How to Backup Your WordPress Website: Step-by-Step (2026)

If you’ve ever had a website suddenly stop working, you already know that sinking feeling when you start wondering, “Wait… do we have a backup?”A WordPress website backup is one of those things you don’t really think about until you desperately need one. And by then, it’s usually too late.

The good news? Backing up your WordPress website doesn’t have to be complicated. There are a few different ways to do it, and once you have a proper system in place, you can pretty much set it and forget it.

At The Launch It Co. we’ve been working with WordPress for more than 20 years, and website backups are one of those behind-the-scenes things we always want our clients to have handled properly. Here’s everything you need to know.

What does a WordPress website backup actually include?

Let’s start with the basics. A backup is a copy of your website that you can use to restore your site if something goes wrong. That could be anything from a plugin update breaking your website to accidentally deleting a page, dealing with a security issue, or having a problem with your hosting account.

But there’s an important distinction here: a WordPress export is not the same thing as a full website backup. WordPress has a built-in export tool that lets you export your content, but it doesn’t create a complete copy of your website. It won’t give you everything you need to restore your entire site if something goes wrong.

A proper WordPress website backup should include both your database and your website files.

Your database contains things like your posts, pages, comments, users, menus and settings. Your files include your themes, plugins, images, PDFs, videos and other files that make up your website. The wp-content folder is especially important because that’s where most of the stuff unique to your website lives, but some standard exports might not include it.

Basically, if you want to be able to hit the big red “put my website back the way it was” button when something goes wrong, you need more than just a standard export.

How do you back up a WordPress website?

There are three main ways we recommend backing up a WordPress website: using a backup plugin, using your hosting provider’s backup system, or having someone else manage it for you. Let’s take a look at each one.

Method 1: Use a WordPress backup plugin

For most DIY website owners, a good backup plugin is probably the easiest option.

A backup plugin can automatically create copies of your website on a schedule, which means you don’t have to remember to log into WordPress every Friday afternoon and think, “Oh yeah, I should probably back this thing up.”

When choosing a backup plugin, make sure it backs up both your database and your files. You’ll also want to look for offsite storage, scheduled backups, clear restore instructions and the ability to manually create a backup before making major updates.

Offsite storage is particularly important. If your backup lives on the same server as your website and that server has a problem, you could lose your website and your backup at the same time.

Some WordPress backup plugins to consider

There are plenty of options out there, but a few popular WordPress backup plugins include UpdraftPlus, BlogVault and Solid Backups. We’ve worked with a variety of backup systems over the years, and the important thing isn’t necessarily finding the fanciest plugin. It’s finding one that reliably backs up your entire website, stores those backups somewhere separate from your website, and makes restoring your site straightforward.

How to back up your WordPress website with a plugin

The exact steps will depend on the plugin you choose, but the general process looks like this:

1. Install and activate your backup plugin.
2. Choose what you want to back up. Make sure both your database and files are included.
3. Set a schedule. Daily backups are a good choice for websites that are updated frequently. Weekly may be enough for a relatively static site.
4. Connect an offsite storage location such as Google Drive or Dropbox, if supported.
5. Run your first backup manually.
6. Check that the backup actually exists and completed successfully.
7. Confirm you can access the backup from your offsite storage.
8. Test a restore if you can, preferably on a staging website rather than your live site.

That last step is one people skip all the time, but a backup you’ve never tested is a backup you’re not sure will work when you actually need it.

Method 2: Use your hosting provider’s backups

Your hosting company may already be creating backups of your website. Many WordPress hosting providers offer automated backups, snapshots, or account-level backups. Some also give you a one-click restore option.

Knowing that your web host offers regular backups can be a great safety net, but don’t automatically assume that your host’s backups are enough. You should find out how often your site is backed up, how long those backups are retained, and how easy it is to restore one if you need it. You should also find out whether the backups are stored separately from your live website.

On our managed hosting plans using WP Engine, all of our clients’ websites are automatically backed up every day. Plus, we make manual backups before making major changes like updating a site’s plugins. Our backups include the entire website, including its files and database, are stored for 30 days, and can be easily restored whenever needed.

How to back up your WordPress website using your host

Every hosting company is different, but the process will generally look something like this:

1. Log into your hosting account.
2. Find the backup section.
3. Check when your most recent backup was created.
4. Create an on-demand backup if your host allows it.
5. Download a copy if that option is available.
6. Store a copy somewhere separate from your hosting account.
7. Make sure you know how to request a restore if something goes wrong.

And while you’re there, check the retention period. A host might keep your backups for seven days, for example. If you don’t discover a problem until day eight, that backup may no longer be available.

What about iCloud backups on a website?

This is another common point of confusion. You can absolutely store a copy of your backup in cloud storage, but simply having files sitting in iCloud doesn’t automatically mean you have a proper WordPress backup that’s ready to restore.

A WordPress backup needs to capture the database as well as the website files. Your hosting setup, backup plugin or other backup system should handle creating that complete backup. Cloud storage is useful as the destination for your backups. It isn’t necessarily the backup system itself.

Think of it this way: iCloud, Google Drive or Dropbox can be the filing cabinet. You still need something creating the files and putting them in the cabinet.

Method 3: Let someone else handle it

And now we get to our favourite method. Not because we don’t think you can learn how to back up your WordPress website, but because we know that most business owners have approximately 400 other things they would rather be doing.

Your website backup is only one part of ongoing WordPress maintenance. You also need to think about WordPress updates, plugin updates, security, uptime, performance and what happens when an update inevitably causes something weird.

That’s why we offer managed WordPress hosting and maintenance.

What does managed WordPress maintenance look like?

Instead of you having to remember to log in and deal with everything yourself, we handle the ongoing technical stuff for you.

Depending on your plan, that can include:

• Scheduled WordPress website backups
• Offsite backup storage
• Backup monitoring
• Backups before updates
• WordPress, theme and plugin updates
• Security monitoring
• Uptime and performance monitoring
• Troubleshooting when something goes sideways
• And even ongoing website updates when you need to make changes.

The goal is pretty simple: your website works, your backups exist and you don’t have to think about it. And if something does go wrong, you have someone to call who already knows your website.

So, what’s the best way to back up your WordPress website?

Honestly, the best backup system is the one you’ll actually maintain. If you’re comfortable managing your own website, install a reputable backup plugin, set up automated backups, and send those backups somewhere offsite.

If your hosting provider offers reliable automated backups, use those too. Having more than one layer of protection is never a bad thing.

And if the thought of managing backups, updates and security makes you want to close your laptop and pretend your website doesn’t exist, that’s what we’re here for. We can take care of the hosting, backups, updates, security and ongoing maintenance so you can get back to running your business.

At the very least, make sure you have a backup system in place today. Future you will be very grateful if something goes wrong.