It is very important to make a backup copy of the WordPress site when you have a site with large content, and you do not want to lose this content for some reason, when you issue an update to an extension or template, or perhaps for security reasons, you may encounter in hosting, so it is necessary to periodically make and keep backup copies both in A cloud or desktop storage service that you have on your device
We will review how to backup a WordPress site using three plugins, as well as learn the manual way to create a backup.
Backup your WordPress site with UpdraftPlus for free
- Go to the WordPress control panel, click on Add New . And look for the following UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup Plugin .
- Install and activate this add-on now
- Now you will find the plugin in the WordPress settings section, the last icon and then, in order, follow the numbered options
- 1 – Entering the add-on settings
- 2- Click on the add-on settings section in order to choose where to save the backup
- 3- Choose Dropbox because this option is free and open
- 4- Click on the link to link the extension to your Dropbox account
After clicking on the link, it will take you to the Dropbox site in order to choose your account and activate it and give access to the UpdraftPlus extension to access it and save the backup data in it.. You just have to follow the instructions in order to be able to backup the WordPress site successfully.
After linking the plugin to your Dropbox account, go back to the WordPress plugin and click Backup Now.
After completing the backup process, you will go to your Dropbox account and you will find the backup files there
Restore files when necessary using UpdraftPlus
In order to restore the files, all you have to do is click on the Upload backup files option, then upload the files you want to restore, and when complete, click on Restore.
Make a WordPress Site Backup Using the Free All-in-One WP Migration Plugin
The All-in-One WP Migration plugin is mainly for moving a WordPress site , but it can be used to make backups, the plugin allows you to do that
- Go to the WordPress control panel, click on Add New . And search for the following add -on All-in-One WP Migration
- Install and activate this add-on now
- You will find the plugin icon in the WordPress control panel
- Click on the Backup option
After completing and downloading the file, you can restore it, either on the desktop or you will find it in the extension folder
Restore files when necessary with the All-in-One WP Migration extension
When you are finished and the necessity calls for restoring the backup copy, go back to the Backup option and make a restore, in case the file was deleted, but you keep it on the desktop, just choose Backip from File
Making a free WordPress backup is not complicated, it just needs some knowledge of how these plugins work,,
Backup WordPress site manually without plugins
We will divide the process of backing up a WordPress site manually into two parts:
- The first is to create a database backup from phpMyAdmin
- The second is to create backup copies of site files from File Manager
The site files will be located in the File Manager console of your server, while your database can be accessed through phpMyAdmin.
For the guide below, we will be using cPanel as a server reference. If your server is set up using a different platform, search for the same areas or areas with similar words – file manager and phpMyAdmin – in your user dashboard.
Before you begin, create a folder on your computer and rename it either to your site or your customer and follow the name with the backup date. Within this folder, create two subfolders called
“ location files ” and “ databases ”.
Step 1: Export a database
Extract the databases as shown, and then save them to the databases folder on the desktop.
Step 2: Export your WordPress site files manually
When exporting your website files, the most common path is to simply use the Control Panel itself. In some cases, users may need to export site files using FTP
1- Once logged into CPanel, go to Control Panel and select File Manager option.
2- In the file manager, go to the right column and select the folder named “ public_html ”. Note, you may have to move between folders. Once you locate the public_html click on the folder name (don’t double click on it as this will open the folder) and follow as indicated by the numbering
3- Once the files are compressed, click on the “ public_html.zip ” folder and click Download.
4- Once the download is complete, remember to delete the .zip file because it will take up unnecessary space on your server. To do this, click on the “public_html.zip” folder and click Delete.
5- Now save this file to your desktop in the “ Site Files ” folder .
Great! You have successfully exported your website files!