In this article, we will show you step by step how to backup your website WordPress. We will do it in 2 methods:
- using the WordPress Plugin Free UpdraftMore
- Manually
We recommend that most people use UpdraftPlus (or another plugin), as it's much easier to use than trying to manually back up WordPress.
How to backup a WordPress website with UpdraftPlus
As we covered above, UpdraftPlus is the WordPress Plugin most popular free backup.
In this tutorial we will show you how you can use this WordPress Plugin free to back up your website WordPress. We'll also show you how to set up your own automatic backup schedule and store your backups remotely.
But before, if you have never installed WordPress discover How to set up a WordPress blog or website in 7 steps et How to search, install and activate a WordPress theme on your blog
Then back to why we are here.
How to create your first backup
To get started, install and activate the UpdraftPlus plugin from WordPress.org. Then go to Settings → UpdraftPlus backups in your WordPress dashboard
To create your backup, you just have to click on this big blue button Save :
This will open a pop-up where you can choose the content to save. Again, you can choose between the files in your website, the database, or both.
Since this is your first backup, select both boxes. Then click on the Save button:
The backup process will begin, which may take some time depending on the size of your website.
When the backup is complete, the list is listed in the section Existing backups.
To download the backup files to your computer, you can click the five buttons under Backup Data.
Make sure to download all five data in order to have a full backup of your website.
How to configure remote storage
When you created your backup in the previous section, UpdraftPlus stored these files on your WordPress website server.
While it's better than nothing, it's still not ideal because you only have one point of failure (your server).
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Instead, you should configure UpdraftPlus to automatically store your backups on an external storage service such as:
- Google Drive
- dropbox
- Amazon S3
- Etc ...
To configure remote storage, go to the tab Settings and click the icon of the service you want to connect to. Then the instructions will display below the list of icons to help you connect this service.
For this example, we'll be using Google Drive.
For Google Drive, you must:
- Save your changes.
- Click the authorization link in the pop-up that appears after saving your changes.
You will then go through the standard Google authorization process. Once you've done that, UpdraftPlus will ask you to click a button to complete the installation process:
Now you will be able to back up your worm site to your remote server by checking the box to send this backup to remote storage (after clicking Save):
How to create an automatic backup schedule
To facilitate the maintenance of recent backups, UpdraftPlus allows you to create your own automatic backup schedule.
To create your schedule, return to the tab Settings and look for two dropdowns at the top:
- Schedule file backups:
- Schedule database backups:
You can use the drop-down lists to set your preferred frequency for each type of data. You can also choose the number of backup copies to keep.
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For example, if you keep two backups, UpdraftPlus will store the last two copies of your backup (and then replace the older copy when it needs to make a new backup).
Again, the optimal backup schedule depends on your website. However, a good starting point that should work for most WordPress websites is:
- File backup schedule - Weekly
- Database backup schedule - Daily
How to restore a backup with UpdraftPlus
If you need to restore your website from one of your backups, UpdraftPlus also makes that easy.
To restore a backup, go to the section Existing backups, Then click on the button Restore :
This will open a pop-up where you can choose the content to restore. For example, you can choose to restore only your database.
To restore everything, check all five boxes. Then click on Next to finalize the process and restore your website:
How to manually backup the WordPress website
For most people, using a WordPress backup plugin is a much better approach.
However, you might find yourself in a situation where you need to manually back up your WordPress website.
As you learned above, there are two "parts" to backing up a WordPress website:
- files
- Base
To manually back up WordPress you need to:
- Upload all files from your website using FTP
- Export your database using phpMyAdmin (or an equivalent tool from your host)
* Note - you don't technically need to back up core WordPress files as you can always download the latest version from WordPress.org. However, for the sake of simplicity, we'll just have you download all of the files in the tutorial below.
How to download WordPress files
To back up your WordPress website files, you need to connect to your WordPress website server via FTP or cPanel. For FTP you can use fileZilla to log in and you can get your FTP credentials from your web host.
Find out to go further: How to install a WordPress plugin using FTP software
From there, download all of your website files to your local computer:
How to export WordPress database with phpMyAdmin
To back up your website database, you can use phpMyAdmin, which most WordPress hosts offer.
Also read our guide on: How to duplicate a WordPress database with phpMyAdmin
In phpMyAdmin:
- Open the database of your WordPress website
- Go to the tab Export
- Select method Quick
- Choose your favorite SQL for the Format
- Click on Go
How to restore a manual WordPress backup
To restore from a manual backup, just reverse the process:
- Upload all your files to your server
- Use the tool Import in phpMyAdmin to import the backup of your database *
* To keep things simple, you can create a new database to import your backup. You will then need to update your wp-config.php file to reflect the credentials for this new database.
How to save a multisite WordPress
If you need to back up a WordPress Multisite network, we recommend using UpdraftPlus as it offers dedicated multisite support. To enable multisite support, you will need to purchase the module Network / Multisite, which costs $ 25.
With the add-on, you will be able to back up your entire network. You cannot back up individual network websites.
However, it does include a useful feature that allows you to import a backup of a single website that WordPress installs as a network website into your multisite network.
How to backup multiple WordPress websites from one place
So far, we've focused on knowing how to easily backup your own WordPress website.
However, what to do if you use Elementor to create websites for clients and that you host these websites? Or, maybe you just have your own network of websites and need a more convenient way to keep their data safe.
In either situation, there are tools that can help you back up all your WordPress websites from one place.
Here are some of the best options:
- MainWP - you can still use your favorite backup plugin, such as UpdraftPlus.
- ManageWP - includes its own backup tool. You can run it anywhere with options to automatically store backups on remote cloud storage.
- iThemes Sync - has integration with the BackupBuddy plugin from above.
final thoughts
If you have a WordPress website, you should have a regular backup strategy in place.
If you are hosting WordPress with a premium host, they may already have a website backup strategy for you. However, most "regular" web hosts don't offer reliable backups, which means you are responsible for backing up your WordPress website.
To securely back up a WordPress website, you need to store your backups in an offsite location, like remote cloud storage or your computer (ideally both).
How often you back up your website depends on how often its content changes. A good starting point for most WordPress websites is to back up the files once a week and the database every day.
To automatically backup your website, you can use one of the WordPress backup plugins.
Three of the best options are:
To start making automatic offsite backups for free, you can use UpdraftPlus and follow the tutorial in this post.
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Conclusion
Here is ! That's all for this article which explains how to save a WordPress website: With or without plugins. If you have comments or suggestions, do not hesitate to let us know in the reserved section.
However, you can also consult our resources, if you need more elements to carry out your projects of creation of Internet sites, by consulting our guide on the WordPress blog creation or the one on Divi: the best WordPress theme of all time.
But meanwhile, share this article on your different social networks.
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