How to Set Up Automatic WordPress Backups (Free, Step by Step)
Last updated on August 26th, 2026 at 09:30 am
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How to Set Up Automatic WordPress Backups (Free, Step by Step)
Every WordPress horror story has the same second sentence: "and I didn't have a backup." A botched update, a hacked file, a deleted page, a host meltdown — all of them are expensive, stressful, and fixable, but only if you can restore from a recent backup. The tragedy is that backups are the cheapest insurance on the internet, and nearly everyone skips them until it's too late.
This guide fixes that today. It covers the backup strategy that actually protects you (the "3-2-1" rule), the best free tool, exact settings, and — the part almost everyone gets wrong — testing that your backups work. By the end of this article, your site will be backing itself up daily, storing copies somewhere safe, and you'll have proven you can restore it. That last part is the difference between having a backup and being safe.
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This pairs with the website maintenance checklist, which makes backup verification a standing quarterly task — and with our WordPress security checklist, because a backup is also your escape hatch from the worst security situations.
The 3-2-1 backup rule (memorise this)
The backup strategy used by professionals, in one line:
3 copies of your data, on 2 different types of storage, with 1 copy off-site.
Concretely for your website:
- 3 copies: your live site, plus two backups.
- 2 storage types: e.g., the live host + a cloud drive (Google Drive / OneDrive / Dropbox). Don't keep both backups on the same disk.
- 1 off-site: at least one copy somewhere your host can't lose (a host goes down, your backups on that host go with it).
The rule exists because every single point of failure in it is real: hosts die, hard drives die, and people accidentally overwrite things. Three copies, two types, one off-site — that's the whole discipline.
What a WordPress backup must contain
A WordPress site is really two things:
- The database — your posts, pages, comments, settings, users. (Most of your site's content lives here.)
- The files — your themes, plugins, images, and uploads.
A backup that includes only files or only the database is half a backup. The good news: the standard backup plugin does both automatically. Just don't think "I exported my posts" counts as a backup — it's a copy of some text, not of your working site.
The free tool: UpdraftPlus, configured properly
UpdraftPlus is the most widely used free WordPress backup plugin, and for a small business it does the job completely. Here's how to set it up:
Install and schedule
- Install UpdraftPlus (free) from the WordPress plugin repository.
- In its settings, set the schedule: Daily for the database, Weekly for files. Daily file backups are overkill for most sites and eat storage; daily databases + weekly files is the right balance.
- Set retention: keep, say, the last 7 database backups and the last 4 file backups. No need to keep every copy forever — you want a good window of recovery, not a hoard.
Store off-site (this is the "off-site" part)
The entire point of 3-2-1 is that your backup lives somewhere other than your host. UpdraftPlus connects directly to:
- Google Drive
- OneDrive / Dropbox
- Amazon S3 / other cloud storage
Pick the cloud service you already use (Google Drive is the easiest for most people), connect your account once, and from then on every scheduled backup is pushed off-site automatically. If your hosting account vanishes, your backup didn't.
Test the restore (the part everyone skips)
This is the step that turns a "nice routine" into actual safety. UpdraftPlus has a built-in restore test: it can restore a copy of your backup to a temporary subdirectory on your own server so you can verify it works without touching your live site.
Do this once at setup and then quarterly (it's on the maintenance checklist). If you've never verified a restore, you don't know you have a backup — you only know you have some files somewhere.
Host-level backups: the second copy
The best setup layers two independent backup systems, because "the plugin broke" or "I deleted the plugin folder" shouldn't erase your safety net:
- Plugin backups (your 3-2-1 copy) — what you set up above.
- Host backups — most good WordPress hosts (Hostinger, SiteGround, Kinsta, WP Engine, and others) include automated daily/weekly backups in the plan, restorable from their control panel.
If your host offers included backups, switch them on and note how to restore from them. You now have: live site + plugin backups (off-site) + host backups — genuinely resilient.
A warning about host-only backups: some budget hosts sell "backups" as a paid add-on or advertise them but make restoration painful. Verify what your plan actually includes before you rely on it — a backup you can't restore from is not a backup.
The final setup checklist
- Backups run on schedule — daily database, weekly files (or daily both if it's cheap storage).
- Copies go off-site to a cloud service (Google Drive / OneDrive / Dropbox).
- Retention is sane — keep a recovery window, not a lifetime hoard.
- Host backups are on if your plan includes them (independent of the plugin).
- You've tested a restore — once now, and quarterly after.
- You've noted where the backup lives — one line in your notes: "Backups = UpdraftPlus → Google Drive, weekly. Host backups on. Restore tested [date]."
Frequently asked questions
Are free backups really enough?
For a small business site, yes. UpdraftPlus free gives scheduled, off-site, testable backups. You only pay for convenience features (like migrating to a new host or more storage), not for safety.
Daily or weekly backups?
Daily database + weekly files is the standard for content-driven sites. If you run an active store, do daily for everything — the cost is a little storage, and the value is never losing a week of orders.
Where should I store the off-site copy?
Any reputable cloud drive you already trust — Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox. The requirement is just that it's separate from your hosting provider.
What if my host has free backups — do I still need a plugin?
Yes, as a second layer. Host backups are usually a great baseline, but they're on the same infrastructure as your site; a plugin backup off-site covers the scenarios your host's backup doesn't (host outage, accidental deletion, restore-from-a-disaster).
Can I restore a backup myself if something goes wrong?
With UpdraftPlus you can restore from the plugin's interface — most failures (botched updates, deleted pages, hacked files) are restorable in a few clicks if the backup is recent and off-site. For a fully dead site, your host's backup panel or a professional can restore it.
The honest summary
A backup strategy is three boring-but-unbreakable rules: keep multiple copies, keep them off-site, and prove you can restore them. UpdraftPlus free + a Google Drive connection + your host's included backups gives you that, fully automated, in under thirty minutes — and the "test a restore once and then quarterly" habit is the part that makes it real. Do it once, set the quarterly reminder on your maintenance checklist, and you join the small minority of site owners who could lose everything tomorrow and be back online by the weekend. That peace of mind is the best deal in web hosting.