WordPress Backup and Restore: A Simple Guide for Business Owners
How WordPress backups work, what to back up, how often, where to store copies, and how to restore your site safely when something goes wrong, explained simply.
On this page
- Back up both files and database, automatically, and before every update.
- Store several copies off-site, not only on your hosting server.
- Test restoring a backup to a staging site every few months.
Backups are like insurance: easy to ignore until the day you need them. A failed update, a hack, a hosting problem or an accidental deletion can take your website down. With a good backup, you're back online quickly. Without one, you may be rebuilding from scratch.
What a WordPress backup includes
- Files: WordPress core, your theme, plugins and the uploads folder (images, PDFs and other media)
- Database: your pages, posts, products, orders, settings and users
You need both. A files-only backup loses your content; a database-only backup loses your images and design.
How often to back up
| Type of site | Suggested frequency |
|---|---|
| Brochure site that rarely changes | Weekly, plus before every update |
| Business site with a regular blog | Daily |
| WooCommerce store taking orders | Daily or more often (orders change constantly) |
Always take a backup immediately before updates, redesigns or migrations.
If scheduled backups sometimes don't run on time, WordPress's built-in scheduler may be the reason; see WP-Cron explained.
Where to store backups
- Off-site: cloud storage such as Google Drive, Dropbox or Amazon S3, not only on the same server. If the server fails or is hacked, backups stored there can be lost too.
- Multiple copies: keep several recent backups, not just the latest, in case a problem went unnoticed for a few days.
- Secure: backups contain your data, so protect access to them.
Ways to back up WordPress
- Hosting backups: many hosts take automatic daily backups. Check how long they keep them and how to restore.
- Backup plugins: schedule automatic backups to cloud storage and restore with a few clicks.
- Managed maintenance: a developer handles backups, monitoring and restores for you.
How to restore safely
- Stay calm and don't make more changes to the broken site
- Pick the most recent backup from before the problem started
- If possible, restore to a staging site first to check it works
- Restore files and database, then test key pages, forms and checkout
- For hacked sites, clean and secure the site too. Restoring alone may bring the vulnerability back. See signs your site is hacked.
A staging site is the ideal place to test restores.
Test your backups
A backup you've never restored is a backup you can't fully trust. Every few months, restore a copy to a staging site and check it works.
Checklist
- Automatic backups of files and database
- Stored off-site, with several copies kept
- Extra backup before every update
- Restore tested every few months
Backups are the first item in any good maintenance plan. See also the WordPress maintenance checklist.
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I'm Sameer, a freelance WordPress developer building fast, SEO-friendly websites since 2020. Tell me what you need and I'll reply with a plan and a fixed quote within 24 hours.
Freelance WordPress developer and founder of Samverse, building websites for clinics, manufacturers, agencies and online stores since 2020.
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