A WordPress backup is a copy of everything that makes your site your site, kept somewhere it can't be lost along with the site. That sounds simple, yet most people only find out their backup was incomplete on the day they need it.
This guide covers what a complete backup contains, the three places you can keep it, and the exact steps to back up a WordPress site with the free Movebase plugin.
What a WordPress backup needs to include
A WordPress site lives in two places at once:
- The database holds your posts, pages, comments, users, settings, menus, WooCommerce orders and most plugin data.
- The files hold your media library (the
uploadsfolder), your themes and your plugins.
If you only copy one of them, you don't have a backup. A database without uploads gives you posts full of broken images; uploads without the database gives you a folder of pictures and no website.
WordPress core itself doesn't need backing up: it's the same for everyone and can be downloaded again in seconds. Your wp-config.php file is also better left out of a backup you might restore somewhere else, because it contains the database password for that server. We explain this in more detail in what a WordPress backup should include.
Where to keep your backup
You have three options, and the best answer is usually "more than one":
- On the same server. Fastest to make and restore, but it disappears if the server fails, the account is suspended or the site is hacked.
- On your computer. Safe from your host, but large sites are slow to download, and laptops get lost.
- In cloud storage. Off-site and always available. You can use storage you already pay for (IDrive e2, MEGA S4, Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2 and others) or Movebase Cloud, which needs no keys to set up.
Our article on where to store WordPress backups compares them side by side.
How to back up WordPress with Movebase, step by step
- In your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins → Add New, search for Movebase and install Movebase – Backup, Restore & Migration. Activate it.
- Open Movebase → Backups and click Create backup.
- Watch the progress. Movebase works in small saved batches, so if your host pauses or you close the tab, it carries on from the last saved point instead of starting over.
- When it finishes, the backup appears under Saved backups marked Ready. Large sites are split into numbered ZIP parts so they stay reliable to download and upload.
- Click Download to keep a copy on your computer, or use Back up to storage to send it to cloud storage.
Tip: Make a backup right before you update plugins, change themes or let someone else work on the site. It takes a minute and saves a very bad afternoon.
Backing up on cheap or shared hosting
Shared hosting is where most backup plugins fail. Hosts limit how long a PHP request may run and how much memory it may use, and they often block the background requests that plugins rely on.
Movebase was built for exactly these hosts. It raises PHP memory the way WordPress itself does, retries in smaller batches when memory runs short, and saves its progress after every step. In our tests a restore completed even with PHP memory locked at 56 MB. If you are fighting timeouts, read fixing WordPress backup timeouts and memory errors.
Make sure the backup actually works
A backup you have never checked is a hope, not a backup. Movebase checks every part of a backup against its checksum before the Restore button unlocks, so a corrupted download or a half-finished upload is caught before it can touch your site.
It is still worth doing a test restore now and then, for example onto a staging site. Our guide on how to check that a WordPress backup works walks through it.
How often to back up
There's no single right answer: it depends on how often your site changes. A shop taking orders every hour needs far more frequent backups than a brochure site edited twice a year. See how often you should back up WordPress for a simple rule of thumb.
Frequently asked questions
Does my host's backup count?
It's a good extra layer, but it's not enough on its own. Host backups usually live on the same infrastructure, may be kept for only a few days, and are often restored only on request. Keep at least one copy you control.
Can I use the backup to move my site?
Yes. A Movebase backup restores onto any WordPress install, on any host or domain. Addresses, serialized settings and table prefixes are converted for you. See the migration guide.
Is Movebase really free?
Backup, restore, migration and your own cloud storage are all free, with no locked buttons. The only paid part is Movebase Cloud storage, if you want backups off your server without setting up a bucket.
We build Movebase and test every step we write about on real WordPress sites, from shared hosting to big WooCommerce stores.
