How backups work
What we back up, how often, where backups are stored, and why they are your most important safety net.
A backup is a saved copy of your website. If something ever goes wrong — a bad update, accidental deletion, or a security incident — a backup is what we use to restore your site. This guide explains how our backup system works.
Quick summary
We take a full backup of your site every day. Backups include all your content, images, and settings. They are stored in a secure location separate from your hosting server. If something breaks, we can restore your site quickly.
What a backup includes
A complete backup of a WordPress site has two parts:
Your files
Everything that makes your site look and work the way it does:
- Your theme files (your design)
- All your uploaded images and documents
- Plugin files
- Custom code files
Your database
All the content and settings stored behind the scenes:
- Every page and post you've written
- Your settings and configuration
- Customer and order data (if you have a store)
- Form submissions
Both parts are needed to fully restore a site. A backup that only has one part is not a complete backup.
How often we back up
We take a backup every day. That means the most you can ever lose is one day's worth of changes.
For high-traffic stores or sites that update frequently, more frequent backups may be appropriate. Talk to your project lead if you think you need more frequent backups.
The server is not a backup
A common misconception is that your hosting server stores backups. Some hosts do keep snapshots, but those are not the same as a managed, verified backup. Server snapshots can be affected by the same problem that damaged your site. We store backups separately.
Where backups are stored
We store backups in an offsite location — meaning a separate system from your hosting server. This is important because:
- If your hosting server has a problem (crash, hack, data loss), your backups are unaffected
- Backups can't be deleted by the same attack that targeted your site
- We can restore your site even if your hosting account is completely inaccessible
How long backups are kept
We typically keep daily backups for a rolling period of 30 days, and weekly backups for longer. This means if you realize something went wrong two weeks ago, we can still restore from before that point.
If you need a specific older backup for any reason, contact us and we'll check what's available.
What backups protect against
| Scenario | Can we restore? |
|---|---|
| A plugin update breaks the site | Yes — restore to before the update |
| You accidentally delete a page or post | Yes — restore that content from backup |
| Your site gets hacked or infected with malware | Yes — restore to a clean version from before the infection |
| You or a team member makes a mistake | Yes — restore the affected content or the whole site |
| Your hosting provider has a server failure | Yes — restore from offsite backup to a new location |
What backups do NOT protect against
Backups are powerful, but they have limits:
- A restored site will not include any changes made after the backup was taken
- Restoring is not instant — it takes time, especially for large sites
- If you've had a long-running security problem, older backups may also be affected
For security incidents, we always check backups carefully before restoring to make sure we're restoring to a clean version. See Restoring your site from a backup for more.
Common questions
Related guides
- Restoring your site from a backup
- Why websites need maintenance
- Security monitoring explained
- What our care plan covers
- How we test changes before they go live
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