How To Backup Your WordPress Website Properly Without Any Plugin
February 1st, 2017 | by Ravi Chahar || 19 Comments |
Every time you read an article about making any changes to your website, the most recommended thing is to backup your website and database.
Most of the people use the plugins but it’s not always the best method.
There are thousands of plugins in the WordPress repository but it doesn’t mean you should always rely on those.
You can also backup your WordPress website without using any plugin. Just the use of simple WordPress directory.
As you know, to have the full backup of your website there are two things included.
One is the website data and another one is the database. You will learn about both the things in detail.
1. Backup The Website Data
If you have used the cPanel of your web hosting account then you would be familiar with it.
If it’s your first time then don’t worry. Follow the steps.
Step 1:- Login to the cPanel and search for the “Files” section. Click on the “file manager” icon and a new page would appear in front of you.
You would see many files and folders of your website.
Step 2:- You can select all the files and folders using “ctrl+A” or use the checkbox shown in the above menu.
After selecting, click on the “compress” button.
Step 3:- A popup would open in which you have to choose the extension of the backup file. Select “ZIP” and enter the name of the file below.
Click on the “Compress” button and within a few seconds, you will see another popup to close.
Step 4:- Refresh the page and you will see a ZIP file with the name you entered during compression.
Double-click on that file and it would start downloading.
You can also use the right-click to see the download option.
Depending on the size of your website, the website data would get downloaded to your computer hard drive.
2. Backup The Database.
Now, it’s the turn to backup WordPress database using phpMyAdmin.
Just like above, you have to follow a few steps.
Step 1:- Login to your cPanel and search for the “Databases” section. Click on the “phpMyAdmin” icon and a new tab would open in your browser.
Step 2:- From the left-hand side menu, you have to search the name of the database of your website.
Step 3:- Many tables would appear in front of you. You just have to click on the “Export” button shown in the upper menu.
You don’t need to change anything now. Just click on the “Go” button and the download would get started. Within in a few minutes just like the website data, the database download would also get finished.
You have successfully accomplished your task.
If something goes wrong, you can restore website from the backup.
There are many people who run the many websites on the same server. Well, you can also backup your WordPress website when you run multiple websites.
There would only be a small change.
While selecting the website data, you have to skip the folder of other websites. Whether you have added an addon domain or a sub-domain, you just have to select the data of your main website.
And if have moved your website into any other folder then just select that folder and compress it.
Sometimes, people don’t back up their main website, They backup their another website which is stored in a separate folder.
You have to use the data according to your requirements.
I hope Now, You Can Easily Backup Your WordPress Website And The Database
While running a website, you would need to do many changes to maintain the pace with the current trend.
To get more exposure from the social media networks, you would need to add social sharing buttons so that people can share your posts.
And it’s important to backup your WordPress website before using any new plugin or updating any existed.
There are many other situations which would give you the signs to have the full backup of the website data and the database.
This would work for you. If you have any question, feel free to ask.
If you liked the article, you can also connect with on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
Related Posts
19 comments
Leave a Reply
Hey Ravi,
Love the tutorial! I’ve never backed it up this way, but knew I could. Sometimes it’s easier with a plugin, right? Passing this one along. You’re a Pro my friend!
B
Hi Bren,
Yes, plugins are handy to use but I never rely on them. I like to keep the path clean with my manual methods. It’s safe and 100% surety.
A plugin can conflict if it’s poorly coded. Then why would take a chance?
Thanks for your support.
Enjoy the day.
~Ravi
Hey Ravi,
You’re so right. Everyone mentions backing up your site before making changes. I got so spoiled that I used to ignore that advice because things had not gone wrong in the past. Then one day it happen, so I learned my lesson the hard way.
Backing up is so important, especially if you have a number of things on your site. Not needing a plugin helps to save space so this is a great tip.
~Lea
Hi Lea,
There are numbers of plugins which can conflict anytime they want. Before you get pulled in the deep whole, you should always get ready with a backup.
I always prefer the manual method because plugins can’t be trusted.
Thanks for sharing you experience.
Have a wonderful day.
~Ravi
Hi Ravi..
Thanks for sharing this amazing tutorial with us. I have found you always helping and humble toward your reader and learn many things from you.
By the way I’m using the WP clone plugin for this DB backup but I seen that this tutorial is my need because the plugin will increases the load time of the page and if I do manually then it can reduce my page loading time ?
Glad to know this trick..
Hey Junaid,
It’s always recommended to reduce the number of the plugin. If you’re a newbie then plugins are your friend. To run a successful blog with the better speed, you would need to follow the manual method.
It takes just a few seconds to complete this task. Just follow the guide.
Thanks for stopping by.
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
I’m using UpdraftPlus plugin which takes daily backup of my site and sends it over to my Google Drive automatically for FREE.
However, it is good to know about manual methods as well. They could be helpful sometimes.
Thanks for the share.
Regards,
Shafi Khan
Hey Shafi,
There are many plugins which can help. But you know that relying only on the plugins isn’t a good idea. It’s the matter of choice.
Thanks for taking the time to share it.
Have a great week ahead.
~Ravi
Hello, Ravi!
Wow! So simplified method you shared for doing the toughest job.
The server where my site is hosted, is set for the auto-backup on the daily, weekly and monthly basis which are being stored in the off-site server which we use to only host the backups.
But.. It definitely is the great tutorial you shared with us.
And I am happy to share it on my social accounts! ?
~ Adeel
Hey Adeel,
Many web hostings are there with such facility.
But for the basic plan, it’s not included and you have to do it yourself. I have used a few plugins in my starting days but not now.
Thanks for stopping by.
~Ravi
Hello Ravi,
I must say this tutorial is really helpful to backup wordpress blog. I’ve been using backupbuddy plugin to backup my wordpress blogs. But seems like this method doesn’t need any plugin at all.
Thanks for share
Hey Rajkumar,
Manual methods always have a little bit of efforts to make. But when you start using it, everything seems to be easy and no plugin is required.
Thanks for stopping by.
Enjoy your day.
~Ravi
I am new in this field now i will backup my site thans for shearing your ecprience
Hey Aadil,
Welcome to this blogosphere.
It’s not only about backup, you need to learn a lot of things.
Thanks for stopping by.
~Ravi
Hey Ravi,
This time also I have found very useful tutorial with effective supportive screen shots on your website – it would very helpful for people in order to create backups to their native Wp websites.
Backups are really required to defense against any sort of security threat toward your WordPress Website. We should always try to make regular backups to inhibit our important data from any kind of incident. Your process absolutely sounds simple without any plugin so I’m thinking that this process should be a trial. Eventually, thanks for sharing your thought with us.
With best regards,
Amar kumar
Thanks for sharing this guide. I am already using the above method to backup my site especially database. Never tried using any plugin as I have faced many issues with plugins. Manually backup is the good backup option.
Hey Aswani,
It’s quite handy to go through the manual method. No risk, no extra markup is used. Just the compression and download options are used.
Glad to know that you’re familiar with such methods.
Thanks for stopping by.
~Ravi
Hey Ravi,
I just had to put my two-cents in on this one as I am a firm believer in keeping your WordPress site backed up. There are just so many things that can happen with a web site, so you should always have a fresh backup copy.
I thought you did a good tutorial on how to manually backup your site without a plugin. Having said that, I don’t think most people would do it this way. Knowing how is great, but in my opinion, this method is just not practical. I feel you need to use an automatic option. Whether it is with a plugin, on an automatic schedule, like UpdraftPlus, or with your host, I just think most people would not take the time to do a manual backup.
We all have busy lives, and although you may appreciate how important it is to regularly backup your site, it may be forgotten, and then there you go, you may not have a backup for a few days, and what happens, then you have an issue with your site that needs the backup.
For my clients, I have 30 days of scheduled backups through my private server. For others, I set them up with UpdraftPlus on a automated schedule daily backup of the database, and weekly backup of the WordPress files.
Most good web hosts will offer the daily backups as well, but usually for an extra cost. I would still recommend this over the manual one.
Sorry, I just feel strongly about your site getting backed up, and I wouldn’t want to forget to do that and then end needing to restore without a current backup.
Thanks, for sharing this post. I hope you have a great week!
-Rob
Hey Rob,
You’re absolutely right. I appreciate you for sharing your opinion.
But you should understand that you can’t rely on the plugins. Sometimes, a plugin can conflict with others. So I always recommend to use minimum number of plugins.
Using a plugin for backup up is great. But it takes just a minute with the manual method. The time spend with the plugin configuration can be invested in the cPanel of your web host.
Thanks for sharing your ideas.
Have a great day.
~Ravi