This article will instruct you on how to download the backups (web files and database) of the application(s) from the local backups directory of the web application(s) to your local computer. Local backups are also known as on-site backups

**How to Download the Backup of Your Application**
Here are a few simple steps to download the backups to your local computer

**Step# 1**
First, you need to enable the
*Local Backups* functionality from the Cloudways Platform so **log in** to your **Cloudways Platform **and click on the **Servers tab** from the top menu bar and select your target server

**Step# 2**
Click on the
**Backups **option from the left menu bar first

Toggle on the
Local Backups. Activating this option will create a local copy of an application backup (web files and database) in the local_backupsdirectory of your target application deployed on the Cloudways server

Then, hit
Save Changes

[Optional] Click on
Take Backup Nowif you want to have a local backup available immediately. Otherwise, local backups will be created at the same time and frequency as the standard automated backups

**Step# 3**
Now, you need to connect to your server via SFTP so that you can download the backup file from the server to the local computer

**Tip
If you would like to know what is SFTP and why it is used, then Click Here to find out. In this example, we are using Master Credentials to access the server remotely

You will see a screen like this after a successful connection with the server via SFTP

Then, go to the following path and drag and drop your backup file from the server to your local computer

/applications//local_backups
**Tip
Your application's name is available under the application settings

Only the last backup will be available locally. For example, if you took a backup at 4:00 PM and then again at 4:35 PM, only the 4:35 PM backup will be available for download. The off-site backup feature will continue to work as usual at the set frequency and instructions

**How to Remove the Local Backups**
If you would like to remove local backups, then you can click on the
**trash as shown below. **Important**
This is just the on-site backup stored on the server. Your automated off-site backups will remain unaffected, as well as the regularly scheduled backups you have configured


That’s it! We hope this article was helpful. If you need any help, then feel free to search your query on Cloudways Support Center or contact us via chat (Need a Hand > Send us a Message). Alternatively, you can also create a support ticket.