Overview
Every site on Levamo is covered by automatic daily backups, stored offsite and separate from your environment's local storage. Whether you're making changes to a live site, preparing for a major update, or recovering from something unexpected, your backups are accessible directly from the dashboard and can be restored or downloaded in a few steps.
Backups are incremental, meaning that after the first full backup, only changed or new data is captured in each subsequent backup. This keeps storage usage efficient without compromising your ability to recover any recent version of your site. Each plan includes a set backup storage allocation; if you need more, it can be added as an add-on.
In this article, you will find an explanation of how the Backups area works, step-by-step instructions for creating, restoring, and downloading backups, guidance on managing your backup schedule, and instructions for upgrading to hourly backups.
Understanding the Backups area
The Backups section is accessed from the left-hand menu inside any site's management area. It gives you a summary of your backup status and a complete list of available backups.
The header area shows three pieces of information at a glance:
Backup schedule: The time your daily automatic backup runs, in UTC. Click Change to update it. If automatic backups are disabled, this box shows Disabled instead.
Last performed: The date and time of the most recently completed backup, displayed in UTC.
Backup storage: How much of your plan's backup storage allocation is currently in use.
Below that, the Your backups list shows all available backups, including the date and time each was created, its description, and its file size. From this list you can create new backups, restore existing ones, download them, or view their details.
Note:
Because backups are incremental, the file size shown for each backup reflects only the data that changed since the previous one. It does not represent the full size of your site.
How to create a manual backup
Your site is backed up automatically each day, but you can also create a backup manually at any time. This is particularly useful before making significant changes to your site.
Step 1: Navigate to Backups
From the Sites page, click Manage site for the site you want to back up. In the left-hand menu, click Backups.
Step 2: Click Create backup
Click the + Create backup button in the top right of the Your backups area.
Step 3: Add a description and create
In the dialog that appears, enter an optional description to help you identify this backup later. If you want a download link sent to you immediately after the backup is created, check Download this backup immediately. A link will be emailed to you once the backup is ready. Click Create to start the backup.
How to restore a backup
Important:
Restoring a backup is a destructive action. All files and databases on your site will be replaced with the version from the selected backup. The site will be temporarily unavailable during the process. Any content created or changes made after the backup was taken, including signups, purchases, and comments, will be lost.
Before restoring, make sure you have a recent backup available. The dashboard requires a backup created within the last hour before a restore can proceed. If one does not exist, you will be prompted to create one first.
Step 1: Navigate to Backups
From the Sites page, click Manage site for the relevant site, then click Backups in the left-hand menu.
Step 2: Select the backup to restore
In the Your backups list, identify the backup you want to restore. To review what a backup contains before committing, click the three-dot menu to the right of it and select View details. The details panel shows the backup's creation time, description, site size, WordPress version, active theme, plugin count, and number of users.
Step 3: Initiate the restore
You have two ways to start the restore:
Select the backup using the radio button, then click Restore at the top of the list
Click the three-dot menu next to the backup and select Restore backup
Step 4: Review and confirm
A confirmation dialog will appear showing the backup details and a warning that all current files and databases will be replaced. Enter your account password and click Restore backup to confirm.
You will receive an email when the restore process begins and another when it is complete. The process typically takes 5 to 10 minutes, though larger sites may take longer.
How to download a backup
Downloading a backup gives you a local copy of your site that you can store independently or use to migrate elsewhere.
Step 1: Navigate to Backups
From the Sites page, click Manage site for the relevant site, then click Backups in the left-hand menu.
Step 2: Select and download
You have two ways to download a backup:
Select the backup using the radio button, then click Download at the top of the list
Click the three-dot menu next to the backup and select Download backup
A download link will be sent to your account email address once the backup file is ready.
How to change the backup schedule
The daily automatic backup runs at the time shown in the Backup settings card. You can change this to any time that suits your workflow, for example, scheduling it for low-traffic hours.
Step 1: Navigate to Backups
From the Sites page, click Manage site for the relevant site, then click Backups in the left-hand menu.
Step 2: Open Backup settings
In the Backup settings card, click Change.
Step 3: Set your timezone and time
Select your timezone from the Timezone dropdown, then choose your preferred time from the Time of day dropdown. A confirmation line below the dropdowns shows exactly when the backup will run, for example: "Backup runs daily at 12:00 AM (Madrid, Spain), which is 10:00 PM UTC." Click Save changes to confirm.
How to disable automatic backups
Automatic backups are enabled by default on every site. You can turn them off per site if you have a site that doesn't need a scheduled backup, for example, a staging environment or a site you back up through a separate system.
Disabling automatic backups does not affect manual backups. You can still create, restore, and download backups at any time. Any backups already created are also unaffected.
Step 1: Navigate to Backups
From the Sites page, click Manage site for the relevant site, then click Backups in the left-hand menu.
Step 2: Open Backup settings
In the Backup settings box, click Change.
Step 3: Toggle automatic backups off
In the panel that appears, click the Automatic backups toggle to turn it off. Click Save changes to confirm.
Once saved, the Backup settings box will show Disabled with the label "Automatic backups disabled" beneath it.
To re-enable automatic backups, return to Backup settings and toggle it back on. Your previous schedule will be restored.
Hourly backups
By default, every site is backed up once per day. The Hourly Backups add-on increases that frequency to once per hour, giving you up to 24 restore points per day instead of one. For sites where content or data changes continuously throughout the day, such as online stores, membership platforms, or booking systems, this significantly reduces how much could be lost if something goes wrong.
Because Levamo's backups are incremental, each hourly snapshot only captures what changed since the previous one. The storage impact of switching from daily to hourly is proportional to how much your site actually changes between backups, not a flat multiplier on your storage usage.
Hourly Backups is a per-site add-on, licensed separately from your plan.
Billing cycle | Price |
Monthly | $10 per site per month |
Annual | $120 per site per year |
A few things worth knowing about licensing:
One license covers one site at a time. If two sites need hourly backups simultaneously, two licenses are required.
Staging sites count as separate sites and require their own license.
Licenses are portable. If you no longer need hourly backups on a site, you can deactivate it there and activate it on a different site. No new purchase is needed.
How to purchase an Hourly Backups license
Hourly Backups is a per-site add-on. Before you can activate it on a site, a license needs to be on your account. If you already have an unused license, skip this and go to How to activate hourly backups for a site.
Step 1: Navigate to Backups
From the Sites page, click Manage site for the relevant site, then click Backups in the left-hand menu.
Step 2: Open Backup settings
In the Backup settings card, click Change.
Step 3: Toggle Hourly backups on
Toggle Hourly backups on. Because no license is attached yet, you will see a prompt to purchase one. Click Upgrade plan to open the Edit plan modal.
Step 4: Add a license and confirm
In the Edit plan modal, find the Hourly Backups row and click + to add one license. Review the updated total and click Change plan to confirm.
Important:
After a plan change, your environment may briefly restart, which can cause up to roughly 5 minutes of downtime. The amount charged today may differ from the monthly price due to proration on your current billing cycle.
How to activate hourly backups for a site
Purchasing a license does not activate hourly backups automatically. It must be enabled explicitly for each site.
Step 1: Navigate to Backups
From the Sites page, click Manage site for the relevant site, then click Backups in the left-hand menu.
Step 2: Open Backup settings
In the Backup settings card, click Change.
Step 3: Toggle Hourly backups on and save
Toggle Hourly backups on and click Save changes. Once saved, your site will be backed up every hour. Each hourly backup appears in the Your backups list labeled Hourly backup, alongside any existing daily or manual backups.
Note:
Hourly backups run on a fixed one-hour cycle. There is no time-of-day schedule to configure.
How to disable hourly backups
To return a site to the standard daily schedule, open Backup settings, toggle Hourly backups off, and click Save changes. Existing backups are not affected. The license is freed and can be applied to another site from its Backup settings.
Important information
Retention period: Backups are retained for 14 days. Backups older than 14 days are automatically removed. This applies to both daily and hourly backups.
Automatic backups: Automatic backups can be disabled per site from Backup settings. Manual backups, restores, and downloads remain available regardless of whether the automatic schedule is enabled.
Hourly backups: The Hourly Backups add-on is licensed per site. Staging sites require a separate license. Licenses can be moved between sites at any time.
Storage allocation: Each plan includes a set amount of backup storage. Because backups are incremental, hourly backups consume storage in proportion to how much your site changes between snapshots, not a fixed multiple of daily usage. If you are approaching your storage limit, additional storage can be added from the Billing section. See How to add additional backup storage to your plan for details.
Staging sites: Backups are available for both live and staging sites and are managed the same way.
What a restore includes: Restoring a backup replaces both web files and the database. It does not affect environment-level settings.
Conclusion
Backups are one of the most important safeguards for any live WordPress site. Levamo handles daily backups automatically, and the dashboard gives you full control to create, review, restore, and download them at any time. For sites that need a tighter recovery window, the Hourly Backups add-on is available directly from Backup settings. If you have questions or need help with a backup or restore, our support team is available 24/7.