Downloading a Site Backup on ULTRA Cloud

Thelma R 12 Dec, 2025 ULTRA Cloud Panel

Need a local copy of your website? Whether you’re archiving, migrating, or just being extra safe, this guide shows you how to create and download a complete backup in ULTRA Cloud.

Step 1: Open Site Settings

Login to your Freethought account

1. Login to your Customer Portal account.
2. Click on ULTRA Cloud Panel in the top row to login to the control panel.
3. Find the site you want to manage.
4. Click the Settings cog icon beside that site.

Step 2: Go to Backups

In the site settings menu, navigate to the Backups section.

Step 3: Create a Snapshot

You’ll see the Snapshots section, this is where you can create a new downloadable backup of your website. The Snapshots will always include an backup of both your site files and database.

1. Give the Snapshot a name.
2. Click Create snapshot to tell ULTRA Cloud to create a new Snapshot.

💡 Note: In this case the Snapshot has been given a generic name, but we recommend naming the Snapshot something relevant, e.g. “2025-Jan-Full-Backup” or “Pre-Core-Version-Update” etc.

Wait for the Snapshot to Complete

Your Snapshot is now processing in the background, once it’s complete you’ll see a pop-up notification in the lower right corner. You can also check the Backups section, look for a Ready status icon next to your Snapshot.

💡Note: Depending on your site’s size and complexity, it may take a few minutes for the Snapshot to be complete. Feel free to move onto other tasks in the meantime and check back in a moment to see if ULTRA Cloud has finished preparing the Snapshot for you.

Download Your Backups

Now it’s time to grab those backups and download them to your computer.

1. Click on the Files and/or the Database backups to prepare them for downloading.
2. Once the backup has been prepared for downloading, click it again and it will offer up the backup as a download.
3. Select where to save it on your computer and wait for the download to complete.

💡Note: Once the backup has been prepared for downloading the colour of the icon next to the Files/Database label will change, signifying it’s ready/available to be downloaded. You’ll also notice there’s now a Downloadable status that’s appeared next to the Ready status, again to signify that the selected backup is ready to be downloaded.

And that’s it, you’ve now downloaded a backup of your site.

If you are running into any issues or have any further questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.