{"id":8520,"date":"2009-06-26T15:39:08","date_gmt":"2009-06-26T10:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/?p=8520"},"modified":"2026-10-12T09:32:40","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T04:02:40","slug":"daily-backup-wordpress-blog-mysql-database","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/06\/daily-backup-wordpress-blog-mysql-database\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Create Daily Backups of WordPress Database (2026)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A daily backup of your WordPress database is the single most important safety net for a blog. The database holds every post, comment and setting, and you need a recent copy to restore after a crash, a hack or an urgent move to another host. Nobody remembers to export it by hand every day, so here is how to automate a <strong>daily backup of your WordPress database<\/strong> in 2026, and how we used ours in a real emergency.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-8545\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/backup-schedule.gif\" alt=\"Daily backup of WordPress database schedule\" width=\"266\" height=\"249\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Quick answer:<\/strong> Install UpdraftPlus, set the database backup schedule to Daily, keep 14 or more copies and send them to remote storage such as Google Drive, Dropbox or Amazon S3. Add your host&#8217;s daily backups as a second copy, and test a restore every few months.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6ae42ff2f183e\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"ez-toc-cssicon\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6ae42ff2f183e\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/06\/daily-backup-wordpress-blog-mysql-database\/#Why_daily_database_backups_matter\" >Why daily database backups matter<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/06\/daily-backup-wordpress-blog-mysql-database\/#4_ways_to_set_up_a_daily_backup_of_your_WordPress_database\" >4 ways to set up a daily backup of your WordPress database<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/06\/daily-backup-wordpress-blog-mysql-database\/#1_UpdraftPlus_recommended\" >1. UpdraftPlus (recommended)<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/06\/daily-backup-wordpress-blog-mysql-database\/#2_Jetpack_VaultPress_Backup\" >2. Jetpack VaultPress Backup<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/06\/daily-backup-wordpress-blog-mysql-database\/#3_A_cron_job_with_WP-CLI\" >3. A cron job with WP-CLI<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/06\/daily-backup-wordpress-blog-mysql-database\/#4_Your_hosts_automatic_backups\" >4. Your host&#8217;s automatic backups<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/06\/daily-backup-wordpress-blog-mysql-database\/#Where_to_store_database_backups\" >Where to store database backups<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/06\/daily-backup-wordpress-blog-mysql-database\/#Test_your_backups\" >Test your backups<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/06\/daily-backup-wordpress-blog-mysql-database\/#FAQ\" >FAQ<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/06\/daily-backup-wordpress-blog-mysql-database\/#Is_a_daily_backup_enough\" >Is a daily backup enough?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/06\/daily-backup-wordpress-blog-mysql-database\/#Do_database_backups_include_images_and_plugins\" >Do database backups include images and plugins?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/06\/daily-backup-wordpress-blog-mysql-database\/#Will_daily_backups_slow_down_my_site\" >Will daily backups slow down my site?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_daily_database_backups_matter\"><\/span>Why daily database backups matter<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Years ago we had to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/06\/dreamhost-to-knownhost-vps-hosting\/\">urgently move hosting<\/a> while I was out of town, with no FTP access and no access to the office computer that held our weekly backups. The latest database copy was waiting in our email from the automatic daily backup, and we restored the blog on the new host without losing a post. That is the point of daily backups: a fresh copy you can reach from anywhere.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4_ways_to_set_up_a_daily_backup_of_your_WordPress_database\"><\/span>4 ways to set up a daily backup of your WordPress database<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1_UpdraftPlus_recommended\"><\/span>1. UpdraftPlus (recommended)<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>Install <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/updraftplus.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">UpdraftPlus<\/a><\/strong> from Plugins &gt; Add New.<\/li>\n<li>Go to <strong>Settings &gt; UpdraftPlus Backups &gt; Settings<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Set <strong>Database backup schedule<\/strong> to <em>Daily<\/em> and retain at least 14 backups.<\/li>\n<li>Pick remote storage: Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Amazon S3 or email.<\/li>\n<li>Click <strong>Backup Now<\/strong> once to test, then check the file arrived.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2_Jetpack_VaultPress_Backup\"><\/span>2. Jetpack VaultPress Backup<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/jetpack.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jetpack<\/a><\/strong> offers paid daily or real-time backups stored off-site, with one-click restores even if the site is down.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3_A_cron_job_with_WP-CLI\"><\/span>3. A cron job with WP-CLI<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>If your host has SSH and cron, add a daily job like this (adjust the paths):<\/p>\n<pre><code>0 3 * * * cd \/home\/user\/public_html && wp db export ~\/backups\/db-$(date +\\%F).sql --quiet<\/code><\/pre>\n<p>Then sync the backups folder to cloud storage and delete old files so the disk doesn&#8217;t fill up. Here is how to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/08\/change-cron-time-on-vps-cpanel\/\">change cron time on a VPS or cPanel<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4_Your_hosts_automatic_backups\"><\/span>4. Your host&#8217;s automatic backups<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Most hosts (Hostinger, SiteGround, cPanel hosts with JetBackup) keep daily backups. They are handy but stored with the same company, so treat them as a second copy. See how to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/02\/backup-websites-on-hosting-server\/\">back up websites on your hosting server<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/02\/backup-websites-on-amazon-s3\/\">back up to Amazon S3<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_to_store_database_backups\"><\/span>Where to store database backups<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Cloud storage<\/strong> (Google Drive, Dropbox, S3): reachable anywhere, survives a server crash. Best choice.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Email<\/strong>: what we used for years. Fine for small databases, but large attachments get blocked, so <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2007\/06\/reduce-database-backup-size-delete-akismet-blocked-spam\/\">reduce your database size<\/a> by clearing spam first.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Your computer<\/strong>: a good extra copy, but you may not be near it when disaster strikes.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The same server<\/strong>: least useful; if the server dies, so do the backups.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Keep copies in at least two places.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Test_your_backups\"><\/span>Test your backups<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>A backup you can&#8217;t restore is useless. Every few months, open the .sql file (unzip .gz files first) in a text editor to check it isn&#8217;t empty or garbled, or better, restore it to a staging site. Here is the full guide to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/10\/backup-restore-wordpress-database\/\">backup and restore WordPress database<\/a> files.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"FAQ\"><\/span>FAQ<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Is_a_daily_backup_enough\"><\/span>Is a daily backup enough?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>For most blogs, yes. Busy shops or forums with constant orders and comments may need hourly or real-time backups.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Do_database_backups_include_images_and_plugins\"><\/span>Do database backups include images and plugins?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>No. Back up the <code>wp-content<\/code> folder too, weekly or after big changes.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Will_daily_backups_slow_down_my_site\"><\/span>Will daily backups slow down my site?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Schedule them at night. On small and medium sites the load is minor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A daily backup of your WordPress database is the single most important safety net for a blog. The database holds&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[49,17],"class_list":["post-8520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogging","tag-tutorials","tag-wordpress"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8520"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8520\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64133,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8520\/revisions\/64133"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}