Backups, restore & maintenance (my.swiftpress.io)
How SwiftPress backs up your site, how to restore from Maintenance, and why backups aren’t downloadable as ZIP/SQL files.
SwiftPress takes automatic backups of your hosting environment on a regular schedule (typically daily, with retention depending on your plan). You don’t need to remember to run a cron job for “hosting-level” safety nets—we handle that on the platform.
You can also trigger and restore from the Maintenance area in the client area when you need a point-in-time recovery or a manual snapshot before big changes.
Automatic backups
- Scheduled backups run automatically (e.g. daily) for eligible sites.
- They capture your managed WordPress stack as we run it—application files, database, and environment state together—so restore is consistent, not a half-restored mix of files and SQL.
- Retention (how many days or generations we keep) depends on your plan and product terms—check your plan details or ask live chat if you need exact numbers.
These backups exist to protect you against mistakes, bad updates, or corruption—not as a general “export my site to USB” tool.
On-demand backup & restore (Maintenance)
- Sign in to my.swiftpress.io.
- Open your site.
- Go to Maintenance (or the section that groups backup / restore—wording may vary slightly).
From Maintenance you can typically:
| Action | What it’s for |
|---|---|
| Take a backup | Create a snapshot before a major WordPress upgrade, plugin bulk change, or migration test. |
| Restore | Roll back to a known-good snapshot when something goes wrong. |
Restore puts your site back to the state captured in that backup—use it when you need to undo a bad change quickly.
Why you can’t download backups to your PC
SwiftPress runs your WordPress site inside a containerised stack (Docker-style images), not as a loose folder on a generic shared host. Platform backups are image- and volume-level snapshots designed for fast, reliable restore on our infrastructure.
Because of that:
- We do not offer click-to-download backups as a ZIP of files plus a
.sqldump for every restore point. - Restore is done on-platform—that’s how we guarantee consistency (files + database + environment) and security (your data isn’t emailed around as anonymous archives).
If you need a portable copy of your site (e.g. to move elsewhere or keep offline), use WordPress export tools, migration plugins, or ask support about an export path appropriate for your plan—those are separate from hosting disaster-recovery backups.
How this compares to “classic” hosting
| Classic shared hosting | SwiftPress |
|---|---|
Often sells downloadable .zip + phpMyAdmin dumps | Managed snapshots optimised for restore on our stack |
| You stitch files + DB together yourself | One restore operation returns a working site |
Neither approach is “lazy”—they’re built for different architectures. Ours prioritises reliable restore on our platform.
Good practice
- Take a manual backup from Maintenance before risky changes.
- Don’t rely on a single backup—automatic daily layers still apply.
- For content-only safety nets, use WordPress exports or plugin backups in addition to platform backups if your workflow needs them.
Need help?
Use — same as the Support link in the site footer (opens the chat widget). You can also sign in at my.swiftpress.io. We don’t offer email support — see How to contact customer support. If something in this article doesn’t match your dashboard, and we’ll point you to the right screen.