Backup Policy, Do You Provide Backups?
HostGator automatic backups
HostGator's automatic backup service runs once a week on a random day, and each run overwrites any previous backups. Only one week of backups is kept at a time. The terms of our backup policy vary depending on the type of hosting account.
Customers with critical business information or important data are STRONGLY encouraged to seek a third-party backup service, such as CodeGuard, to protect against unforeseen circumstances. Such services provide more fine-grained control over backup and restore operations, allowing the service to be tailored to specific requirements.
Please click the links below to check the backup policy depending on the hosting plan.
- Shared and Reseller plans ⤵
- VPS hosting plans ⤵
- Linux Dedicated hosting plan ⤵
- Windows Dedicated hosting pan ⤵
- Large backups for Shared and Reseller plans ⤵
- Backups FAQs ⤵
Shared and Reseller plans
For non-specialized shared plans, HostGator creates daily, weekly, and monthly backups based on cycles set within the server for accounts under 20 GB and 100,000 inodes. Please note that, given what day the server cycles run, the weekly and monthly backup(s) could be the same as the daily backup.
For Managed WordPress Hosting, Cloud Hosting, and Reseller servers, HostGator creates weekly backups of shared servers for accounts that are under 20 GB and 100,000 inodes. For Reseller plans, these limits apply to each cPanel individually.
All or part of your cPanel can be restored by HostGator by contacting us via phone or chat.
VPS hosting plans
As of April 13, 20201, we upgraded our platform to Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM). All VPS purchased from this date are provisioned to the KVM platform.
To verify if you are on the KVM or Legacy platform, you must locate your Package ID in the Customer Portal. You can find your Package ID by navigating to the Hosting section and clicking Manage for your VPS package. You can also check this article to know more about VPS General Information.
KVM VPS hosting plan
Those on a KVM VPS (with Package ID VH-) will need to manage their own backups. Upon signup, KVM VPS plans have backups enabled to daily/weekly/monthly. To reconfigure your backups, please reference the article, Preferred Backup Configurations for Dedicated and VPS Systems.
Legacy VPS hosting plan
For those on a Legacy VPS (with Package ID VPS-), we create weekly backups of VPS containers, including everything on your VPS at the time of backup.
The root user must restore a full backup for the server. To request restoration of your content from a backup, contact our support team by phone or chat.
Linux Dedicated hosting plan
HostGator does not create backups for Dedicated servers. By default, new servers are set up with RAID 1, which mirrors data on two hard drives; however, this is not a solution for backups. Although HostGator does not make backups of Dedicated servers, there are many options available for making your own backups. Upon signup, Dedicated servers have backups enabled to daily/weekly/monthly. To reconfigure your backups, please reference the following article:
If you would like your server set up differently, or if you would like something other than RAID 1, please contact us via phone or chat, and we can assist you in setting up an appropriate solution.
Windows Dedicated hosting plan
By default, Windows Dedicated Servers are configured with daily incremental backups of the primary disk (C:\). Because only the primary disk is being backed up, we strongly recommend against storing content on the secondary disk. Additionally, the servers are set up with RAID 1, which mirrors data on two hard drives, which will protect against data loss from drive failure. For information regarding how you may create full server backups on Windows dedicated servers, please reference the following article:
If you would like your server set up differently, or if you would like something other than RAID 1, please contact us via phone or chat, and we can assist you in setting up an appropriate solution.
Large backups for Shared and Reseller accounts
You may only create manual backups via cPanel of 10 GB or 150,000 inodes or less. If your backup is larger than 10 GB or over 150,000 inodes, you should contact us via phone or chat for assistance.
HostGator cannot create full backups of accounts that are larger than 20 GB. Other limitations may also apply. Only one cPanel backup file may be stored on any Shared account. Please see our Terms of Service for additional information.
| Size (up to) | Allowed to be saved on the server? | Automatic backups will be made? | Manual backups can be made? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 GB Space | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ Yes, by us or you |
| 10 GB Space | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ Yes, by us |
| 20 GB Space | ✔ | ✘ | ✔ Yes, by us |
| 50 GB Space | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ |
| 100,000 inodes | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ Yes, by us or you |
| 150,000 inodes | ✔ | ✘ | ✔ Yes, by us |
| 250,000 inodes | ✔ | ✘ | ✔ Yes, by us |
| 300,000 inodes | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ |
Backups FAQs
The following are commonly asked questions about HostGator's backup policy.
What if my account was suspended?
If your account is suspended less than one week before we run backups, your account will still be backed up.
If you have been suspended for more than a week when we run backups, your old backup will be erased, and your account will not be included in the new backups. We will thus have no backups for your account.
How do I restore my own backup?
A partial backup, such as a MySQL database or home directory, can be restored with the Backup icon within cPanel (the same place where the user has generated the backup).
The root user must restore a full backup for the server. To request restoration of your content from a backup file, contact us via phone or chat. Please clearly indicate what content you want to be restored and anything you do not wish to restore.