Do you want to learn how to back up your WordPress site the right way?
There are many ways you can make a backup copy of your site, but if not done right, you can end up with a file that’s corrupt and doesn’t work!
Restoring your backup usually happens in a time-sensitive situation. So you want to make sure that the entire backup and restore process is smooth and easy. More importantly, the backup file needs to work.
In this guide, I’ll show you the best way to back up your site without any coding or technical work. I’ll use one of the best plugins available (there’s a free version too!)
You’ll have a backup created in just a few clicks. Plus, I’ll also show you how to store your backups safely as well as create automatic backups that run on schedule.
Also, as I mentioned, it’s not only important to back up your site, you need to know exactly how to use the backup in your time of need. So I’ll walk you through the restore process as well so you can be well-prepared.
Let’s get started.
What’s in This Guide?
- How to Choose the Right Backup Solution
- How to Back Up Your WordPress Website (With a Plugin)
- How to Manually Back Up Your WordPress Website
- FAQs on How to Backup Your WordPress Site
How to Choose the Right Backup Solution
You can backup your website in multiple ways:
First, you can copy your website files and database manually. While this method is free, I don’t recommend it at all. It involves a complicated process of going into your website’s backend and copying the files. A small mistake can cause big problems on your site, even crashing your whole website.
Second, you can let your WordPress hosting provider take care of that for you. This solution works most of the time, however, you need to keep one thing in mind. Most web hosts store your backup files on the same server as your website. If your server crashes and there’s a loss of data, you’ll lose your website and your backup. That’s why I recommend making your own backups so you have full control.
So the best way to back up your site would be to use a WordPress backup plugin. All you have to do is choose a reliable plugin and there are plenty of free ones too!
These plugins handle all the technical work for you. So, there’s no chance of human error that makes your site malfunction.
My top picks for backup plugins are Duplicator and UpdraftPlus. Both plugins are easy to use, and come with simple backup and restore processes.
If you’re using a WooCommerce site, then I recommend UpdraftPlus as they offer real-time backups. This will ensure every order placed is copied instantly.
For this tutorial, I’m going to show you how to back up your site using Duplicator. They have a fantastic free plan that lets anyone back up their website without spending a dime. Their pro plan comes at affordable pricing and comes with powerful features like scheduled backups, migration wizard, and 1-click restore.
Here are the key reasons why I picked Duplicator:
- Intuitive and user-friendly interface
- Full backups of your WordPress site, including all your files, themes, plugins, and databases
- Easy migration to a new hosting provider or domain with just a few clicks
- Scheduled automated regular backups
- Straightforward and quick restore process
- Zero downtime
- Supports cloud storage like Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3, and more
- Free and premium versions are available
Now that you know what Duplicator is all about, let’s back up your WordPress website.
How to Back Up Your WordPress Website (With a Plugin)
I’m going to show you how to back up and restore your site in just 5 simple steps.
Step 1: Install a WordPress Backup Plugin
First, head over to your WordPress admin dashboard. Go to the Plugins » Add New page. Here, search for “Duplicator” and install and activate the plugin on your site. This is the free version of the backup plugin.
If you’re looking for advanced features, go to the Duplicator website. Choose a plan that matches your needs and budget. Then you’ll get a plugin file to download. You’ll also see a license key on the same page. Copy this key and open your WordPress dashboard.
Go to the Plugins » Add New page and use the Upload Plugin button. This will take you to a page where you can upload the plugin file.
Once you activate the plugin, Duplicator will give you an option to paste your license key to connect to your pro plan. You can also access this option under the Duplicator Pro » Settings page.
Now you’re ready to start backing up your WordPress website.
Step 2: Create a Backup
In your WordPress admin panel, open the Duplicator » Packages page. You’ll see a button to “Create New” package.
By clicking on it, you’ll be taken to a backup settings page where you can configure your backup. Here, you can add a name for your backup file and select the storage option you want.
Below this, you can choose what you want your backup file to include. You can choose to backup everything, WordPress database only, media only.
You can also create a custom package of specific WordPress files, core, plugins, themes, media, and so on.
When you head to the next step, Duplicator will scan your site to check for any issues that can cause errors in your backup file. It will display a results page like this:
On the right-hand side, you can check if everything is marked “Good”. If there are any issues, it will show you that it needs to be resolved.
Hit the “Build” button to start backing up your website. You’ll see a progress bar showing you how much is complete. This backup process usually takes just a few minutes to complete, but the actual time taken depends on the size of your website. Duplicator supports large sites and has worked for sites even up to 200GB!
Once done, Duplicator will take you back to the main Packages page where you’ll see your backup copy listed.
You can download your backup file to your local computer or hard drive. This is also where you can delete any backup copy you don’t need anymore.
If you click on the left-facing arrow at the right of the page, you’ll get all the details of your backup. You can view details, transfer package, or set it as a recovery point.
That’s it! You’ve backed up your WordPress site. You can use this method to create on-demand backups of your entire website at any time you need.
Next, I’ll show you how to set up a schedule for your backups to run automatically.
Step 3: Set Up Scheduled Backups
If you make changes to your website on a regular basis, you may find it much easier to have the backups run automatically.
Duplicator Pro lets you create a schedule so that changes on your site are backed up without you manually creating a new backup.
I’m going to show you how to set that up in under a minute. Navigate to Duplicator Pro » Schedules tab. Simply click the Add New button here.
Now you’ll be on a page with the schedule settings. You can add a name and choose where the backups will be stored.
Below that, you can set the time period for Duplicator to automatically take backups. You can choose from hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly schedules.
If you make changes to your site every day, I suggest daily backups.
You can even pick which day of the week and the exact time you want the backup to run. So for instance, if you want to back up all the changes made by your team at the end of the week, then you can schedule it to run on Friday at 9:00 p.m.
Make sure you enable the schedule and save your changes and that’s all there is to it!
Duplicator will now automatically back up your website according to your set schedule.
Now coming to the most important part about having a backup of your site – restoring it! Backing up your website is just the first part of securing your website’s data.
When things go wrong, you should be prepared to quickly restore it instead of trying to figure out the restore process in the midst of the incident.
This is one of the main reasons why I picked Duplicator for this tutorial. The restore process is easy and straightforward.
Step 4: Restore Your WordPress Site
The process below isn’t exactly a one-click process, there are about 3 steps involved and I feel this is necessary.
Restoring your site with a backup copy is not a process you should take lightly. So it’s best that there are certain safety measures in place to prevent you from restoring your site to an old version by mistake.
Let’s quickly learn how to restore the backup file you just created so that when the time comes, you know exactly how to do it without any stress.
On the Duplicator » Packages tab, you’ll see the backup that you created. Find the Restore icon in the top menu that’s a circular arrow and click on it to start the process.
I also want to add that you’ll see the same Restore icon next to your backup under the Type column. This button lets you set this backup as the default recovery point.
Coming back to the restore process, when you click on the top Restore icon, Duplicator will take you to the Recovery page.
Here you can choose the backup copy you want to restore and hit the Launch Recovery button.
If you have not already set a recovery point, Duplicator will display a popup:
Here, you’ll need to choose the second option: Set & Launch Recovery Point Install.
Next, you’ll see the details of your recovery point. Here, Duplicator warns that this restore process will clear site data and replace it with the current package. This process cannot be undone so be sure that you want to restore your site.
Now all that’s left to do is agree to the terms and conditions and click on the Restore Recovery Point button.
Duplicator will double check with you once again if you’re sure and you can click on the OK button.
The recovery process will run and once it’s done, you’ll have an option to log into your WordPress admin.
Once you log in, you’ll see a success page like this:
That’s it! You’ve learned how to restore your site when you need to. I suggest bookmarking this tutorial so that you can come back to these steps when you need them.
You can also consult the Duplicator documentation for steps on how to back up and restore your site.
In case you want to do a manual backup of your site, I’ll show you the steps below, however, if you are not familiar with the WordPress backend, I do not recommend this method at all.
How to Manually Backup WordPress
To back up WordPress files, you need to connect to your WordPress website server using an FTP client like FileZilla. Enter your FTP or SFTP credentials to establish a connection.
Then you can locate your WordPress files. This is usually in the public_html folder. Copy and download all your WordPress site folder to your computer.
Alternatively, you can access your WordPress files through cPanel (control panel) in your hosting account.
Open File Manager and find your website folder inside the public_html folder.
Then you can simply right-click, compress it, and then download the zip file.
Now this backup isn’t your entire site. This is just your core files and other site files, it doesn’t include your database.
To create WordPress database backups, you need to log into phpMyAdmin. There, you can select your mySQL database and download it to your computer.
That’s it. You now have a manual backup of your website.
If you suspect your site has been hacked and you want to restore it, I suggest also cleaning up the malware to keep hackers out. You can use a security solution like Sucuri to help you with this.
To find more helpful plugins to set up, design, secure, and grow your site, see our round-up of the Best WordPress Plugins your site needs!
FAQs on How to Backup Your WordPress Site
How do I back up my whole WordPress site?
The easiest way to back up your site is to use a WordPress plugin like Duplicator. Install it on your site and configure the settings. The backups will be created for you on a regular basis.
Does WordPress back up automatically?
No, WordPress does not back up automatically. If your web host plan includes backups, they’ll create the backups for you. This is usually done daily.
How do I back up and restore my WordPress site for free?
The Duplicator backup plugin lets you backup and restore your site for free. Sometimes, web hosts will take backups for you that are included in your web hosting plan. For instance, Bluehost, SiteGround, and Hostinger offer free backups with their web hosting plans.
How do I back up and migrate my WordPress site?
Duplicator and UpdraftPlus offer both backup and migration features. See our list of the Best WordPress Migration Plugins to Move Your Site Easily.
How do I back up my WordPress to my drive?
Most WordPress backup tools let you connect your backups to off-site storage locations such as Google Drive, One Drive, and Dropbox. You can have it automatically added to your drive. Or, you can download the backup file and then manually upload it to your drive.
How to fully back up a WordPress site?
The best way to fully back up your WordPress site is to use a plugin like Duplicator. It gives you plenty of backup options where you can select a complete backup or choose which files/database you want to backup.
How to back up a large WordPress website?
Consider using a backup plugin that’s known for handling large websites like Duplicator and BlogVault. I suggest looking for incremental backup plugins that back up your site in small chunks so that there’s no load on your server.
What is WooCommerce? Do I need a special backup for it?
WooCommerce is a popular open-source eCommerce plugin specifically designed for WordPress. It transforms your WordPress site into a fully functional online store, allowing you to add products, manage inventory, handle payments, and much more.
Not all backup solutions will backup WooCommerce data correctly. Look for backup solutions tailored for WooCommerce. Also, I suggest choosing real-time backups that store every new order, signup, etc.
Which is the best WordPress backup plugin?
From my experience, I think Duplicator works best to backup, migrate, and restore my site. See our full review of the Best WordPress Backup Plugins to Keep Your Site Safe.
How to backup WordPress theme?
If you’re using a backup plugin that backs up all your WordPress files, your theme will be included in the backup.
If you want to do it manually, you can manually download your theme files via FTP or your cPanel file manager. Look for the theme folder within the wp-content/themes directory.
How often should I back up my site manually?
The ideal frequency depends on how often your site updates. Here’s a general guideline:
- Highly Active Sites: Daily backups are recommended.
- Moderately Active Sites: Weekly backups are sufficient.
- Less Active Sites: Monthly backups can work, but consider bi-weekly for added security.
Remember, more frequent backups offer better protection against data loss but also require more storage space.
What is the best way to schedule regular backups in WordPress?
Most plugins have built-in scheduling options. Set the frequency (daily, weekly, etc.) according to your needs.
I hope you found this step-by-step tutorial helpful. With a backup in place, you can have peace of mind that all your data is stored safely. Next, you’ll want to see our other guides on:
- Best Form Builder Plugins for WordPress
- Best WordPress Page Builders Reviewed
- Best WordPress SEO Plugins and Tools
These guides reveal the best tools to create stunning pages and forms for your site. I also added a guide to help you boost your site’s SEO to drive more traffic and rank better on Google.