How to migrate your site from HostPapa to CanSpace

HostPapa uses cPanel, so migrating to CanSpace is straightforward — we can do a full cPanel-to-cPanel restore and bring your site over with files, databases, email, and DNS zones intact. This article covers both the let-us-do-it path and the self-serve approach.

Option A: Let us handle it

The fastest and safest way — just give us access and we'll do the work:

1. Sign up for a CanSpace hosting plan.
2. Open a support ticket with your HostPapa cPanel login URL, username, and password (or a full cPanel backup file you've already downloaded).
3. We copy your HostPapa account over, verify the site loads correctly on our servers via a temporary URL, and coordinate the nameserver switch with you.

Option B: Migrate yourself

Step 1: Sign up with CanSpace

Order your new hosting plan so you have a cPanel account ready to receive the data.

Step 2: Generate a full backup from HostPapa

1. Log in to your HostPapa Dashboard at dashboard.hostpapa.com.
2. Click My cPanel for the hosting account you want to move.
3. In cPanel, search for backup and open Backup.
4. Under Full Backup, click Download a Full Account Backup.
5. Leave the Backup Destination as Home Directory, optionally enter an email for when it's ready, and click Generate Backup.
6. cPanel creates a .tar.gz file — usually ready in a few minutes for small sites, longer for larger ones. When it's done, download it from the Backups Available for Download list at the bottom of the same page.

Step 3: Send us the backup

Open a support ticket and either:

• Attach the backup file directly (if under about 50MB).
• Upload it somewhere we can fetch it (Google Drive, Dropbox, WeTransfer) and share the link.
• Or upload it to your new cPanel account via File Manager and tell us the path.

We'll restore it into your new account — full account restores take anywhere from a few minutes to an hour depending on size.

Step 4: Verify on a temporary URL

Before switching DNS, we can give you a temporary URL to preview your site on our servers, so you can check everything looks right. See How to preview your site before updating DNS.

Step 5: Switch nameservers

In HostPapa's Dashboard, locate your domain under My Domains and update the nameservers to ours. The specific nameserver pair for your CanSpace account is in the "New Account Information" email we sent when you signed up. DNS propagation usually completes within a few hours.

If your domain is also registered at HostPapa and you want to transfer it to us so everything is in one place, see How do I transfer a domain to CanSpace?. Domain transfers are separate from hosting migration and don't affect the site once it's moved.

Email migration

A full cPanel backup includes email account configurations (usernames, passwords, forwarders) and, in most cases, message history — mail stored on the HostPapa server is preserved. If you use IMAP, your inbox survives the move.

If you use POP3 and have been downloading messages to a local client, those messages live on your computer, not HostPapa's server, and aren't affected by the migration.

Common issues

• Backup generation times out. Sites over 5 GB sometimes fail to produce a full backup through cPanel's UI. If that happens, either contact HostPapa support to generate one manually, or migrate piece by piece (files via FTP, databases via phpMyAdmin export).
• Restored site shows wrong URL or redirect loops. If WordPress URLs were saved with the HostPapa temporary URL, you'll need to update wp_options after restore. See Change and Update WordPress URLs in the Database.
• Cloudflare caching old IPs. If your domain is behind Cloudflare, update the origin A records in Cloudflare's dashboard after migration — otherwise Cloudflare will still route to HostPapa.

Related articles

• What's included in our free website migration
• How to preview your site before updating DNS
• How do I transfer a domain to CanSpace?

Need a hand with any of this? Open a migration ticket