup system for your exact product and explain which data it protects.
For a buyer, the useful question is broader than whether backups exist. Can you restore what you need, how much recent work could disappear, and can you keep an independent copy? Those answers make the feature meaningful when you compare hosting options.
What daily backups and 30-day retention mean
Daily describes how often a scheduled copy is created. Retention describes how long earlier copies remain available. A 30-day history does not mean every change made during those days is captured continuously. Check the timestamps actually offered by your service rather than assuming a restore point exists at every minute.
For example, imagine a successful backup at midnight and a broken update at 4 p.m. Restoring the midnight database could remove work created during that interval. This is a planning example, not Hosting.com’s documented backup schedule. Find the real schedule and timezone for your account.
Daily copies can be a practical baseline for a slowly changing blog. A busy store, membership site or booking system may need more frequent database protection. Decide how much missing data you can tolerate before you choose a backup schedule or pay for another tool.
Check the scope before you need a restore
A website is made of several parts. WordPress files include themes, plugins and uploaded media. The database holds posts, settings and many application records. Other services may hold email, DNS settings, payment records or external files. A website backup should not be treated as a universal copy of your business.
Ask whether files and databases are both included, whether you can recover them together, and whether individual items can be restored. If you run several websites, find out whether a restore affects one site or the whole account. That distinction matters when only one installation has a problem.
Email deserves its own question. Confirm whether the hosting backup covers mailboxes and how mailbox restoration works. If mail lives with an independent provider, use that service’s recovery process. Our Hosting.com email guide helps separate website hosting from mailbox decisions.
Choose a backup approach for your website
A personal blog usually needs a simple routine: verify automatic copies, keep an independent export, and create a fresh backup before major changes. If posts are published weekly, a daily schedule may cover ordinary recovery needs, provided you understand the possible loss of recent edits.
An agency should document each client’s site, database, retention period and restore owner. A single account can contain projects with very different needs. Write down which service handles each component so a colleague can recover the right site without guessing during an outage.
For stores and booking sites, consider the flow of new orders and reservations. Restoring yesterday’s database is a business decision because it can change order status, inventory and user records. Plan recovery with a developer and the relevant application provider when the site accepts frequent transactions.
Before buying: ask these six questions
Ask how often backups run and how long successful copies remain. Then ask where they are stored, which data is included, and how a restore is requested. Finally, ask whether downloads, manual copies or restore assistance carry any additional charges for your selected product.
Request a clear explanation of exclusions and limits. An attractive daily-backup label is useful, but it is not a substitute for knowing whether a very large account, an external database or an independent mailbox falls outside the scope. Save the answer with your purchase records.
Compare the complete recurring bill rather than choosing a plan from one feature alone. Storage, renewal cost, staging and support also affect the decision. Read our Hosting.com renewal price guide before committing to a longer billing period.
Buying hosting for a new site?
Compare backups alongside renewal cost, storage and support. Confirm the selected product’s recovery scope before checkout.
Compare Hosting.com plan inclusions →Current terms apply. No unverified discount or recovery guarantee is assumed.
Step 1: find the correct backup area
Sign in through your official Hosting.com customer account and identify the product attached to the website. Open its control panel and look for the backup or recovery area described in the matching documentation. Panel names and available tools can vary, so this guide does not promise one universal sequence of buttons.
Check the latest successful backup date, not merely whether the feature is enabled. Record the timezone, the site or account covered, and the older restore points offered. A scheduled job that has failed does not give you the same protection as a completed copy.
If the backup area is missing, ask support to identify it for your product. Do not purchase another hosting tier simply because an old tutorial shows a menu you cannot find. First establish whether your existing service already includes the recovery function you need.
Step 2: make an independent copy
Keep a separate backup under your control, outside the website’s own server. Use a supported export or backup tool and ensure it includes the required files and database. WordPress’s official backup documentation explains why both components matter. A content export alone is not necessarily a complete site recovery package.
Name copies with a date, site name and brief purpose, such as before a theme replacement. Store sensitive backup files privately because they can contain configuration details and customer data. Avoid leaving a downloadable archive in a public web folder.
Confirm that the archive opens and that you understand its restore process. A large file with a reassuring name is not proof of a usable copy. Keep instructions and access information available to the person responsible for recovery, using your normal secure administrative process.
Step 3: decide whether a full restore is necessary
Start with the actual symptom. A deleted image may require one file, while a failed plugin update may be resolved by rolling back that component. A database problem may need a database restore. Choose the smallest supported recovery action that solves the verified issue.
A full account restore can replace more than you intend. It may affect other sites, recent uploads or account-level data depending on the tool. Read the scope shown by the panel and ask support when it is unclear. Do not interpret a restore button as permission to overwrite everything.
Before proceeding, preserve the current state where possible, including recent orders or content. Even a broken website may contain useful records that are newer than the selected backup. Keep those records available for reconciliation instead of assuming the older copy contains everything.
Step 4: choose a clean restore point
Select a successful backup from before the problem started. Use update times, error reports and your change notes to narrow the choice. If you cannot identify when the issue began, test a suitable copy in a separate environment where supported, rather than repeatedly overwriting the live site.
Match the files and database to a compatible point in time. An older plugin version combined with a newer database structure can create fresh problems. Ask the application developer or hosting support about the appropriate recovery set when an update changed database tables.
For a suspected compromise, the newest backup may already contain malicious files or altered accounts. Recovery must include investigating the entry point and fixing it. Restoring an earlier copy without addressing the cause can lead to the same incident again.
Step 5: protect new orders and other recent work
For a changing website, record what happened after the chosen restore point. This can include purchases, comments, form entries, uploaded files or membership changes. Decide how those records will be preserved and reconciled before rolling back the database.
A store may need a controlled maintenance period while a specialist completes recovery. Coordinate payment status, stock and fulfilment records with the tools that actually hold them. A restored order table does not automatically reverse a payment made through an external processor.
This is why backup frequency should follow the value of changing data. A low-traffic site can still collect important orders, while a large informational site might change only occasionally. Measure the work you could lose, not just the number of visitors, when deciding whether additional protection is justified.
Step 6: test the recovered site
After the restore completes, check the homepage and several important URLs while signed out. Then inspect the admin area, media and representative page layouts. Confirm that the recovered version is the one you intended and that the restoration did not silently affect another project.
Test contact forms and important notifications separately. For an ecommerce site, use the application’s supported test workflow to check cart and checkout behaviour without making an unnecessary real charge. Review recent records and expected inventory before reopening normal operations.
Clear the appropriate caches after recovery and check again. A cached page can make an old version appear current or conceal a broken component. Keep a brief acceptance checklist so recovery ends with evidence that important functions work, rather than only a message saying the job completed.
Backup, staging and migration are different tools
A backup is a saved copy for recovery. Staging is a separate environment for testing changes. Migration moves the site to another hosting environment. They support different jobs, and none should be used as a substitute for understanding the others.
Use staging to test a theme or plugin change before it reaches visitors, but keep a fresh recovery copy as well. A staging site can be overwritten or become outdated. Conversely, having a backup does not make an untested update safe for your live customers.
If you are switching hosts, keep the previous service and an independent copy until the destination passes your checks. Our Hosting.com migration guide covers website, email and DNS coordination. Compare platform choices in our shared versus managed WordPress guide.
When a separate WordPress backup tool makes sense
An additional tool can be useful when you need a different schedule, longer history or storage that you control. Start by identifying a gap in the included service. Adding several overlapping backup plugins without a clear purpose can consume storage and make maintenance harder.
Check compatibility, resource use, supported storage destinations and the recovery procedure before adopting a tool. Choose a schedule that fits the site and test recovery in a separate environment. Keep the backup repository protected with appropriate access controls.
Do not assume a paid plugin guarantees a successful restore. Jobs can fail, credentials can expire and storage can fill up. Review completion reports and retention regularly. The practical benefit comes from a maintained, tested process rather than simply installing another product.
A practical monthly backup review
Once a month, check that recent scheduled copies completed and that enough older versions remain for your needs. Review disk usage and any warning messages. If your website has grown or started collecting orders, reconsider whether the old schedule still fits.
Perform a recovery drill on a separate test environment when practical. Confirm that the person responsible can find the correct copy and follow the instructions. Record how long the process takes and which parts need support. Those observations help you plan a real outage.
Update the checklist when your hosting plan, panel or business workflow changes. A move to a new platform can change which tool owns backups. Keep independent copies through the transition and verify the new recovery arrangement before removing the old one.
Your restore checklist
- Identify the affected website, product and actual problem.
- Confirm a successful backup from before the incident.
- Preserve the current state and recent business records.
- Read the restore scope and choose the smallest appropriate action.
- Restore using your platform’s supported process or ask support.
- Test important pages, forms and business functions.
- Reconcile recent records and address the original cause.
Which protection fits your site?
| Website | Practical priority | Before buying |
|---|---|---|
| Blog or portfolio | Automatic copies plus your own export | Check history and restore access |
| Client websites | Separate scope and owner for each site | Verify account versus site recovery |
| Store or booking site | Protect frequently changing records | Confirm suitable database frequency |
Frequently asked questions
Does Hosting.com have daily backups?
Its current shared and cPanel product pages advertise daily backups. Confirm successful copies and the applicable allowance for your exact account.
How long are Hosting.com backups kept?
The current global shared-hosting page describes a 30-day restore window. Check the dates actually available in your panel and any product-specific exceptions.
Should I keep my own WordPress backup?
Yes. An independent copy gives you another recovery option. Include the required files and database and test the recovery procedure.
Will a restore delete recent orders?
Rolling back a database can remove or change records created after the selected backup. Preserve recent business records and plan reconciliation before restoring.
Does a website backup include email?
Do not assume it does. Confirm mailbox coverage for the specific service. Email held by another provider needs its own recovery plan.
Can a backup fix a hacked site?
A clean copy may help recovery, but the incident still needs investigation and remediation. An infected copy or an unresolved vulnerability can recreate the problem.
Choose hosting with a recovery plan
Hosting.com is worth considering when the selected plan’s included backups, support and overall cost match your website. Confirm those details before you buy, and retain an independent copy after launch.
Review Hosting.com plans →Read our full Hosting.com reviewSources and research method
Public documentation reviewed October 14, 2026. Product statements are drawn from the current pages below; the recovery checklist is general editorial guidance. We did not access a customer’s backup repository or perform a Hosting.com restore. Legacy plans and regional terms can differ.
