Are you looking to set up a backup solution for WordPress?
Backups are the first layer of security for any WordPress site. Aside from having automated backups, you also need to have an easy way to restore the backup if needed
In this article, we will show you how to easily back up and restore your WordPress site with UpdraftPlus
Why You Need a Backup & Restore Solution for WordPress
All websites on the internet are vulnerable to data loss and security threats. Research shows that data loss and downtime cost $1.7 trillion each year to the global economy
As a website owner, these are some common scenarios when you may lose your data:
- Your website can get hacked and hackers mayyour data
- Your hosting provider can lose your data
- Your host reserves the right to terminate your account and delete all your data
There are many other scenarios where you could end up losing your WordPress website and all the valuable data created over the years. The best way to protect yourself against these threats is to regularly back up your site
WordPress does not come with a built-in backup solution. However, there are several great WordPress backup plugins that allow you to automatically back up and restore your WordPress site
UpdraftPlus is one of the best WordPress backup plugins. It allows you to set up automatic backup schedules. It will also help you restore your site in case something bad happens
Having said that, letâÂÂs take a look at how to easily back up and restore your WordPress site with UpdraftPlus. You can use the links below to navigate through the tutorial
Creating WordPress Backup with UpdraftPlus
The first thing you need to do is install and activate the free UpdraftPlus plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin
Upon activation, you need to visit the
**Settings û UpdraftPlus Backups** page to configure the pluginâÂÂs settings
Now you need to click on the settings tab
This is where you will set up an automatic backup schedule and a remote location to store your backups
**Choosing a Backup Schedule With UpdraftPlus**
First, you need to choose a backup schedule for your files. Files include your WordPress themes, plugins, images, and other uploads
After that, you need to select a backup schedule for your WordPress database. WordPress is a database-driven software. All your posts and pages, comments, and website settings are stored in the database
Your backup schedule should be based on how often you add new content to your website
For example, If you add two blog posts each week, then you can select a fortnightly backup of files and a weekly backup of the database
**Choosing Where to Store Your Backup Files**
Next, you need to choose where to store your backup files
It is a bad idea to save your backups in the same location as your website. Losing your website means you will also lose access to your backup files
This is why you need to choose a remote cloud storage service to store your backups
UpdraftPlus allows you to save your backups to several cloud storage services including Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, and many others. You can also send your backups to an email address
Simply click on a remote service to select it, and you will see setup instructions below
**Storing Your Backups on Dropbox Using UpdraftPlus**
For the sake of this tutorial, we will show you how to use Dropbox as your remote backup storage service with UpdraftPlus
We will go ahead and click on Dropbox to select it and then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the save changes button
UpdraftPlus will save your settings. However, you still need to give UpdraftPlus access to your Dropbox account
Scroll down to remote storage setup instructions and click on the link next to âÂÂAuthenticate with Dropboxâ option
The link will take you to the Dropbox website where you will be asked to sign in using your Dropbox email and password
After login, you will be asked if you want to allow UpdraftPlus to access your Dropbox account
UpdraftPlus will only have permission to access its own
Apps/UpdraftPlus.Com folder inside Dropbox. Click on âÂÂAllowâ button to continue
You will be redirected to the UpdraftPlus website where you need to click on the âÂÂComplete Setupâ button to finish the setup
You will now be taken back to your WordPress site, and you will see the UpdraftPlus settings page again. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the Save Changes button
You have now set up a backup schedule and remote location to store your backups
Creating Manual WordPress Backups with UpdraftPlus
UpdraftPlus can automatically create backups based on the schedule you selected earlier. However, you can also manually create backups any time you want
First, you need to visit
**Settings û UpdraftPlus Backups** and click on âÂÂBackup Nowâ button
This will bring up a popup with options to back up your WordPress database and files, and whether you want to send the backup to remote storage
For a full backup, you will need to back up both the database and files. You can learn more in our guide on which WordPress files you should back up
Click on the âÂÂBackup Nowâ button to continue
UpdraftPlus will now start creating a backup of your files and database. You will be able to see the progress on the settings page
The process may take a while depending on the size of your website
UpdraftPlus will also start uploading your backup files to the remote location
Restoring Your WordPress Backup with UpdraftPlus
Creating backups is easy, but the really useful part about backups is the ability to restore them with the same ease
UpdraftPlus makes it easy to restore your WordPress site from a backup
If your WordPress site was hacked or you want to start fresh, then first you will need to delete everything and install WordPress again
Next, you will need to install and activate the UpdraftPlus plugin again on your fresh new WordPress site
Upon activation, you need to visit
**Settings û UpdraftPlus Backups** page and click on the âÂÂRestoreâ button
This will bring you to the backups page. UpdraftPlus will scan your server to see if it can find an existing backup in the
/wp-content/updraft/ folder on your website. However, since you deleted everything from your website, it will not be able to find the backup files
If you saved the backup files on your computer, then you can click on âÂÂUpload backup filesâ link to manually upload and restore them
You can also connect UpdraftPlus to a remote location, such as Dropbox or Google Drive. This way UpdraftPlus will be able to scan the remote location and use your previously stored backups
You need to click on the Settings tab and then choose the remote location you used earlier to store your backups
Follow the instructions to authenticate your website with the remote storage service
Once you click on the âÂÂSave Changesâ button at the bottom of the page, you can switch back to âÂÂExisting Backupsâ tab and click on the âÂÂRescan remote locationâ link
UpdraftPlus will now look for backups in the remote storage location and display them below. You can now click the âÂÂRestoreâ button next to a recent backup
UpdraftPlus will now ask you what you would like to restore. You need to select all options and then click âÂÂRestoreâ button
UpdraftPlus will now fetch your backup files from the remote location and start restoring your site from the backup
Our UpdraftPlus Review
UpdraftPlus is a powerful WordPress backup plugin, and itâÂÂs a great option for DIY users who want the flexibility to choose their backup schedule and remote storage location
Because UpdraftPlus is free, itâÂÂs a popular choice among users. However, you can upgrade to UpdraftPlus Premium to access premium add-ons such as Website Migrator, UpdraftVault, priority support, and more options. The premium option costs $70 per year
However, like most WordPress backup plugins, UpdraftPlus lacks the ability to do real-time backups of your website
If you want real-time backups and unlimited storage and donâÂÂt want to pay for a third-party storage service like Dropbox, then we recommend using Jetpack VaultPress Backup instead. This is what we use on WPBeginner
VaultPress requires a paid plan starting at $60 per year. This includes 10GB of cloud storage, 30-day backup archive, easy 1-click restore, and priority expert support. You can learn more in our guide on how to create WordPress backups using Jetpack
Final Thoughts
Backups allow you to recover your website in an emergency. However, they cannot protect your website against common security threats like hacking, malware, and code injection
At WPBeginner, we use Sucuri to protect our site. You can read about how Sucuri helped us block 450,000 WordPress attacks
You need to make sure that your WordPress site is secure. Follow the instructions in our ultimate WordPress security guide to strengthen your WordPress security
We hope this tutorial helped you learn how to easily back up and restore WordPress sites with UpdraftPlus. You may also want to learn how to set up Google Analytics for your WordPress site, or check out our list of the best Instagram plugins
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