How to Backup a WordPress Site (With/Without a Plugin)

Backup is called the savior. By chance, if your site is hacked or corrupted, the backup will help you to restore to an earlier state without any worries. Therefore it is a must to use a backup plugin in your WordPress website. There are a lot of backup options available, and different plugins come with different functionalities and procedures.

UpdraftPlus is considered the best backup plugin among all of these plugins, and you can easily take a backup and restore it whenever you want.

In this post, I will be sharing how to backup a WordPress website with and without a plugin.

Let’s begin, then.

Why is it important to take backup?

Data loss can be a major headache, both professionally and personally. Taking regular backups of your website is very important for several reasons, ensuring that your data and functionality are protected against a variety of potential threats. Here’s why it’s important to take backups:

Data Loss Prevention
One of the main reasons to take backups is to prevent data loss. Data can be lost due to various reasons, like hardware failures, accidental deletion, or software issues. Regular backups ensure that you always have a copy of your website’s data. So that you loose nothing.
Protection Against Cyber Attacks
Websites are often attacked by hackers, malware, ransomware, etc. In such an event, having a backup allows you to quickly restore your site to its previous state, reducing downtime and mitigating damage.
Recovery from Human Errors
We humans are prone to errors. If anyone accidentally deletes a critical file or makes any incorrect changes to the website, a backup will allow you to revert that change.
Software Updates and Compatibility Issues
Updates are essential for security and performance improvements. However, updates can sometimes cause problems to your website. Having a recent backup means you can restore your site to its working state if an update causes problems.
Migration and Testing
Backups are also useful for website testing and migration purposes. When testing new features or moving your site to a new host, having a backup ensures that you can restore the original site if something goes wrong during the process.

How Often to Backup WordPress Site?

Backup always saves your back. If possible, it is wise to back up regularly. If doing so is too troublesome, you can use a plugin to set it to take backups automatically. Taking backups also require time and space. If you have less space or a big website, then consider taking backup weekly or monthly.

What is the best way to take a backup?

You can backup your website both manually and with a plugin. But taking backup regularly manually is very troublesome. Therefore, it is recommended to use a plugin that will help you to take backup automatically.

Table of Contents

Backing Up a WordPress Website With a Plugin

The whole process is shown step by step. Just follow these steps and then try yourself.

Step 1: Install the UpdraftPlus Plugin

First, install and activate the UpdraftPlus plugin from the WordPress plugins directory. Go your WordPress Dashboard and navigate the Plugins Add New Plugin. Then search for ‘UpdraftPlus’ and install & activate the plugin.

Step 2: Take a Backup

When the installation is complete, navigate to Settings -> UpdraftPlus Backups. Here, you will find a big blue button named ‘Backup Now.’

Hit the button, and a pop-up will appear with the backup configuration. Click the Backup Now button again.

The backup process will now run, and when finished, it will show you a success message.

In this way, your backup file will be saved in your local directory. If you want to have a safe backup, then you should configure the backup with a remote storage service.

Configuring Remote Storage

If you like to backup to your remote storage, then you have to configure it first. Remote storage allows you to backup directly to your remote storage. If you ever feel the need to restore your backup, you will get the backup file at your remote storage.

To configure remote storage, click on the settings tab and scroll below. You will find different remote storage options. Here, I am showing you the Google Drive configuration.

Click on Google Drive and scroll below. Now click on “Sign in with Google”.

You will be redirected to the sign-in page.

Click on the Gmail ID that you want to use with UpdraftPlus.

Hit continue button and then allow permission. Finally, you will have a complete status like the one below. When you see it click on “complete setup”.

In this way, finish the authorization process. Afterward, whenever you click the backup button, you will find an option to backup to remote storage.

Restoring From Backup

To restore the backup, click on the Backup/Restore tab and scroll below.

Then click on the ‘Restore’ button. Now select the components you want to restore and hit the next button.

Now, your backup file will be restored.

Setting an Automatic Backup

If you like to set automatic backup, then navigate to Settings -> UpdraftPlus and click on the Settings tab.

From the top change the file backup schedule and database backup schedule to daily or as you want. Then hit ‘Save Changes’ button.

Now, automatic backup will be taken regularly.

Backup a WordPress Website Without a Plugin

If you would like to back up your WordPress website without a plugin, then you can do it from your hosting.

Taking Backup: To do it, log in to your hosting. Here, I am using cPanel.

Scroll below, and click on the backup option.

Click on ‘Download a Full Account Backup’. Now, you will be able to download a full backup of your website.

Restoring a Backup: To restore the backup file, click on the backup option and scroll below and find the restore option.

From here, choose the file that you downloaded earlier and then hit the upload button. After the upload process is complete backup file will be restored automatically.

Also Read:

Conclusion

Remember, backups are like insurance for your data. You might not anticipate that you need it, but when disaster strikes, you will be glad that you have it. By taking regular backups and implementing a proper backup strategy, you can safeguard your valuable information and ensure a smooth recovery process in case of unexpected events.

I hope you have got the whole process of how to take a backup; if you have any questions feel free to ask. I will be happy to answer those. If you liked the post, don’t forget to share it with your friends.

Changelog

2024-06-03 (Uzzal Raz Bongshi)