Backup and restore

Level: Advanced | Reading time: 11 minutes

Protect your WooCommerce online store data with a robust and tested backup strategy.

In this chapter :

WooCommerce Guide - Backups

Key statistic** - 60% of stores that lose their data close within 6 months. 93% of companies without a disaster recovery backup go bankrupt within a year. Backup is not optional.

Importance of backups

A backup is a complete copy of your site (files and database) at a precise moment in time.

Risks without a backup

Hacking - A hacker can delete your site or inject malware. Without a backup, it's a total loss and reconstruction becomes impossible.

Human error - A mistake in administration can delete products or break the design. Without a backup, the damage is irreversible.

Server failure - Your host's hard disk can crash. It's rare, but it happens. Without a backup, your data is gone for good.

Failed update - A plugin update can break your site (white screen of death). Without a backup, you're stuck and panic ensues.

Litigation - A customer disputes a transaction and demands proof. Your backups are the archives of your past orders.

Every day, this scenario happens to e-commerce stores. Only a regular backup can save you.

Backup ROI

A backup plugin costs between €50 and €150 per year. Rebuilding a site from scratch costs between €2,000 and €10,000, not counting the weeks of downtime, lost revenue and lost customers.

Backup is inexpensive insurance against catastrophic risk. It's an obvious choice to make.

Types of backups 🔺

There are three essential components to backup.

Backup files

Backup all WordPress content:

  • Active theme
  • Installed plugins
  • Uploads (product images, media)
  • The wp-config.php file (configuration)
  • The .htaccess file

Size: between 500MB and 5GB depending on the size of your image catalog.

Criticality: High. Losing your product images means having to rebuild your entire visual catalog.

Backup database

Backup of MySQL database containing :

  • Products (titles, descriptions, prices)
  • Order history
  • Customer information
  • WooCommerce settings

Size: between 50MB and 500MB depending on your history.

Criticality: Absolutely critical. Losing the database means losing your entire store (products, orders, customers).

Full backup

A full backup combines files and database in a .zip or .tar.gz archive.

This is the ideal solution, as it allows you to restore everything at once.

Frequency and retention 🔺

Daily - For active sites (more than 10 orders per day). Losing a day's worth of data is still acceptable.

Weekly - For medium-sized sites (2 to 10 orders per day). Losing a week's worth of data is serious, but survivable.

Monthly - For low activity sites (less than 2 orders per day) or showcases. Losing a month's data is painful but non-fatal.

For an active e-commerce store, a daily backup is mandatory. The cost of storage is negligible compared to the risk involved.

Retention

How many backups should I keep?

The 3-2-1** model is the industry standard:

  • 3** copies of your data (production + 2 backups)
  • 2** different media (local disk + cloud)
  • 1** off-site copy (stored in a geographically remote location)

Recommended retention time :

  • Daily backups: retain the last 7 days
  • Weekly backups: retain last 4 weeks
  • Monthly backups: retain last 12 months

This strategy represents the best balance between maximum protection and reasonable storage costs.

Backup solutions 🔺

Updraftplus

It's the number 1 plugin on WordPress with over 7 million installations. The free version is very complete, the Premium version costs $70 per year.

Free version features:

  • One-click manual backup
  • Automatic scheduling (daily, weekly or monthly)
  • Cloud storage compatible with Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive
  • One-click restore

Premium version adds :

  • More cloud destinations (Amazon S3, Azure)
  • Incremental backup (only changes are backed up, which is faster)
  • Cloning and site migration functions
  • Priority support

Recommended configuration :

  1. Install UpdraftPlus from the extensions directory (free version)
  2. Go to Settings > UpdraftPlus Backups
  3. Configure schedule: daily for files and database
  4. Connect your remote storage (e.g. Google Drive)
  5. Run an initial manual backup to test

Check that you receive the confirmation email for a successful backup.

Backwpup

This is a free, open-source alternative to UpdraftPlus.

It offers similar functions: automatic scheduling, cloud storage and detailed logs.

The interface is less intuitive, but the plugin remains powerful. It's a good option if you have a zero budget.

Duplicator

This plugin specializes in site cloning and migration, but also handles backups.

It creates a complete package of your site (files, database and installer). It's perfect for hosting migrations or duplicating staging environments.

The free version covers basic functions, while the Pro version costs $50 a year.

Hosting backups

Premium hosting providers (Kinsta, SiteGround) offer automatic daily backups as part of their package.

Advantages :

  • Automatic, with no configuration required
  • Stored separately from the main server
  • One-click restoration via cPanel

Disadvantages :

  • Limited retention time (often between 14 and 30 days)
  • Dependence on host (if you change host, you lose your backups)

The best strategy is to combine the two: host backups for the short term and a backup plugin for the long term and portability.

Secure storage 🔺

Remote cloud

Remote cloud storage is mandatory. A backup stored only locally (on the same server) is vulnerable: if the server crashes, the backup is lost too.

Google Drive (15 GB free) - Simple, reliable solution. UpdraftPlus connects via OAuth in two clicks.

Dropbox (2 GB free, €10/month for 2 TB) - Solid, proven alternative.

Amazon S3 (pay-per-use, approx. $1/month for 100 GB) - Professional, scalable solution.

Personal NAS storage - For those with technical skills. You have total control, but maintenance is your responsibility.

Use at least two different cloud destinations for redundancy (e.g. Google Drive + Dropbox).

Encryption

Backups contain sensitive data (customer information, order history). It is essential to encrypt them before uploading them to the cloud.

UpdraftPlus Premium automatically encrypts your backups using the AES-256 algorithm. The free version does not offer native encryption.

Alternatively, use EncryptPad to manually encrypt your archives before uploading them.

Access security

Cloud accounts (Google, Dropbox) must use strong passwords and two-factor authentication (2FA).

Hacking into your cloud account gives access to your backups, which is tantamount to stealing your customers' data. It's imperative to secure such access.

Restoration tests 🔺

An untested backup is a non-existent backup. Statistics show that 40% of restores fail the first time (file corruption, incomplete configuration).

Monthly test procedure

  1. Create a test environment - Use a sub-domain like test.votresite.com or a local server (MAMP/XAMPP)
  2. Restore the backup - Use UpdraftPlus' "Restore" function.
  3. Check all critical elements :
  4. Does the site load correctly?
  5. Are products displayed?
  6. Are orders present?
  7. Does the checkout process work?
  8. Is administration accessible?
  9. Document the test - For example, note "Test backup 15/03/2025 : OK".

If the test fails, immediately correct the problem (corrupted backup or missing configuration). Then create a new, clean backup.

Disaster recovery plan

In the event of a disaster (site down or hacked), follow this clear procedure:

  1. Stay calm - Panic leads to mistakes
  2. Isolate the problem - Take the site offline in maintenance mode
  3. Analyze the situation - Check the logs and find out what happened.
  4. Restore backup - Use the most recent backup prior to the incident.
  5. Perform complete checks - Test everything before going back online.
  6. Secure the site - Correct the vulnerability exploited (updates, passwords).
  7. Communicate with your customers - If downtime exceeds 4 hours

Your downtime target should be less than 2 hours. Test this procedure every quarter (crisis exercise).

In a nutshell

Backups are your e-commerce life insurance: a store without backups risks total data loss. Automate your daily backups with UpdraftPlus or BackWPup to safeguard databases and files. Store your backups off-site (Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3) to protect against server failures. Test your restores regularly to verify backup integrity. Keep at least 30 days of history (7 daily, 4 weekly, 12 monthly). Document your restoration procedure so you can react quickly in the event of a problem.

Next steps 🔺

  • Updates - Maintain WordPress/WooCommerce
  • Speed - Speed up the site
  • SEO - Search Engine Optimization
  • Back - Overview

Navigation: ← SEO | Backups | Next: Updates →