Transferring a website to another host using cPanel

If you need to transfer your website from one cPanel host to another, there are several methods you can use. In this article, we will demonstrate how to move your website to a different host.

Method #1: The “manual” approach involves downloading all of your files to your local computer using FTP or the File Manager in cPanel. Once your new web hosting account is activated, you can upload the files and complete the process. Don’t forget to update your DNS to the nameservers of your new host.

Method #2: The “automatic” method utilizes cPanel’s Backup utility to create a full backup of your website. However, you cannot use cPanel to restore the backup directly. You will need to download the backup archive and provide it to the technical support team at your new web host. Due to security reasons, full backups require root access to the server, which may not be available in shared hosting environments.

To begin, log in to cPanel and click on the Backups icon.

On the next screen, click on Download or Generate a Full Website Backup.

Choose Home Directory as the Backup Destination. If you wish to receive a notification when the backup is complete, enter your email address. Small websites usually complete the backup process within a few minutes, while larger sites may take a few hours. Click Generate Backup to start the process.

Once the backup is finished, you can download the backup archive from within cPanel or via FTP. The following example shows the backup file in the home directory as seen in WinSCP (an FTP client). The file has a .tar.gz extension and includes the backup creation date and time, as well as your cPanel username (masked for security purposes).

If you prefer to download the backup from within cPanel, go to the Backups utility again and click on Download or Generate a Full Website Backup. You will see a file link under Backups Available for Download. Click on the link to download the file to your computer. Provide this backup file to your new web host so that their technicians can restore your website from the full backup.

Method #3: The “semi-automatic” approach involves using cPanel to create partial backups and then restoring each partial backup individually within cPanel. This method does not require root access to the server, but it limits the backups and restorations to your Home Directory, MySQL Databases, and Email Forwarders & Filters.

If you need to back up all of your cPanel settings, including email accounts, Method #2 is recommended. If certain settings, data, or email accounts are not important to you (e.g., DNS Zones, bandwidth usage, Awstats), you can opt for Method #3.

To create partial backups, go to the Backup Wizard in cPanel and click on Backup.

Under Select Partial Backup, select Home Directory.

Click on the Home Directory button and save the backup file to your computer.

If you have any MySQL databases to back up, click the Go Back button (not shown in the screenshot) to return to the previous screen. Then select MySQL Databases and choose the database(s) you want to back up and download. Follow the same steps for backing up email forwarders and filters.

Now that you have downloaded your partial backups, log in to cPanel at your new web host. Go to the Backup Wizard and click on Restore. Select Home Directory and click the Browse button to choose the backup file for the home directory that you downloaded earlier. Finally, click the Upload button. The upload may take a few minutes, during which you might see a blank screen in your web browser with “about:blank” in the address bar.

Once the restoration is complete, you will see a list of all the files that were restored. This list is for reference purposes only, and you can safely close your browser or tab. If your DNS has propagated, you can visit your site’s URL to verify the successful restoration of the files.

Follow the same process to restore any MySQL databases. When the restoration is done, you will see a screen similar to this:

To verify that the database has been restored, go to either MySQL Databases or phpMyAdmin in cPanel.

The restoration procedure for email forwarders and filters is similar to that of the home directory and MySQL databases.