How to Backup Your WordPress Site (Free Plugin Methods)

Knowing how to backup your WordPress site is not just important; it’s non-negotiable.

What if your WordPress site vanished overnight? One minute, it runs smoothly; the next, a sudden crash, hacker attack, or failed update wipes out everything: years of hard work, blog posts, customer data, and sales pages. 

Gone. No backup means no recovery. 

In this guide, we’ll discuss the best free WordPress backup plugins and show you step-by-step how to protect your website with automatic, secure backups. 

Don’t wait for disaster to strike; take action now and secure your site before it’s too late!

Why You Should Backup Your WordPress Site?

Backing up your WordPress site is super important! Imagine you worked hard on your website, adding pictures, writing posts, and creating a cool design. But then something bad happens: Your site crashes, a hacker messes with it, or your web host has problems. 

If you don’t have a backup, all that hard work could be lost forever.

Here are some reasons why you should always have a backup ready:

• Sometimes, websites get hacked, or updates go wrong. If your site is not backed up, you could lose all the content you’ve created. 
• 46% of all cyber breaches impact businesses with less than 1,000 employees. That’s a lot of companies, right? A good backup can save you from this.
• The average cost of a website hack for small businesses is between $826 and $653,587, but a backup is much cheaper.
• You might accidentally delete something important, or a plugin update might break your site. With a backup, you can restore everything to its previous state.

In short, backups keep your website safe from all sorts of problems. It’s like having insurance for your website. It might seem like an extra step, but it will save you if something goes wrong.

How Often Should You Backup Your WordPress Site?

Backing up your WordPress site is essential, but how often should you do it? 

It depends on a few things, like how often you update your website and how much new content you add.

Here’s a simple guide to help you decide:

• If You Update Often: If you frequently add new posts, images, or products to your site, you should back it up every day. 
• If You Update Occasionally: If you don’t update your site every day, maybe once a week, you can back it up once a week. This is good for blogs or small business sites where changes aren’t constant.
• If You Have a Small, Simple Site: A monthly backup could be enough if your website is small and doesn’t change much. But, if something happens, getting everything back could be more challenging, so it’s still good to keep backups.
• What About Big Sites: If your site has a lot of pages, products, or traffic, you should back up more often. Like every day or even a few times a week. 

Remember, more frequent backups are always safer. The goal is to protect your hard work and ensure you don’t lose anything important, like blog posts, images, or customer information.

A good idea is to set up automatic backups so you don’t have to think about it. Most WordPress backup plugins make this easy.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to do it using three backup WordPress plugins (UpdraftPlus, Duplicator, and All-in-one WP)

How to Backup WordPress Site in 2025

Using UpdraftPlus WordPress Plugin

Backing up your WordPress site with UpdraftPlus is easy. We’ll show you how to do it using its free version.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to set it up and use it to back up your site:

Step 1: Install the UpdraftPlus Plugin

Log into your WordPress Dashboard, navigate to Plugins > Add New Plugin, and search for UpdraftPlus. In the search bar, type UpdraftPlus. When UpdraftPlus appears, click the Install Now button. After it installs, click Activate.

Step 2: Set Up UpdraftPlus

In the WordPress dashboard, go to Settings > UpdraftPlus Backups.

Under the Backup/Restore tab, you’ll see the following scheduled backups. You can also hit the Backup Now button to back up immediately. 

You’ll be asked if you want to back up the files and the database. It’s a good idea to check both boxes to ensure everything is backed up. Then click Backup Now.

UpdraftPlus will start backing up your site. Depending on your site’s size, this can take a few minutes. Once the backup is complete, you’ll see a success message!

Under the Existing Backups section, you’ll see a list of your backups. Find the backup you want to restore.

You can choose to restore the file, and once selected, hit the Next button. 

Now, hit the Restore button to proceed further. 

After a few minutes, you’ll receive a successful message. When the backup is made, your site will be restored to its state.

Step 3: Automate Your Backups

You can set UpdraftPlus to back up your site automatically to simplify things.

Under the Settings section of the UpdraftPlus menu, choose how often you want your site to back up (daily, weekly, etc.), and hit the Save Changes button.

That’s it! You’ve now set up UpdraftPlus to back up your WordPress site. It’s simple, free, and a great way to keep your site safe and secure.

Using Duplicator WordPress Plugin

Duplicator is an easy and effective plugin for backing up your WordPress site. While the premium version has more features, the free version lets you easily create manual backups. 

Here’s how to use Duplicator (free version) to back up your WordPress site in a few simple steps:

Go to your WordPress dashboard and click on Plugins > Add New. In the search bar, search for Duplicator. Click Install and then Activate the plugin once it’s installed.

After activation, go to Duplicator > Backups in the WordPress dashboard. Click on the Create New button at the top of the page.

You’ll be taken to a setup screen. Here, enter a name for your backup. You can use dynamic tags like date and time for easier identification.

Choose the storage location for your backup. By default, the free version of Duplicator saves backups to your WordPress site.

Under the Backup section, ensure you select the All Files option. This provides a complete backup, including your WordPress files, database, plugins, themes, and media files.

Then click Next at the bottom right corner of the page. Duplicator will perform a site scan to check if everything is ready for the backup. If everything is good, you’ll see a “Good” evaluation.

Click Build to start the backup process.

Once done, you’ll see a popup that says to download the backup files. 

This will create two files: a .zip file with your backup and an installer.php file for restoring the site.

And that’s it; your backup is ready!

Note: The free version of Duplicator doesn’t support scheduled backups. You can manually back up your site or use another tool to set up scheduled tasks. If you want automated backups, consider upgrading to Duplicator Pro.

Using All-in-One WP Migration Plugin

The All-in-One WP Migration plugin is another user-friendly option for backing up your WordPress site. It’s simple to install and use, even for beginners. 

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to back up your WordPress site using the All-in-One WP Migration plugin:

Step 1: Install the All-in-One WP Migration Plugin

Search for any other plugin, log in to your WordPress dashboard, and go to Plugins > Add New. Search for the All-in-One WP Migration plugin, and click the Install Now button. After the installation, click the Activate button to activate the plugin.

Step 2: Create a Backup

Once the plugin is activated, go to All-in-One WP Migration in the left sidebar of your WordPress dashboard. There, click on Backups. This will open the backup management page where you can see existing backups.

Now, to create a new backup, click the Create Backup button.

Step 3: Download the Backup

After clicking that, the plugin will start creating a backup of your WordPress site, including files and the database. Once it’s done, you’ll see a popup box that lets you download your backup file.

You’ll also see the list of your backup files on the Backups page of the All-in-One WP Migration menu.

Step 4: Store Your Backup Safely

Once the backup is downloaded, store it securely on your computer or an external storage service like Google Drive or Dropbox. This ensures that you can quickly restore your site if needed.

Some powerful and free WordPress backup plugins make it easy to create a backup of your WordPress site.

Common Backup Mistakes to Avoid

Backing up your WordPress site is essential, but people make a few common mistakes when doing so. Avoiding these mistakes will help keep your website safe and make sure you can restore it quickly if something goes wrong. 

Here are some common backup mistakes to watch out for:

• Not back up your database (along with files).
• Not testing backups to ensure they work.
• Storing backups on the same server as your site.
• Not backing up regularly or setting automatic backups.
• Using outdated or unsupported backup plugins.
• Only keeping one backup version.
• Not securing your backup files properly.

By avoiding these common backup mistakes, you’ll help ensure that your WordPress site stays safe and that you can recover quickly if something goes wrong. Regular, secure, and tested backups are your best defense against data loss.

Final Thoughts

Now that you know how to backup your WordPress site, there’s no excuse for leaving your hard work vulnerable. 

A single crash, hack, or accidental mistake can wipe out your website in seconds. But with regular backups, recovery is just a few clicks away. 

Whether you choose UpdraftPlus, Duplicator, or All-in-One WP Migration, setting up automatic backups ensures your website stays protected 24/7. 

Don’t risk losing everything! Take action today, secure your site, and enjoy peace of mind, knowing your data is always safe.