How to Delete the Existing Backup to Empty the Disk Space Using cPanel

Most of the people use shared hostings, which have limited resources. Even though companies offer unlimited disk space, the website goes down if the size is too big.

It doesn’t mean web hosting companies are lying about providing unlimited bandwidth; it’s just a more prominent website requires more resources, which later lead to downtime.

Sometimes, people make an innocent mistake by keeping the backup file on the server. Do you ever realize what that means?

Suppose the total size of your website is 300MB, and you keep its backup on the same server, which is 300MB, it means you’re using double disk space.

It’s important to delete such a backup file after downloading it. We all know that more than seventy percent users are non-techie who prefer to use one-click backup solution.

In this tutorial, you’re going to learn about finding the backup file and deleting it.

Learn to Recognize the Importance of Optimizing Your Web Server

As I have mentioned above, you should find out the location of the backup file, which is consuming so much disk space of your web hosting server.

To do so, you need to understand that you can generate the full backup of your website from cPanel.

While creating the backup file, you can choose a location to store. As you can see in the screenshot, there are four options; you need to pick one.

Well, if you choose any except Home Directory, you’re safe, and you don’t need to worry about consuming the disk space, because all the three options store the backup file remotely.

How to Delete the Existing Backup to Empty the Disk Space Using cPanel

When you choose Home Directory as the location of your website’s backup, it remains on the server; this is the scenario in which, you require to delete the backup file after downloading it.

Note: Most of the web hostings delete it after seven days.

But if your website is down, you can’t wait for seven days to get the backup file deleted automatically.

Find Out the File and Delete it

The backup is available in the Home Directory; the question is how you can access this directory.

Step 1

It’s so simple, everything remains in the File Manager, open it from Files’ section of cPanel, it’s one of the most commonly used sections.

How to Delete the Existing Backup to Empty the Disk Space Using cPanel

Depending on your cPanel settings, it’s possible to see an empty directory when you open the file manager.

Step 2

You need to navigate to the home directory via the vertical navigation menu. You can find “home” in the top position of this menu.

How to Delete the Existing Backup to Empty the Disk Space Using cPanel

Click to expand. You can see all the files and folders available in the home directory.

Step 3

Scroll down and try to locate the backup file; you can easily find it, because the size of the file is bigger than all the others, and the name possibly starts with “backup.”

How to Delete the Existing Backup to Empty the Disk Space Using cPanel

When you find it, right-click to delete; you can also choose the delete option showing on the main navigation menu of cPanel.

Step 4

This is the vital step. While deleting the backup file, you need to make sure, you skip the trash and delete it permanently.

Some users forget it, and the backup file stays on the server in the trash.

How to Delete the Existing Backup to Empty the Disk Space Using cPanel

Check the box and click Delete. Now if you check the disk space usage, you can see the difference, and hopefully, your website is live without any glitches.

One of the most common mistakes is that website users don’t consider such things and pay a lot of money for an upgrade.

You may have experienced when your website goes down, and the problem occurs due to the disk space is full; to fix it, you’re asked to upgrade your web hosting plan.

It’s better to keep an eye such small things.

Isn’t that Easy to Empty the Disk Space

Non-techie website users fret a lot, whenever they encounter an issue with their website. It’s normal, but if they can learn the basics, the standard errors are easy to fix.

I remember when one of my LinkedIn followers was facing the bandwidth issue, it was all because a backup file of 752MB was residing on the same server.

You can also delete the spam comments to empty some space.

Conclusion

It’s better to backup your website and its database manually, but if you consider using the one-click option, you should make sure you delete the backup file from the home directory.

I hope you can easily navigate the file, and delete it.

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