UpdraftPlus Tutorial: The Complete Guide to WordPress Backups (Backup, Restore & Advanced Settings)
Imagine waking up to find your website gone: a hacked admin account, a failed plugin update, a careless click during a database cleanup — and with it, months of product pages, customer inquiries, and SEO progress. This is not a rare story; it happens to WordPress site owners every day. The only thing standing between you and disaster is a recent, working backup. UpdraftPlus is the most popular WordPress backup plugin, and in this complete UpdraftPlus tutorial you will learn how to install it, run your first backup, set automatic schedules, store backups offsite, restore your site after a crash, and master the advanced settings that keep an independent business website truly safe.
What Is UpdraftPlus and Why Do You Need It?
UpdraftPlus is a WordPress plugin that creates full backups of your website and lets you restore them with a few clicks. It backs up the two parts every WordPress site is made of:
- The database — all your posts, pages, product data, settings, comments, and user accounts. Without the database, your content is gone.
- The files — your theme, plugins, uploads (images, PDFs, videos), and WordPress core files.
Why is this so important for foreign trade and independent website owners specifically? Your site is your digital storefront for buyers around the world. An hour of downtime can mean lost inquiries; a lost database can mean lost customers forever. A backup is not a luxury — it is the insurance policy every serious site needs, and UpdraftPlus makes that insurance nearly effortless.
UpdraftPlus Tutorial: Basic Usage
Step 1 — Install and Activate UpdraftPlus
- In your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins → Add New Plugin.
- Search for “UpdraftPlus”. The plugin “UpdraftPlus – Backup/Restore” by TeamUpdraft will appear at the top.
- Click Install Now, then Activate.
- A new Settings → UpdraftPlus Backups menu item appears. That is your backup command center.
That is all you need to do before taking your first backup — UpdraftPlus requires no complicated configuration to get started.
Step 2 — Take Your First Backup
Go to Settings → UpdraftPlus Backups. You will see a “Backup Now” section with three choices:
- Database only — fastest; protects your content and settings.
- Files only — protects themes, plugins, and uploads.
- Database and files — a complete backup. This is what you want for your first backup and before major changes.
Click Backup Now, confirm in the popup, and UpdraftPlus will start working in the background. You can watch progress in the “Existing backups” section below. When finished, you will see a backup set with a green checkmark, showing the date, size, and the files/database components inside it.
By default, backups are stored on your own server in the folder wp-content/updraft. That is fine as a starting point, but as you will read later, reliable backup strategy always includes a second copy somewhere offsite.
Step 3 — Set Automatic Backup Schedules
Manual backups only work if you remember to run them. Automatic schedules are the real safety net. Open the Settings tab inside UpdraftPlus and you will find two schedule selectors:
- Database backup schedule — options range from manual to every 4 hours; the sensible default for an active business site is daily.
- Files backup schedule — files change less often, so weekly is the recommended default.
Below the schedules you can set “Delete how many backups?” — this keeps your server tidy by automatically removing old backup sets beyond the number you choose (for example, keep the latest 4). You can also decide whether UpdraftPlus should email you a report after each backup. Save your settings and UpdraftPlus handles everything from now on: database daily, files weekly, old copies cleaned up automatically.
Step 4 — Store Backups in a Remote Location
Storing backups only on your own server is risky: if your hosting account is hacked, deleted, or the server dies, your backups die with it. The golden rule is 3-2-1 backups: at least 3 copies of your data, on 2 different media, with 1 copy offsite.
UpdraftPlus lets you send backups to a remote destination straight from the free version. In the Settings tab, tick the remote storage you want — the plugin supports Amazon S3, Google Drive, Dropbox, Rackspace, FTP/SFTP, WebDAV, email, and more. After clicking “Save Changes”, follow the on-screen instructions to authorize the service (for example, log in to your Google account and grant UpdraftPlus permission).
Once connected, your scheduled backups are automatically uploaded to that remote location as well. If your server ever fails completely, your data is still safe in the cloud or on your own external storage.
Step 5 — Restore Your Website
The restore process is where UpdraftPlus really shines. Go to the Existing backups section and click the blue Restore button on the backup set you want to use. UpdraftPlus asks which components to restore:
- Database — roll your content and settings back to the backup date.
- Plugins / Themes / Uploads / Others — restore individual file groups if you only need one part.
Confirm your choice and UpdraftPlus will download the backup files (if they are only stored remotely, use “Rescan remote storage” first), restore everything, and place your site in maintenance mode during the process. When it finishes, log in and check your pages, products, and images carefully.
Critical advice: a backup you have never restored is a backup you cannot trust. Test your restore procedure on a staging site or after a minor change, so you know exactly what to do when a real emergency happens.
Advanced UpdraftPlus Usage
Once the basics are running, these advanced techniques give you precise control over what gets backed up, where it goes, and how you recover from tricky situations.
Exclude Unnecessary Folders and Database Tables
Not everything in wp-content needs to be in every backup. Under Settings → Show expert settings, UpdraftPlus reveals an “Exclude these from the backup” section where you can deselect folders such as:
- Cache folders (for example, WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache, or LiteSpeed caches) — they regenerate themselves and only bloat your backup files.
- Temporary or log folders that you know are disposable.
You can also exclude entire database tables, which is occasionally useful for large log or spam tables that you do not need to keep. Be careful here: excluding the wrong folder or table can leave your backup incomplete, so only exclude things you fully understand.
Understand Backup Logs and Troubleshoot Failures
If a backup fails, open the Existing backups list and click “View log” on the failed entry. The log shows exactly which step failed — often a remote storage authorization problem, a server timeout, or a folder that cannot be read. Common fixes include: re-saving your remote storage credentials, reducing the backup size by excluding caches, increasing your PHP limits, or asking your host to allow larger background tasks. When contacting support, the log file is the first thing you will be asked for, so keep it handy.
Take a Backup Before Every Update — and Make It a Habit
Most WordPress disasters happen right after an update: a plugin update breaks a layout, a theme update conflicts with a page builder, or a core update interrupts a live site. The professional routine is simple: backup before you update. With UpdraftPlus this takes one click on “Backup Now” (database and files), and it gives you a guaranteed rollback point. Combine it with a staging environment if you have one, and you can update with total confidence.
Move or Clone Your Site (Migration)
UpdraftPlus backups are also the easiest way to move a website to a new host or domain. Take a full backup, install WordPress on the new server, install UpdraftPlus there, place your backup files into wp-content/updraft, and run Restore.
One caveat: if you move to a different domain, your database still contains the old site URL everywhere (in links, images, and settings). UpdraftPlus Premium includes a one-click migrator for this. With the free version, install a search-replace plugin such as “Better Search Replace” after restoring, and update the old URL to the new one. Test every internal link afterwards.
Rescue a Completely Broken Site
If your site is so broken that you cannot reach wp-admin at all, do not panic. UpdraftPlus supports a manual restore workflow: create a fresh WordPress installation (or use your host’s one-click installer), install UpdraftPlus, and copy your backup files into the new site’s wp-content/updraft folder via FTP or your host’s file manager. Then open UpdraftPlus → Existing backups → Restore. This documented recovery path works even when the original site is completely unreachable — which is exactly the scenario a good backup strategy is for.
Security Best Practices for Your Backups
Backups contain your most sensitive data — customer details, order information, and admin credentials in the database. Treat them accordingly:
- Keep backups offsite (remote storage or downloaded copies), and do not rely on the server copy alone.
- Clean up local backups regularly using the retention setting; a public folder full of database dumps is an unnecessary risk.
- Delete old remote backups you no longer need, especially if they contain customer data.
- Restrict access to wp-content with your security plugin or hosting settings.
UpdraftPlus Settings Cheat Sheet
Here is the recommended configuration for a typical foreign trade business site:
- Database schedule: Daily
- Files schedule: Weekly
- Keep backups: Last 4–6
- Remote storage: Google Drive, Dropbox, or Amazon S3 (free options)
- Email report: On
- Exclude: cache folders
- Before updates: manual full backup each time
Frequently Asked Questions
Is UpdraftPlus really free?
Yes. The core plugin is free and includes scheduled backups, local and remote storage to services like Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3 and FTP, one-click restore, and the settings covered in this tutorial. Premium plans add extras such as site cloning/migration, multisite support, and more storage options.
How often should I back up my WordPress site?
As a minimum, back up the database daily and the files weekly, plus take a manual full backup before any update or major change. If your site changes very often (for example, daily orders or product edits), increase the frequency.
Do backups slow down my website?
UpdraftPlus runs backups in the background and is designed to avoid disrupting visitors. On very large sites you may notice slightly higher server load during a backup, which is why many users schedule heavy backups for low-traffic hours.
Can I restore only the database without touching my files?
Yes. When you click Restore on a backup set, you can choose exactly which components to restore — for example, only the database, or only the uploads. This is very useful when a plugin update corrupted your content but your files are fine.
What should I do if a backup fails repeatedly?
Open the backup log to identify the failing step. Common causes are expired remote storage authorization, insufficient server resources, or very large uploads folders. Excluding caches, reconnecting your storage, and contacting your host about background process limits usually solves it.
Conclusion
UpdraftPlus turns WordPress backups from a chore into a set-and-forget safety system. In this tutorial you learned the complete workflow: installing the plugin, taking your first full backup, scheduling automatic database and file backups, sending copies to remote storage for true 3-2-1 protection, and restoring your site with confidence. On the advanced side, you now know how to exclude unneeded folders, read backup logs, back up before every update, migrate between domains, and even rescue a completely broken site manually.
Do not wait for a disaster to test your backup strategy. Take a full backup right now, schedule the automatic backups, connect one remote destination, and do a trial restore. Ten minutes today can save your business tomorrow. And if you are still choosing which other plugins your site needs, browse the other tutorials on LearnWPPlugins — we cover SEO, forms, speed, and security plugins step by step.
