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March 26, 2024

How to Make a WordPress Database Backup Manually (Step by Step)

Backups are the most important security step and are often the most neglected by website owners.

Manually backing up a WordPress database is a quick and easy way to download all your WordPress data. It is not a complete WordPress website backup, but it is handy for recovering a WordPress site.

In this article, we will show you how to back up a WordPress database manually.

Making a WordPress database backup manually

Here is a quick overview of the topics we will cover in this tutorial:

When and Why Make a WordPress Database Backup Manually?
Making a WordPress Database Backup Using a Plugin
Backing Up WordPress Database Manually Using phpMyAdmin
Creating a Manual WordPress Database Backup From cPanel
Restoring a WordPress Database Backup
Set Up a Proper Automated Backup System for the Future

When and Why Make a WordPress Database Backup Manually?

You should always install and set up a WordPress backup system for your site. This allows you to restore your site should something go wrong.

There are several situations when you may need to manually back up a database.

For instance, you could be making some big changes to your WordPress website and just to be on the safe side, you want to have a database backup.

If you have access to the admin area of your website, then you can use a plugin to make an on-demand database backup (We will show you how and which plugin to use later in this article).

On the other hand, in some instances, you may not have access to the admin area of your WordPress website.

For example, this can happen when your WordPress website is hacked or inaccessible due to a WordPress error.

This is when you’ll need to make a completely manual backup using a database management utility (we will show you how to do that as well).

A manual database backup is exactly the same as a database backup created by a plugin.

Having said that, let’s take a look at how to easily make a WordPress database backup manually.

1. Making a WordPress Database Backup Using a Plugin

This method is easier and recommended, but it will only work if you have access to the admin area of your WordPress website.

First, you need to install and activate the Duplicator plugin. For more details, see our tutorial on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Note: There is also a free version of Duplicator, which can be used to create database backups. We recommend upgrading to the paid version because it offers more features.

Upon activation, you need to go to the Duplicator Pro » Packages page and click on the ‘Create New’ button.

On the next screen, Duplicator allows you to choose what you want to include in the backup.

Select ‘Database Only’ and then click on the ‘Next’ button.

Duplicator will now scan your WordPress site and database.

After that, it will show you the scan results. There may be a notice next to the Database section informing you that you are creating a database-only package.

Click on the ‘Build’ button to continue.

Duplicator will now prepare your database backup in the background and show you the progress.

Once finished, you will be able to download the backup files. We recommend downloading both Archive and Installer files. This will allow you to restore your website more easily.

2. Backing Up WordPress Database Manually Using phpMyAdmin

For this method, we will be using phpMyAdmin. It is an open-source software that allows you to manage your MySQL database using a web-based interface.

phpMyAdmin comes pre-installed on most WordPress hosting providers.

For the sake of this article, we will show you screenshots from Bluehost. However, the basic procedure is the same for most hosting providers.

First, you need to log in to your WordPress hosting control panel and click on the ‘Settings’ button under your website.

Under your website settings, scroll down to the Quick Links section.

Next, click on the ‘phpMyAdmin’ button to continue.

This will launch the phpMyAdmin app in a new browser tab.

From here, click to select your WordPress database from the left column and then click on the ‘Export’ button at the top.

You will be asked to select the export method.

Next, you need to select ‘Custom’, as it will give you more options to explore.

Once you choose the Custom option, it will show all your tables in your WordPress database as selected.

Sometimes, WordPress plugins add their own tables to your database. If there are any tables that you would like to exclude from export, then you can deselect them. If you are unsure, it is better to keep them all selected.

You now need to scroll down to the ‘Output’ section.

By default, phpMyAdmin will show you the output of the export process as text.

You need to change that by selecting the ‘Save output to a file’ option.

For compression, you must select the zipped or gzipped option.

Now, you need to scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the ‘Go’ button. phpMyAdmin will now send you the database export as a zip or gzip file.

That’s all. You have successfully made a manual WordPress database backup.

3. Creating a Manual WordPress Database Backup From cPanel

Most good WordPress hosting companies also offer easy ways to download on-demand backups. Here is how to make a manual WordPress database backup from your hosting dashboard.

Hosting providers like Bluehost, SiteGround, and HostGator all have similar options.

For the sake of this tutorial, we will show you screenshots of Bluehost. However, the basic procedure is quite similar for other hosts.

First, log in to your hosting account dashboard and click on the ‘Settings’ button under your website.

On the next screen, you need to switch to the ‘Advanced’ tab.

From here, simply scroll down to the cPanel section and click the ‘Manage’ button.

This will launch the cPanel interface in a new browser tab.

From here, just scroll down to the files section and click on the ‘Backup’ button.

On the backups page, scroll down to the partial backups section.

From here, you need to click on your database name to download your database backup file.

You can also download the backup of your WordPress files from this page if you need to.

Restoring a WordPress Database Backup

Once you have downloaded the WordPress database backup, you can continue fixing your hacked WordPress site or make any other changes you need to.

In many cases, you probably won’t need to restore your website from the backup.

But in case you do, we have a detailed step-by-step guide on restoring WordPress from backup. It covers all common WordPress backup options including restoring from a database backup.

Set Up a Proper Automated Backup System for the Future

You can make WordPress database backups manually, but keep in mind that this is not an alternative to a proper backup solution for your WordPress site.

There are situations when you may not have access to your WordPress database. For example, this can happen if your hosting company suspends your account or loses your website data.

Another possible scenario is when some hacker injects malicious code into your WordPress database. Cleaning an infected database will be a lot more difficult.

That’s why we suggest using a proper backup plugin to store your WordPress database backups on the cloud automatically.

We recommend using Duplicator. It automatically creates and stores your backups on a cloud storage service like Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, and more.

You can see this guide on how to automatically back up WordPress for detailed instructions.

We hope this article helped you learn how to make a WordPress database backup manually. You may also want to see our guide on how to restore your WordPress site with just a database backup or our expert picks of the best WordPress database plugins.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Make a WordPress Database Backup Manually (Step by Step) first appeared on WPBeginner.

July 19, 2023

How to Back up a WordPress Site to Dropbox (Step by Step)

Are you looking for a way to back up your WordPress site to Dropbox?

It is a best security practice to regularly back up your site and store it in a separate location, like Dropbox. This way, you can easily restore your content, plugins, databases, and important settings if there is a security breach or something goes wrong.

In this article, we will show you how to back up a WordPress site to Dropbox.

Why Back Up a WordPress Site to Dropbox?

Whether you are running a small WordPress website, an eCommerce store, or any other type of website, then creating regular backups is essential.

A backup is a copy of your website that includes important files, folders, databases, site content, themes, plugins, and other information.

With backups, you will have a copy of your website or ready in case of a fatal error or security vulnerability. Then, you can restore your website to its previous state in just a few clicks.

Storing your WordPress backups on your computer’s hard disk or website server can be risky. If your hard disk fails or the website server gets compromised, you will lose all your backups.

That’s why storing backups in multiple locations is a good practice, including cloud storage services like Dropbox.

Dropbox is a popular file-hosting service that lets you store and back up files to the cloud. The best part is that you can access, save, and share these files from anywhere.

That being said, let’s see how to back up WordPress to Dropbox.

Connecting Your WordPress Site to Dropbox

The easiest way to create WordPress backups and save them in Dropbox is by using the Duplicator plugin. It is the best WordPress backup plugin that is beginner-friendly and helps you to back up, migrate, and clone your website.

Plus, the Duplicator plugin easily integrates with different cloud services like Dropbox, Google Drive, Amazon S3, OneDrive, FTP, and SFTP – SSH.

Note: We will use the Duplicator Pro plugin for this tutorial because it includes cloud storage integrations. There is also a free version of Duplicator you can use to create site backups, but it doesn’t allow you to automatically store those backups in Dropbox.

First, you will need to install and activate the Duplicator Pro plugin. If you need help, then please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to head to Duplicator Pro » Settings from the WordPress admin panel and click the ‘Licensing’ tab.

Next, you will need to enter your license key and click the ‘Activate’ button. You can easily find the license key in your Duplicator account area.

Next, you will need to connect your Dropbox account with Duplicator.

Simply go to Duplicator Pro » Storage from your WordPress dashboard. Here, you will see your local storage option, where the backups will be stored by default.

Go ahead and click the ‘Add New’ button to add Dropbox.

After that, you can enter a name for your new storage option so it is easily recognizable. For example, we will name it ‘Dropbox’.

Next, you must click the ‘Type’ dropdown menu and select the ‘Dropbox’ option.

From here, you will see new settings for your storage option.

Go ahead and click the ‘Connect to Dropbox’ button.

After clicking the button, more settings will appear in the Authorization section.

First, you will need to click the ‘Authorize Dropbox’ button.

Authorize Dropbox to connect to duplicator

Next, a new window or tab will open. Simply log in to your Dropbox account.

You can use your Google or Apple account to sign in or enter the email and password you used when signing up for Dropbox.

Once you are logged in, you will need to allow access to your Dropbox account.

Go ahead and click the ‘Allow’ button.

Next, Dropbox will show you an authorization code.

Simply copy this code.

You can now return to the browser tab or window where you are configuring the Duplicator Pro storage settings.

Go ahead and enter the code into the ‘Step 2: Paste code from Dropbox authorization page’ field.

Once that’s done, simply click the ‘Finalize Setup’ button.

You have now successfully added Dropbox as a cloud storage option to save your WordPress backups.

Creating a Dropbox Backup of Your WordPress Website

The next step is to create a backup of your WordPress blog or website and save it to Dropbox.

To start, go to Duplicator Pro » Packages from the WordPress admin panel and click the ‘Create New’ button.

Next, you will need to enter a name for your package.

Duplicator will also give you the option to select a template. We recommend keeping it as ‘Unassigned’ because it will keep the settings from the last scan/build.

After that, you can expand the ‘Storage’ section.

Here, you will need to select ‘Dropbox’ as the storage option to store your WordPress backup.

You can also change the ‘Archive’ settings before backing up your site. By default, the plugin will package your site’s content, plugins, themes, databases, and all other files.

However, you can customize your backup by selecting which part of your site to back up. For instance, you might archive only the WordPress database.

When you are done, simply click the ‘Next’ button at the bottom.

On the next screen, Duplicator will scan your website and check if everything is fine before creating a backup. You will see a notice or a warning for any issues that need to be resolved before backing up your site.

Once everything checks out, simply click the ‘Build’ button.

The plugin will take a few seconds or minutes to create a backup package. The time will depend on the size of the files and folders.

Once the package is ready, it will be saved in Dropbox. You can view the Dropbox location by clicking the ‘Storage’ icon.

A new window will now open with the location.

You can simply click on the link to view your WordPress backup in the Dropbox dashboard.

Scheduling WordPress Backups to Dropbox (Pro Plugin Only)

With Duplicator Pro, you can schedule regular website backups and store them in Dropbox.

First, you will need to go to Duplicator Pro » Schedules from the WordPress dashboard and click the ‘Add New’ button.

On the next screen, you can enter a name for your backup schedule and select a template. We recommend using the default template so that all your website files, folders, and databases are backed up.

After that, select ‘Dropbox’ as the storage location for your backups.

Next, you will need to scroll down and choose when the plugin should automatically create a backup.

You can select whether you’d like to build a package hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly. For instance, if you select the weekly option, then you can choose which day to schedule the backup.

There is also an option to choose the start time for your schedule. Lastly, make sure that the ‘Enable This Schedule’ option is checked so that your schedule is active.

Once you are done, simply click the ‘Save Schedule’ button.

Restoring a WordPress Backup From Dropbox

Now that you have scheduled regular backups, you will always have a copy of your site in Dropbox. This way, you can easily restore the backup if there is a fatal error, data loss, or security breach.

To restore your site, you will first need to open your Dropbox account and head to the Duplicator Pro folder.

Next, select the website backup you would like to download.

Simply click the 3 dotted icons and then select the ‘Download’ option.

From here, you can save the zip file on your computer.

After that, you must go to your WordPress dashboard and head to Duplicator Pro » Import. Go ahead and click the ‘Select File’ button.

Next, you can select the zip file from your computer to restore the website backup.

Once the file is uploaded, you can scroll down to see the package details. Simply click the ‘Continue’ button.

On the next screen, you will see an overview of your package. For instance, it will show the number of posts, pages, media files, plugins, and more that are in the backup.

Go ahead and click the ‘Launch Installer’ button.

Once you click the button, the Duplicator installer wizard will launch.

First, you will need to choose an Install Type for your package. Go ahead and select the ‘Restore single site’ option.

Next, you can scroll down to view the Validation checkpoints and make sure the system is ready to install the backup. If there are any warnings or notices, then you must resolve them before restoring the backup.

Once that’s done, click the checkbox for ‘I have read and accepted all terms & notices’ and click the ‘Next’ button.

Check validation settings and accept terms

A popup will now open with install confirmation details.

You can click the ‘OK’ button to move forward.

The plugin will now extract archive files from the package.

Once the extraction is finished, you will see the install results. To complete the backup, you must click the ‘Admin Login’ button and log back in to your site to finalize the installation.

You have now successfully restored your website backup from Dropbox.

We hope this article helped you learn how to back up a WordPress site to Dropbox. You may also want to see our guide to WordPress security and our expert picks for the best live chat software for small businesses.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Back up a WordPress Site to Dropbox (Step by Step) first appeared on WPBeginner.

June 12, 2023

How to Backup Your WordPress Site (4 Easy Ways)

Are you looking for ways to backup your WordPress site?

Creating a backup is a great way to safeguard your website data from security threats and human errors. You can easily restore a saved version of your site in case anything goes wrong.

In this article, we’ll show you how to backup your WordPress site.

Why Backup Your WordPress Website?

As a WordPress website owner, you need to protect your data from unexpected events. Creating a website backup is one of the ways to protect your crucial data.

There are many security threats that can compromise your site and lead to data loss. For example, hackers, malware, and phishing attacks can leave your site’s data vulnerable.

Similarly, human errors, conflicts between WordPress plugins, themes, or server failures can break your site. If you’re unable to troubleshoot the issue, then it can be very difficult to recover your website.

A WordPress backup saves a copy of your site’s important files, folders, and databases. This includes your content, plugins, themes, images, videos, settings, and other information. You can easily use the backup to restore your website in case you get locked out of your website due to an error or cyberattack.

Do note that WordPress doesn’t offer a built-in option to automatically back up your WordPress site on a regular basis. You’d have to manually back up your site using the hosting service’s cPanel or an FTP client.

An easier way is to use a plugin, as you’ll have more control over which content to save. Plus, it is a beginner-friendly method, as accessing the cPanel or FTP client can be overwhelming for new users.

That said, let’s see how you can create a WordPress backup using different methods. You can click the links to jump ahead to your preferred method:

Method 1: Backup a WordPress Site Using a Plugin (Recommended)
Method 2: Manually Backup a WordPress Site Using cPanel
Method 3: Manually Backup WordPress Databases
Method 4: Manually Backup a WordPress Site Using FTP
Restoring a WordPress Site from Backup

Method 1: Backup a WordPress Site Using a Plugin (Recommended)

The easiest way to create backups is by using a plugin like Duplicator. It is the best WordPress backup plugin that’s used by over 1,500,000 professionals. Duplicator is beginner friendly plugin that makes it very easy to back up, migrate, and clone your website.

For this tutorial, we’ll be using the Duplicator Pro plugin because it includes more features like scheduled backups, recovery points, cloud storage integration, migration tool, and more. There is also a free version of Duplicator you can use to get started.

First, you’ll need to install and activate the Duplicator Pro plugin. If you need help, then please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you can go to Duplicator Pro » Settings from your WordPress admin panel and switch to the ‘Licensing’ tab. Go ahead and enter the license key, which you can find in the account area.

Next, you’ll need to head to the Duplicator Pro » Packages page from the WordPress dashboard.

From here, simply click the ‘Create New’ button in the top corner.

On the next screen, you will need to enter a name for your backup.

This will help you find the package when you’d need to restore a website.

Under the Storage section, you can add another storage location for your package. The plugin will use the default location to save your backup files.

For this tutorial, we will use the default location. However, you can click the ‘Add Storage’ link and add a new location like Dropbox or Google Drive.

You can now scroll down to the Archive section to customize your backup. For instance, the plugin lets you only backup the database, filter files, folders and extensions, and more.

If you want a complete backup of your site, then we recommend keeping the default settings and don’t select anything under the Archive section.

Next, you can scroll down to the Installer section. These are optional settings that are filled in at the time of installing the backup.

You can simply click the ‘Next’ button and leave this section as it is.

The plugin will now perform a scan and make sure everything is in order to create a backup of your site.

It will show a ‘Good’ evaluation if everything checks out or show a warning so you can quickly fix the issue before backing up the website.

Next, you can click the ‘Build’ button at the bottom.

Duplicator will now start building a package.

Once it’s done, you can go to Duplicator Pro » Packages from your dashboard to view the backup.

Go ahead and click the ‘Download’ option and then select the ‘Both Files’ option.

This will download the zip file and the installer file onto your computer. You can then use these files as backup and easily restore your site in case of a cyberattack or a critical error.

Create a Recovery Point to Restore Your Website

Another advantage of using Duplicator is that it lets you set up a recovery point for your website. Recovery points help restore your backup if there is a massive website failure. This way, you can easily return to the last functioning version of your website.

To start, you can go to Duplicator Pro » Packages from your WordPress admin panel and click the arrow in the corner to expand the package details.

After that, simply click the ‘Recovery Point’ option.

A new window will now open. Go ahead and click the ‘Set Recovery Point’ option.

Next, you will need to click the recovery arrow icon to copy the recovery URL.

You can save this URL in a secure location and use it to easily restore your site in case of a failure or security vulnerability.

All you have to do is enter the recovery URL in the browser. This will automatically launch the recovery wizard. You can then follow the steps to restore your site from the backup.

Automatically Scheduling WordPress Website Backups

With Duplicator Pro, you can also automatically schedule backups for your website. This way, you will always have the latest website backup to work with. Plus, it helps save time as you don’t have to manually create a backup.

To start, you’ll need to go to Duplicator Pro » Schedules from the WordPress dashboard and click the ‘Add New’ button.

After that, you can enter a name for your backup schedule.

The plugin will also let you select a package template, where you get to customize your backup and choose which files to back up. If you want a full backup, then we recommend leaving the package template setting to default.

Next, you can scroll down and select the storage location for your scheduled backups. The plugin will use the default location, but you can add another location, like Dropbox, OneDrive, or Google Drive.

There is also an option to select the frequency of backups. For instance, you can set up automatic backups on an hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly basis. We’ve set the backup repeats to weekly for this tutorial.

After that, you can select a start time for your backup.

You’ll also need to ensure that the ‘Enable This Schedule’ checkbox is selected.

Select a time and enable the schedule backup — Once that’s done, simply click the ‘Save Schedule’ button.

Duplicator will now automatically back up your WordPress site on the set day and time. This way, you’ll have a fresh backup to restore if anything goes wrong.

Method 2: Manually Backup a WordPress Site Using cPanel

You can also manually back up your WordPress website by using the cPanel of your WordPress hosting service.

For this tutorial, we will be using Bluehost. Do note that the settings may vary depending on the hosting service you’re using.

First, you’ll need to log in to the cPanel of your hosting provider. From here, go the the ‘Advanced’ tab from the menu on your left and then click the File Manager option under the Files section.

In a new tab or window, the file manager will now open.

Next, you need to select the public_html folder from the menu on the left and click the ‘+’ button to expand it.

From here, simply select the folder with your website name and click the ‘Compress’ option at the top.

A new window will now pop up. Go ahead and select the ‘ Zip Archive’ option and click the ‘Compress Files’ button.

Your website files now start to compress into a zip file.

The hosting service will also show a compression result. You can simply click the ‘Close’ button.

Next, you’ll need to select the zip file that you just created. It will be located in the public_html folder.

After selecting the file, simply click the ‘Download’ option at the top.

Next, you can save the compression file in a secure location.

Now whenever your site goes down due to an error or security issues, you can use the compressed file as a backup and easily restore your content.

Method 3: Manually Backup WordPress Databases

Using your WordPress hosting services’ cPanel, you can also back up different WordPress databases. However, this is a time-consuming process because you’ll need to import multiple tables manually.

First, you will need to log in to the cPanel of your hosting service. We will be using Bluehost for this tutorial.

Next, head to the ‘Advanced’ tab from the menu on your left and scroll down to the Databases section. From here, simply click the ‘phpMyAdmin’ option.

Launch phpMyAdmin From Your Control Panel

Once the phpMyAdmin opens, you can select a database from the menu on your left.

After that, simply select the tables you’d like to backup and click the Export button at the top.

On the next screen, you can keep the ‘Export method’ as Quick. For the ‘Format’, you’d want to select SQL.

Once that’s done, go ahead and click the ‘Go’ button.

You can now save the SQL file on your computer in a secure location as a backup.

To restore a database, you’ll just need to import the SQL file into the phpMyAdmin panel.

Method 4: Manually Backup a WordPress Site Using FTP

If you don’t want to use a backup plugin or access the cPanel, then you can back up a WordPress site using an FTP client.

There are many FTP clients you can use for Mac and Windows. For this tutorial, we will use FileZilla.

First, you’ll need to connect to your site using the FTP software. You can see our guide on what is FTP and how to use it for more details.

Once you’re connected, simply head to the root directory of your website from the panel on your right. This is where you’ll find folders like wp-content, wp-admin, and other important files like wp-config and .htaccess.

Next, you can right-click any folder or file you want to backup

After that, simply click the ‘Download’ option.

Downloading the WordPress .htaccess file

You can save the files and folders from a live website to your local host or computer as backups.

This way, you can easily recover your website by uploading the saved files using the FTP client.

Restoring a WordPress Site from Backup

Now that you’ve created a WordPress site backup, the next step is to restore it in case you encounter a critical error, or your site is compromised.

First, you’ll need to clean your site and delete all the WordPress files. You can do that by connecting an FTP client and removing all the folders and files. After that, you will need to install WordPress again and log in to your site.

Next, you’re now ready to restore your WordPress backups.

If you’re using the Duplicator Pro plugin, then it is very easy to upload the backup package. Simply head to Duplicator Pro » Import from your WordPress dashboard and drag and drop the package file.

From here, simply follow the steps in the import wizard to recover your website. You can see our step-by-step guide on how to restore WordPress from a backup to learn more.

We hope this article helped you learn how to back up your WordPress site. You may also want to see our guide on WordPress security and the most common WordPress errors and how to fix them.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Backup Your WordPress Site (4 Easy Ways) first appeared on WPBeginner.

July 28, 2022

How to Backup Your WordPress Site to Google Drive (Free and Easy)

Did you know that you can make a backup of your WordPress site on Google Drive?

If you have a Google account, then you already have 15GB of cloud storage for free. You can use this storage to keep a copy of your site in reserve, just in case something bad happens, and you need a reset.

In this article, we will show you how you can automatically backup your WordPress site to Google Drive.

How to backup your WordPress site to Google Drive

Why Backup Your WordPress Site to Google Drive?

A backup is a copy of your website that’s stored separately, and it’s one of the most important ways to keep your site safe. If something goes wrong with your website, then you can restore a backup with just a few clicks to get it working again.

Even in the worst-case scenario where a hacker breaks into your WordPress website and deletes your data, you can simply restore a backup and get your site back.

Many website owners also create a backup before making a big change to their site, such as editing their WordPress homepage or installing a new theme. If the change breaks their website, they can simply restore a working version of their site from a backup.

By backing up your site to a cloud storage service such as Google Drive, you can restore your site even if your main hosting account got hacked. Also, it won’t take up precious storage space on your WordPress hosting plan.

By creating a Google account, you’ll automatically get 15GB of free cloud storage that you can use for backups and file storage. If you need more space, then prices start at $1.99 per month for an additional 100GB.

How to Backup Your WordPress Site to Google Drive

WordPress does not come with a built-in backup solution. However, there are several great WordPress backup plugins that make it easy to backup and restore your site.

UpdraftPlus is the best backup plugin for WordPress. This free plugin lets you create scheduled backups, so you can automatically back up your WordPress site to Google Drive.

First, you’ll need to install and activate the UpdraftPlus plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Once you’ve activated UpdraftPlus, you can configure your backup settings and choose Google Drive as a storage destination.

To do this, head over to Settings » UpdraftPlus Backups in your WordPress dashboard. Then, simply click on the ‘Settings’ tab.

Backup WordPress website to Google Drive

UpdraftPlus makes it easy to save your backups to different online storage services including Dropbox, Amazon S3, Microsoft OneDrive, and many others.

Since you want to backup your WordPress site to Google Drive, go ahead and click on ‘Google Drive’ in the section titled ‘Choose your remote storage.’

UpdraftPlus' supported cloud storage platforms

After choosing Google Drive as your storage location, you’ll need to give UpdraftPlus access to your Google account.

To get started, click on the ‘Sign in with Google’ button.

Now follow the onscreen instructions to give UpdraftPlus access to your Google account.

After reading the disclaimer, you can click on ‘Complete setup’ if you’re happy to go ahead and authorize UpdraftPlus access to your Google Drive.

Once you’ve done that, UpdraftPlus will take you back to its main settings page in the WordPress dashboard.

How to Create an Automatic WordPress Backup Schedule

After choosing Google Drive as your storage location, you’re ready to create an automatic backup schedule.

Still in the ‘Settings’ tab, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the Save Changes button. UpdraftPlus will now automatically backup your site based on your schedule.

UpdraftPlus breaks WordPress backups into two parts: files and database.

Let’s start with files. As part of this backup, UpdraftPlus will create a copy of your site’s code files, plugin and theme files, and images.

To get started, simply open the ‘Files backup schedule’ dropdown and choose how frequently UpdraftPlus should backup your WordPress website.

You can choose from once every month, right through to once every 2 hours.

Create an automated backup schedule for Google Drive

When creating a schedule, think about how often you update or add new content to your site. For example, if you publish two blog posts each week, then you may want to backup your WordPress blog once a week instead of daily.

If you update your site more frequently, then you’ll need to backup more frequently.

In particular, if you run an online store then you’ll typically want to backup your site as often as possible. In this way, you can avoid losing important information such as new orders or a customer’s payment details.

After choosing a frequency for your backups, you’ll need to choose how many different backups UpdraftPlus should keep. This will help you optimize the storage space you use.

You can do this by entering that number into the text field next to ‘…retain this many scheduled backups.’

You can change these settings at any point, so if you’re unsure then you can start by saving a larger number and then reduce it if the backups are using too much space.

Once UpdraftPlus reaches your set number, the plugin will replace the oldest copy with newer WordPress backups.

Next, you need to create a backup schedule for your WordPress database in the ‘Database backup schedule’ section.

WordPress stores all of its posts and pages, comments, links, and website settings in the database, so it’s just as important to create backups of the database regularly as it is the files.

You can tell UpdraftPlus how frequently it should make backups of your database, and how many of them it should keep by following the same process described above.

How to Choose What is in UpdraftPlus Backups on Google Drive

By default, UpdraftPlus will include all your WordPress plugins, themes, and uploads in your Google Drive backups.

In the ‘Settings’ tab, scroll down to the ‘Include in files backup’ section. Here, you can choose whether to include plugins, themes, or uploads in your backup.

To create a complete copy of your WordPress website, you’ll want to leave the default 3 checkboxes selected.

Excluding files from a Google Drive WordPress backup

If you don’t need to include plugins, themes, or uploads in your backups, then you can just uncheck the box next to that setting. Doing so can reduce the size of your backups and take up less space on your Google Drive.

If you leave the ‘Uploads’ box checked, then you can create some rules about the kind of uploads that UpdraftPlus will exclude from its backups.

There are already some exclusion rules. For example, the plugin defaults to excluding all files that have the word ‘backup’ in their file name. To create more rules about the kind of content UpdraftPlus will exclude, simply click on ‘Add an exclusion rule.’

Creating exclusion rules for a WordPress backup

You can then follow the onscreen instructions to create your exclusion rule.

For example, if you wanted UpdraftPlus to ignore all PDF files, then you would start by clicking on ‘All files with this extension’ and type ‘PDF’ in the field that appears.

Adding exclusion rules to your WordPress backup

By default, UpdraftPlus also excludes some files from the wp-content folder.

You can see all of UpdraftPlus’ default exclusion rules in the ‘Any other directories found inside wp-content’ section.

Creating an exclusion rule for the wp content directory

Do you need UpdraftPlus to exclude even more content from the wp-content folder? Simply click ‘Add an exclusion rule’ in this section and repeat the same process described above.

If you’re not sure about what to exclude, then we recommend sticking to the default settings. They are a good fit for most websites.

How to Know if an UpdraftPlus Backup to Google Drive was Successful?

Every time UpdraftPlus successfully creates a backup, it can send an email notification to your site’s admin email address that confirms the backup has been completed. If a backup fails, then you won’t get an email.

In the ‘Settings’ tab, scroll to the ‘Email’ section. You can now enable these notifications by checking the box in this section.

Enabling UpdraftPlus' email notifications

Now, every time UpdraftPlus creates a backup it will send you an email notification.

Once you’ve done all that, click on ‘Save Changes.’ UpdraftPlus will now backup your site to Google Drive automatically.

If you don’t get any emails from UpdraftPlus, then it’s a good idea to check that the plugin is successfully creating backups in your Google Drive.

If you’re using the free version of UpdraftPlus, then you should find a new ‘UpdraftPlus’ folder in your Google account.

Simply open this folder to see whether it contains any WordPress backups.

In the following image, you can see an example of how a few backups may look in your Google Drive account.

If UpdraftPlus is creating its backups successfully, but you’re not receiving the email notifications, then there is most likely a problem with how your emails are configured on your WordPress site.

You can see our guide on how to fix WordPress not sending emails to ensure they are sent correctly.

How to Backup Your WordPress Site to Google Drive Manually

Automated backups are a great way to protect your site. However, even after creating an automatic schedule you may sometimes still need to create a manual backup.

It’s a good idea to create a manual backup before making any big changes, such as updating your version of WordPress. You might also create a manual backup after publishing lots of new content.

To create a backup your WordPress site on Google Drive manually, go to Settings » UpdraftPlus Backups. You can then simply click on the ‘Backup/Restore’ tab.

To go ahead and create a manual backup now, you just need to click on the ‘Backup Now’ button. UpdraftPlus will show some basic settings that you can use to configure the manual Google Drive backup.

As with an automated backup, UpdraftPlus defaults to backing up all of your files and the WordPress database. It will also use the same remote storage location that you use for your automated backups. For us, this is Google Drive.

The default settings should be good enough for most websites, so when you’re ready click on the ‘Backup Now’ button.

Creating a manual Google Drive backup for WordPress

Restoring Your WordPress Backup with UpdraftPlus

Creating backups with UpdraftPlus is easy, but the really useful part is the ability to restore them from Google Drive with the same ease.

If your WordPress site was hacked or you just want to start fresh, then the first step is deleting everything and installing WordPress again.

Once you’ve done that, you will need to install and activate the UpdraftPlus plugin again on your new WordPress website. If you need help, then please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, head over to Settings » UpdraftPlus Backups page and click on the ‘Settings’ tab.

In the ‘Choose your remote storage’ section, click on Google Drive.

The different remote storage choices for a backup

You can now follow the onscreen instructions to give UpdraftPlus access to the Google account where you saved all of your website’s backups in Drive.

After connecting UpdraftPlus to your Google account, click on the ‘Backup/Restore’ tab.

UpdraftPlus will now scan your Google Drive and list all the backups that it discovers. Once complete, you can simply find the backup that you want to restore and click on ‘Restore.’

After that, choose the components that you want to restore. If you are restoring to a fresh WordPress installation, checking all the boxes is probably the best idea.

After choosing your components, go ahead and click on the ‘Next’ button.

Restoring your WordPress site from Google Drive

UpdraftPlus will now get all the files that it needs to restore the WordPress backup from your Google Drive.

Once it’s successfully imported all the files it needs, you just need to click the ‘Restore’ button. UpdraftPlus will now restore your backup from Google Drive.

This may take a few minutes depending on the size of your backup, and the speed of your Internet connection.

Once it’s finished, you’ll see a ‘Restore Successful’ message at the end of an Activity log. At this point, you can click the ‘Return to UpdraftPlus configuration’ button to return to the settings and finish things up.

That’s it! You’ve now successfully restored your WordPress website from Google Drive.

We hope this article helped you learn how to backup your WordPress site to Google Drive. You can also go through our ultimate WordPress security guide and the most common WordPress errors and how to fix them.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Backup Your WordPress Site to Google Drive (Free and Easy) first appeared on WPBeginner.

January 10, 2020November 25, 2022

11 Things You Should Do When Inheriting a WordPress Site

If you have just inherited an existing WordPress site, what should you do first?

Whether you’re a business owner who recently acquired a new website or an office assistant who’s inheriting your company’s existing website from another team member, you might be wondering what the most important next steps are.

In this article, we will show you the top things you need to do when inheriting a WordPress site.

Things to do when inheriting a WordPress site

What Challenges Could You Face When Inheriting a Site?

Inheriting a new WordPress website brings a lot of challenges.

Whether you’ve acquired it from another business or assigned a company website, getting up to speed with the workflow and familiarizing yourself with WordPress can take time.

Similarly, running a website requires other tools like email marketing software or third-party plugins. When inheriting a website, you should have login credentials to all the software.

Other than that, your newly inherited website might not be secure. One of the best practices is to create a backup and scan your site for threats. This will help highlight areas that could lead to a potential attack and allow you to fix them quickly.

That said, let’s look at the things you should do when inheriting a new WordPress site. You can click the links below to jump ahead to your preferred section:

Get All The Passwords
Change All Admin Password and Emails
Take Notes and Familiarize Yourself
Setup an Automated Backup Solution
Update User Roles and Permissions
Run Security and Performance Scans
Check for Proper Tracking and SEO Integration
Implement Version Control and/or Staging Site
Run a Website Clean up
Review Plugin Settings
Upgrade Your Hosting Service

1. Get All The Passwords

When inheriting a WordPress site, the first thing you must do is gather all the username and password information.

This includes your web hosting password, FTP password, CDN password, domain management password, email marketing service password, and password to all third-party premium plugins or services that the website is using.

We suggest scheduling a video call with the old developer or site owners because they can explain everything in detail.

The best way to manage all your website passwords is by using a password manager. We recommend using LastPass because it works with all your devices and allows storing passwords in a group, sharing them securely, and using stronger passwords.

2. Change All Admin Password and Emails

Once you have received all the passwords, you need to change them.

This ensures that the previous developer or site owner cannot modify anything. Another thing you want to do is update all admin contact emails so only you can reset passwords in the future.

You can do this by going to the Users » All Users page in the WordPress admin area and editing all user passwords along with contact details.

Next, you need to change the WordPress site admin email address. WordPress uses it to send important website notifications.

Simply go to the Settings » General page and enter a new email address.

Note: We recommend installing WP Mail SMTP before changing emails to make sure all emails all of the notification emails reach their recipient.

3. Take Notes and Familiarize Yourself

Before making any other site changes, taking notes and familiarizing yourself with the website is vital. If you’re unfamiliar with WordPress, see our beginner guide on what is WordPress.

It is very important that you understand the importance and functionality of each WordPress plugin used on the website.

You would also want to review theme settings and the widgets you use.

You can take notes of different functionalities, features you would like to change, and more.

Note: Please write all these notes down in Google Docs, Dropbox Paper, or somewhere else so you won’t lose them.

This information will help you understand everything. If you need help understanding something, then you can try contacting the previous owner or developer.

4. Setup an Automated Backup Solution

Backups are your first layer of defense against any online mishap. The previous site owner may have their own backup plugins set up, which may be storing backup files in one of their remote storage accounts.

You would want to set up your own backups. There are plenty of excellent WordPress backup plugins that you can choose from.

You need to make sure that you set up your backups on a remote location like Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.

You also need to create a complete WordPress backup before making further changes to your website. This would help you revert your website in case anything goes wrong.

5. Update User Roles and Permissions

If you are a developer working on a website, then you’ll need to work with your client to assign user roles and permissions to their team.

Your goal should be to limit the administrator user role to people who actually need to perform admin tasks. These tasks include things like changing the theme, installing new plugins, or adding new users to the website.

To change a user role, simply go to Users » All Users from your WordPress dashboard and edit a user profile. Next, scroll down to the ‘Role’ section and select the user role you wish to assign.

If you are working on your own site, then you will need to review user access. Create a new user account for your authors if required.

If there are older author and editor accounts that you will not be working with, then you need to edit those user accounts and change their email address and password. See our guide on how to disable user accounts without deleting them.

6. Run Security and Performance Scans

Next, you need to make sure that your new WordPress website is secure and performing well.

For security scans, we recommend using Sucuri. It is the best WordPress security plugin on the market and allows you to easily scan your website for malicious code, security threats, and vulnerabilities.

You can see our ultimate WordPress security guide for more details.

For performance, you can use any of the online website speed test tools. We recommend using the IsItWP website speed test tool, which is easy to use and gives you a detailed overview of your website speed.

It is also important that you check to see that caching is configured properly.

Many WordPress hosting companies like Bluehost and SiteGround offer built-in caching solutions that you can turn on from your hosting account. You can also use a WordPress caching plugin like WP Rocket to instantly improve your website speed.

If the site is not running a CDN, then you should consider using a CDN service. Although this is not required, we always recommend users to use a CDN. For more details, see our guide on why you should use CDN.

For more tips and tricks, you may want to see our ultimate guide to boost WordPress speed & performance.

7. Check for Proper Tracking and SEO Integration

If you have inherited the ownership of a new website, then the old website owner may have transferred the Google Analytics property to you.

A lot of website owners simply add the Google Analytics code to their WordPress theme. This code disappears as soon as you update the theme or install a new one.

Make sure that Google Analytics is properly installed on the website by either using MonsterInsights or by adding the tracking code outside the WordPress theme.

Similarly, they may have also transferred Google Search Console property to you as well.

Make sure that your site has XML Sitemaps in place for the search console. You may also want to look at Google Search Console reports to make sure there are no crawling issues or errors on the site.

We recommend using All in One SEO (AIOSEO) because it is the best SEO plugin for WordPress. You can easily optimize your site for search engines without hiring an expert.

8. Implement Version Control and/or a Staging Site

If you’re a developer, then it is highly recommended that you implement version control for the site. It is fairly easy to use GitHub or BitBucket.

If you’re not a developer, then at the very least we recommend setting up a WordPress staging site that ensures that you have a stable testing environment before pushing things live. We recommend this step for all users.

For those who’re scared to set this up, then WP Engine, a managed WordPress hosting provider, offers a robust staging environment and git version control integration.

Other small business hosting providers like SiteGround and Bluehost also offer staging features at affordable prices.

9. Run a Website Clean up

Now that you have familiarized yourself with the project, it is best to clean out all the unnecessary things. Delete all inactive themes and plugins. Delete all user accounts that are not needed.

Log in to your WordPress database and optimize it. Some bad plugins leave their database tables even after they’re deleted. If you notice any of those, then it is best to delete them.

See our beginner’s guide to WordPress database management to safely optimize the WordPress database.

10. Review Plugin Settings

A typical WordPress website uses several plugins that may still be referring to old owners. If you have taken ownership of a website, then you would want to change that.

For example, the contact form plugin on the website may still be sending notifications to old email addresses. WordPress SEO plugin may still be pointing to previous owners’ social media profiles.

You can discover some of these things by looking at the website and testing all its features. You can also review plugin settings and update them if needed.

11. Upgrade Your Hosting Service

After running the website speed test, if your website is still slow despite using caching, then it is time to upgrade your hosting.

If it is a client website, then your performance tests should help you convince the client to move. If you own the website yourself, then you just need to choose the right web host.

We recommend using SiteGround or Bluehost as they are one of the biggest hosting companies and officially recommended WordPress hosting providers.

If your website has outgrown shared hosting, then you may want to consider using a managed WordPress hosting service like WP Engine.

See our guide on how to move WordPress to a new host for step-by-step instructions to move your website.

We hope that this article offered some insights on what you should do when inheriting a WordPress site. You may also want to see our guide on the best WooCommerce plugins and the ultimate WordPress SEO guide for beginners.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post 11 Things You Should Do When Inheriting a WordPress Site first appeared on WPBeginner.

January 18, 2019July 3, 2023

7 Best WordPress Backup Plugins Compared (Pros and Cons)

Are you looking for the best WordPress backup plugin for your website?

Creating regular WordPress backups is the best thing you can do for your website security. Backups give you peace of mind and can save you in catastrophic situations, like when your site gets hacked or you accidentally lock yourself out.

There are several free and paid WordPress backup plugins, most of which are fairly easy to use.

In this article, we will share some of the best WordPress backup plugins for small businesses.

Important: While many WordPress hosting providers offer limited backup services, we always recommend that our users not rely solely on them. At the end of the day, it is your responsibility to keep regular backups of your website.

If you are not already backing up your WordPress website, then you should pick one of these best WordPress backup plugins and start using it right away.

1. Duplicator Pro

Duplicator Pro is a powerful and user-friendly WordPress backup plugin used by over 1.5 million website owners. It makes it easy to back up, migrate, and clone your WordPress site, even for beginners.

You can create manual or scheduled WordPress backups and safely store them on popular cloud services like Dropbox, Google Drive, FTP, OneDrive, and Amazon S3.

You can also view all of your backups right from your WordPress dashboard, which makes backup management simple.

When you need to restore a backup, the Duplicator Recovery Wizard will walk you through restoring your backup files, step by step.

Duplicator comes with all of the backup features you need, including complete WordPress files & database backups, recovery points, archive encryption for enhanced security, and more.

It also offers advanced site migration features such as an easy migration wizard, a streamlined installer, server-to-server imports, multisite network migrations, customizable pre-configured sites, large site support, and more.

At WPBeginner, we have used Duplicator for various website migrations, and it’s super reliable, especially for complex migrations.

Pricing: Starts at $49.50 per year for unlimited backups for up to 2 sites. There’s also a free version of Duplicator that you can use to get started.

Review: Duplicator Pro is a top-rated WordPress backup and migration plugin. It has over 1.5 million active installs and an average 4.9 out of 5 star rating. The free version has everything you need to get started. But we recommend upgrading to the premium version to access features like cloud storage, scheduled backups, and more.

2. UpdraftPlus

UpdraftPlus best WordPress backup plugin

UpdraftPlus is the most popular free WordPress backup plugin available on the internet. It is used by more than 3 million websites.

UpdraftPlus allows you to create a complete backup of your WordPress site and store it on the cloud or download it to your computer.

The plugin supports scheduled backups as well as on-demand backups. You also have the option to choose which files you want to backup.

It can automatically upload your backups to Dropbox, Google Drive, S3, Rackspace, FTP, SFTP, email, and several other cloud storage services (see our step-by-step guide on how to backup & restore your WordPress site with UpdraftPlus).

Besides backing up each WordPress website, UpdraftPlus also allows you to easily restore backups directly from your WordPress admin panel.

UpdraftPlus also has a premium version with add-ons to migrate or clone websites, database search and replace, multisite support, and several other features. The premium version also gets you access to priority support.

Pricing: Free (UpdraftPremium Personal costs $70 per year).

Review: UpdratPlus is one of the most loved WordPress backup plugins on the market. It has over 3 million active installs and an average 4.8 out of 5 star rating. While the free version has a lot of features, we recommend upgrading to UpdraftPlus premium to unlock all its powerful backup features.

3. Jetpack VaultPress Backup

Jetpack VaultPress Backup is a popular WordPress backup plugin by Automattic, the company created by WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg.

This plugin was originally launched under the name VaultPress, which is what we use on WPBeginner, but now it’s been redesigned and rebranded as Jetpack Backups. We have started to switch several of our websites to the new Jetpack backup platform because it’s more up-to-date.

The Jetpack backup plugin offers automated daily and real-time cloud backup solutions without slowing down your site. You can easily set up Jetpack backups and restore from backups within a few clicks.

The higher plans of Jetpack also offer security scans and several other powerful features.

There are a few downsides to using Jetpack backups for beginners.

First, a recurring expense can add up with multiple WordPress sites because you pay per site.

Second, the purchase flow is quite complicated, and they force you to install the Jetpack plugin to purchase a subscription. The good news is that you can manually disable all the unnecessary features of Jetpack except for backups, so they don’t slow down your site.

Lastly, backups are stored for only 30 days on the lower plans. If you want an unlimited backup archive, you will have to pay $4.95 per month per website, which is significantly more expensive for beginners when compared to other solutions listed here.

WPBeginner website still uses VaultPress (an older version of Jetpack) because we got grandfathered in at their older pricing, which was much more favorable.

However, even at the higher price, Jetpack backup is completely worth it due to the stellar reputation of Automattic. This is why we pay for higher priced real-time backup plans for our new sites like All in One SEO because it’s an eCommerce store, and we want maximum protection.

Pricing: From $14.95 per month for a daily backup plan or $59.40 if you pay for a full year in advance.

Review: Jetpack VaultPress Backup is a premium backup service with a premium price point. If you are already using JetPack for other features like JetPack CDN for photos, social media promotion, and Elastic search, then it’s good value to purchase their Complete plan bundle. If you are just after real-time cloud backups for WordPress, then you can also look at BlogVault in our list because they offer more affordable pricing for beginners.

4. BackupBuddy

BackupBuddy is one of the most popular premium WordPress backup plugins used by over half a million WordPress sites. It allows you to easily schedule daily, weekly, and monthly backups.

With BackupBuddy, you can automatically store your backups in cloud storage services like Dropbox, Amazon S3, Rackspace Cloud, FTP, and Stash (their cloud service) and even email it to yourself.

If you use their Stash service, you can also do real-time backups.

The biggest advantage of using BackupBuddy is that it is not a subscription-based service, so there is no monthly fee. You can use the plugin on the number of websites mentioned in your plan.

You also get access to premium support forums, regular updates, and 1GB of BackupBuddy Stash storage to store your backups. In addition, their iThemes Sync feature lets you manage up to 10 WordPress sites from a single dashboard.

You can even use BackupBuddy to duplicate, migrate and restore websites.

Pricing: $99 for Basic Plan (1 Site License).

Review: BackupBuddy is a cost-effective premium WordPress backup solution for you. It has a full set of features you will need to back up, restore, and move a WordPress site. In a nutshell, it’s a powerful UpdraftPlus and VaultPress alternative that you can use.

5. BlogVault

BlogVault Best Backup Service for WordPress

BlogVault is another popular WordPress backup service for WordPress. It’s a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution rather than just a WordPress plugin. It creates offsite backups independently on BlogVault servers, so there will be zero load on your server.

BlogVault creates an automatic backup of your website daily and also allows you to manually create unlimited on-demand backups. It features smart incremental backups that sync only incremental changes for minimal server load. This ensures optimal performance for your WordPress site.

Besides backups, it helps you to recover your website easily. You can store 90 days backup archive on lower plans and a 365-day backup archive on the higher plan, so you can recover your site from any mishap.

It also has a built-in staging site feature to let you test your website easily. Plus, they provide an easy option to migrate your website to another host.

BlogVault features are very promising for small businesses, and their real-time backup plan is affordable compared to Jetpack backups (half the price). However, if you compare it to self-hosted plugins like Updraft or BackupBuddy, the cost per site is more expensive.

Pricing: $89 per year for Personal Plan 1 Site License for daily backups. $299 per year for high frequency daily backups.

Review: BlogVault is an easy-to-use WordPress backup solution. It creates offsite backups, so your website server will not be overloaded with your backups. The pricing seems very affordable for small businesses that want real-time backups but don’t want to pay the premium pricing of Jetpack backups.

6. BoldGrid Backup

BoldGrid Backup offers Total Upkeep, an automated WordPress backup solution by BoldGrid.

It allows you to easily create your website backups, restore your site after it crashes, and even use it to move your site when switching hosts. You can set up automated backups or manually create backups with one click.

Total Upkeep comes with an automated fault protection feature that automatically creates a backup of your site before it updates. If an update fails, it automatically rolls back your WordPress site to the last backup. It’s a great feature that protects you against update errors.

With BoldGrid’s Total Upkeep, you can store backup archives on your dashboard and in remote storage locations like Amazon S3, FTP, or SFTP.

Pricing: $2.50 per month billed annually (Includes all of BoldGrid Premium tools & Services).

Review: BoldGrid Total Upkeep Backup is a simple WordPress backup plugin you can use to create your website backups. If you want to take advantage of their bundle plan, including other powerful tools, then you will need to purchase the BoldGrid Premium Connect Key. This plan also includes the WordPress website builder, costing $60 per year.

7. BackWPup

BackWPup is a free plugin that allows you to create complete WordPress backups for free and store them on the cloud (Dropbox, Amazon S3, Rackspace, etc.), FTP, email, or on your computer.

It is extremely easy to use and allows you to schedule automatic backups according to your site’s update frequency.

Restoring a WordPress site from a backup is also very simple. The BackWPup Pro version comes with priority support, the ability to store backups on Google Drive, and other cool features.

Pricing: Free (Premium plan is also available).

Review: Used by over 700,000 websites, BackWPup is a great alternative to other backup plugins in the list. The premium version of the plugin adds more powerful features, including easy and quick website restoration from the backend with a standalone app.

Which Is the Best WordPress Backup Plugin?

Each WordPress backup plugin in our list has pros and cons, but all plugins offer complete WordPress file backup and full database backup features.

We use Jetpack Backups for two main reasons. It is extremely easy to use, and it offers real-time incremental backups.

This means that instead of backing up all of your files every day or every hour, it only creates a backup of what has been updated literally within minutes of the update. This is ideal for a large website like ours because it allows us to use our server resources efficiently.

However, if you run a small to medium size website and hate paying high monthly fees, we recommend the popular Duplicator plugin. It has powerful features like backup encryption, scheduled backups, and many cloud storage options.

Whichever WordPress backup plugin you choose, please do NOT store your backups on the same server as your website.

By doing that, you are putting all of your eggs in one basket. If your server’s hardware fails or you get hacked, you don’t have a backup. This defeats the purpose of setting up regular backups.

We recommend storing your backups on a third-party storage service like Dropbox, Amazon S3, Google Drive, etc.

We hope this article has helped you pick the best WordPress backup plugin for your site. You may also want to see our step-by-step WordPress security guide for beginners and our comparison of the best email marketing services for small businesses.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post 7 Best WordPress Backup Plugins Compared (Pros and Cons) first appeared on WPBeginner.