Website Security and Backups Help

Configure my backups


Your Website Backups must be configured via FTP, SFTP, FTPS, or SFTP Private Key to connect with your hosting account to work correctly. Please be aware that if you change the hosting company or hosting servers you will need to reconfigure your Website Backups.

  1. Go to your GoDaddy product page.
  2. Under Website Security and Backups, next to the account you want to configure, select Set up to setup an account for the first time or select Manage to configure an existing account.
  3. Under Backups, select Details.
  4. In the upper-right corner (above Backup Now), select the horizontal three dot menu More menu, and then Settings.
  5. Set the following:
    • Schedule: Choose between monthly, weekly, daily, hourly, or every 6 hours. Select Save Settings.
    • Content: You can add directories (files) or tables (database) to skip in this section.
    • Storage Region: Choose whether your backups are stored in the U.S. (United States) or Europe.
    • Private Key: You can set up backups using SSH (Secure Shell) Private keys rather than FTP or SFTP if you have a cPanel server. For help with private key setup, see SFTP with private key setup for backups.
    • SFTP/FTP: Add your connection credentials to the server in this tab.
    • Database: Add the database credentials from the configuration file here.
  6. Locate your proper S/FTP Access Credentials:
  7. If you are a Managed WordPress customer, you need to include the following settings in addition to your hosting server IP address, FTP Username, and FTP Password.

    • Connection: SFTP
    • FTP Hostname: Your hosting server IP address
    • FTP Port: 22
    • FTP Directory : /home/<FTP Username>/html (Replace <FTP Username> with the FTP Username.)
  8. Once you’ve configured your backup settings, select Backups (Domain) in the upper-left corner of the screen.
  9. Select Backup Now, enter a name for your new backup, and select Continue.
  10. Your first backup should be completed within minutes, but larger sites can take an hour or two. If the progress bar shows a percentage, it means the backup is still running. You can leave the page and come back later to check that the backup is completed.

  11. Choose View Backup Content, select the database and file icons to see the content that was backed up.