Moving a WordPress site to a new host used to mean exporting the database, downloading thousands of files over FTP, uploading them again and running a search-and-replace that may or may not survive serialized data. It's slow, and every step is a chance to break something.
There's a calmer way. The trick is to set up the site on the new host while the old one keeps running, test it there, and only then point your domain at it. Visitors never see a broken site.
Before you start
- Your new hosting account, with WordPress installed. A fresh, empty install is perfect.
- The Movebase plugin on both the old and the new site. It's free on WordPress.org.
- Access to your domain's DNS, usually at your domain registrar or Cloudflare.
- Your WordPress admin password. After the move you sign in with the account from your old site, because its users come along.
Tip: Lower your domain's DNS TTL to 300 seconds a day before the move. When you switch, visitors reach the new host within minutes instead of hours.
Step 1: Back up the site you're leaving
On the old site, open Movebase → Backups and click Create backup. Movebase copies the database, uploads, themes and plugins into numbered ZIP parts. Large sites are fine: work is saved after every batch, so a host timeout doesn't start it over.
When it's done, either Download the parts or send them to cloud storage with Back up to storage. With Movebase Cloud, you don't need to download anything at all.
Step 2: Bring the backup to the new host
On the new site, open Movebase → Restore. You can bring the backup over in whichever way is easiest:
- Upload the ZIP parts from your computer.
- Use your host's File Manager to upload the parts, if browser uploads are slow or limited.
- Pick it from cloud storage, if both sites are connected to the same storage.
Step 3: Verify and restore
Movebase checks every part against its checksum first. The Restore button stays locked until verification passes, so a corrupted download can't break your new site.
Next, you confirm the destination by typing the new site's address. Movebase then restores the files and database and rewrites every occurrence of the old address, including serialized data such as widgets and theme options. If the new host gave WordPress a different table prefix, that's converted too.
The new site's original state is kept as a recovery copy, so you can undo the restore with one click.
Step 4: Test before anyone else sees it
Your domain still points at the old host, so how do you look at the new one? Two common ways:
- Edit your computer's hosts file to point your domain at the new server's IP address, just for you.
- Use a temporary address your new host provides, if you restored onto it. (You can restore again onto the real domain later.)
Click around: open posts, check images, submit a contact form, sign in. If something looks wrong, nothing is lost: the old site is still serving visitors.
Step 5: Switch DNS
When you're happy, update your domain's A record (or nameservers) to the new host. Because you lowered the TTL, most visitors arrive at the new site within minutes. Keep the old hosting for a few days in case anything was missed.
Then set up SSL on the new host if it isn't automatic, and run a fresh backup there.
What about email?
If your email is hosted with the same company you're leaving, moving the website doesn't move your mailboxes. Check your MX records before you change nameservers, and only change the A record if your email should stay where it is.
Common problems and fixes
- "Error establishing a database connection". Almost always a database setting on the new host. See how to fix it after a migration.
- Images point to the old domain. Usually a hard-coded address in a page builder's cache. Clear the builder's and the host's caches.
- You can't sign in. Use the admin account from the old site: the restore replaced the new site's users.
For the full reference, see our migration guide and the comparison of moving by hand vs Movebase.
We build Movebase and test every step we write about on real WordPress sites, from shared hosting to big WooCommerce stores.
