In the WordPress community, the importance of regular website backups is stressed routinely. Still, many people don’t realize just how critical they are until they’re dealing with a broken site.
When this happens, there’s no better feeling than knowing you have a copy of your site you can use to recover your work. So long as you have your database and files backed up, you have a way to manually restore your WordPress website.
Editor’s note: It is advisable to always have a secondary backup copy saved on an external destination. Just in case ?
In this post, we’ll explain when you may need to restore your site from a backup and the methods available for doing so. Then we’ll walk you through how to do so manually in five steps. Let’s get into it!
Why you would want to restore your WordPress site from a backup
Backing up your WordPress files and database lets you restore them in the event something goes wrong with your site. If your website is hacked and defaced by a cybercriminal, for example, having a recent copy lets you salvage your site and return it to its previous state.
You could be well-versed in web development and programming yet still have something unexpected happen to your site. Incompatibilities with themes, a plugin vulnerability, or even a user messing with your site’s code could result in a website that’s beyond basic troubleshooting.
Regardless of what happens to your site, the important thing is resolving the issue and making sure your content is available to users. Restoring a recent backup is often the fastest way to recover from a WordPress disaster. This can then give you time to go about fixing the root of the problem.
Common methods for restoring WordPress backups
There are various ways you can create and restore WordPress backups. One method is to use a plugin such as UpdraftPlus, BlogVault or ManageWP. While these tools can be useful, they’re also sometimes limiting.
For example, you’ll only be able to save your backups using storage options supported by your plugin. Additionally, you may not be able to use the automatic restore option if you’re unable to access the back end of your site.
Another method is to go through your hosting provider. Many web hosts include backups as part of their plans, while others offer this service as an add-on. It often includes a ‘one-click’ restore option.
However, your host may save site backups to the same server that stores your site. If it becomes compromised in some way, both your website and your latest copy could be lost.
For this reason, it’s always wise to save your most recent backup to your own computer or cloud storage account. Then, if all else fails, you’ll always be able to manually restore your WordPress website.
This process is a bit complicated compared to restoring your site with a plugin or through your hosting account. However, manually recovering a broken site is sometimes the most reliable (or only) route available.
How
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This article was written by Will Morris and originally published on ManageWP.