---
title: "Managing database backups"
date: "2025-07-15T10:45:19+00:00"
summary:
image:
type: "page"
url: "/acquia-source/managing-database-backups"
id: "a3dce283-04ea-445f-a4ea-01b109e747bf"
---

The Sites Dashboard provides options to manage and restore the following types of database backups:

*   **Manual backups**: Backups that are manually created to safeguard data before updates or modifications.
*   **Automatic backups**: Backups that are automatically performed on a daily basis to ensure continuous data protection without requiring any user intervention.

Backups are only for your database and do not include files such as images. If restored data from a backup references any deleted files, you must re-upload and link those files within your content.

Important

*   The system stores up to three manual database backups. If you want to generate a new manual backup but already have three existing backups, you can remove any of the current backups to accommodate the new manual backup.
*   The system retains the three most recent automatic backups. When a new backup is created, the oldest one is automatically replaced.

Creating a manual backup
------------------------

Use the following steps to create a manual backup:

1.  Log in to [Acquia Source](https://source.acquia.com/) to open the Sites Dashboard.
    
2.  On the **Sites** tab, locate the intended site.
3.  Click the title of the site.
4.  In the left navigation, click **Backups**.
5.  In the Manual Backups section, click **Back Up**.
6.  On the resulting dialog box, click **Back Up**.
    
    The backup task is initiated and a confirmation message is displayed on the page.
    
7.  Click the **Notifications** icon on the top-right of the page to check the status of the task.
    
    On completion of the task, a green tick mark is displayed next to the task.
    

Restoring a manual backup
-------------------------

Use the following steps to restore a manual backup:

1.  Log in to [Acquia Source](https://source.acquia.com/) to open the Sites Dashboard.
    
2.  On the **Sites** tab, locate the intended site.
3.  Click the title of the site.
4.  In the left navigation, click **Backups**.
5.  In the Manual Backups section, locate the row for the backup that you want to restore.
6.  Click the Kebab menu icon corresponding to the row and click **Restore**.
7.  In the confirmation dialog box, type `CONFIRM` and click **Restore**.
    
    The restore task is initiated and a confirmation message is displayed on the page.
    
8.  Click the **Notifications** icon on the top-right of the page to check the status of the task.
    
    On completion of the task, a green tick mark is displayed next to the task.
    

Restoring an automatic backup
-----------------------------

Use the following steps to restore an automatic backup:

1.  Log in to [Acquia Source](https://source.acquia.com/) to open the Sites Dashboard.
    
2.  On the **Sites** tab, locate the intended site.
3.  Click the title of the site.
4.  In the left navigation, click **Backups**.
5.  In the Automatic Backups section, locate the row for the backup that you want to restore, and click **Restore**.
6.  In the confirmation dialog box, type `CONFIRM` and click **Restore**.
    
    The restore task is initiated and a confirmation message is displayed on the page.
    
7.  Click the **Notifications** icon on the top-right of the page to check the status of the task.
    
    On completion of the task, a green tick mark is displayed next to the task.