Your WordPress site is your files and your database together — posts, pages, settings, orders, everything. UpdraftPlus is the most popular free way to back both up automatically and store the copies safely outside your hosting account.
✅ Before you start
- Log in to your WordPress Dashboard
- A free account at a storage service (Google Drive is the common choice) for the remote copies
Steps: install & set the schedule
- Plugins → Add New → search UpdraftPlus → Install → Activate.
- Go to Settings → UpdraftPlus Backups → Settings tab.
- Set the schedules: Files backup — weekly; Database backup — daily (both keeping at least 2–4 copies).
- Choose your remote storage (e.g. Google Drive) and complete the sign-in/authorization it walks you through.
- Save Changes.
- Take the first backup now: on the Backup/Restore tab, click "Backup Now", include both files and database, and let it finish uploading.
Steps: restore when something breaks
- Settings → UpdraftPlus Backups → Existing backups list.
- Click Restore next to the backup date you want.
- Choose the components (plugins, themes, uploads, database…) — normally all of them — and confirm.
- Wait for the success message, then check the site thoroughly.
✅ Result: Your site now backs itself up on schedule to your own storage — and any bad update, hack or mistake becomes a 10-minute restore instead of a disaster.
⚠ Common mistakes & fixes
- Backups stored only on the same server: if the account itself is lost or hacked, the backups go with it. Remote storage is the entire point — set it up.
- Never testing a restore: a backup you've never restored is a hope, not a backup. Do one practice restore on a test install.
- Scheduling too rarely for a busy shop: an online store taking orders daily needs daily backups of BOTH files and database — orders live in the database.
Related articles
- How to Take a Full cPanel Backup
- How to Update WordPress, Themes & Plugins Safely
- How to Restore a Backup