How to backup your WordPress website: guide to setup automatic backup

In my half-decade of working with WordPress websites, I have discovered that one of the most common regrets users have is not keeping a backup of website files.

WordPress, despite being a drag-and-drop content management system, is code…anything may go wrong at any time.

This code could break, and if you do not have a backup, you may lose all of your work.

You can never go wrong with regularly backing up your website for safekeeping.

Most web hosting companies provide free server-based website backups, however, some could charge for restoration.

It is also helpful if you have a copy of your website in a location under your control as a backup.

In this post, I will show you how to back up your website files to Google Drive and set up an automatic daily backup routine so you do not have to back up your website manually.

The UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup Plugin, which is available for free in the WordPress plugin directory, will be used.

It is worth noting that the free version is just for single sites; to use the plugin on a multisite WordPress setup, you must purchase the Premium version.

Step-by-step instructions

1. Install the UpdraftPlus plugin from the WordPress dashboard

2. Navigate to the top bar of the dashboard and click on Backup/Restore under the UpdraftPlus tab.

3. Click on the settings tab

4. On the settings tab, change the “Files backup schedule” to Daily and reduce “retain this many scheduled backups” to 1.

Do the same for the Database backup schedule.

5. Scroll to the “Choose your remote storage” tab and click on Google Drive.

You can however choose any other option of remote storage you prefer, including Dropbox, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Microsoft OneDrive, etc.

6. Leave every other option in place, scroll down, and click on Save Changes.

You would be required to authenticate your remote storage with Google Drive.

7. Sign in, allow all the needed access, and finally, click on Complete setup.

8. Now, you can back up your site to Google Drive by clicking on the Backup Now button.

9. Click on “Only allow this backup to be deleted manually” on the dialogue box and click the Backup Now button.

10. Wait a few minutes for your files to backup and observe the final notification of a successful backup under Existing backups.

If you follow the above steps, you will be able to back up your websites initially manually, and automatically subsequently.

If you ever need to restore your backup?

You can check out this guide on how to do so.