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The Ultimate WordPress Migration Guide: Manual & Plugin Methods

Moving a WordPress site from one host to another (or from local to live) is a core skill for any developer. While plugins make it easy for small sites, manual migration is often necessary for large, complex installations.

Phase 1: Preparation

Before touching anything, ensure you have:

  1. Access: FTP/SFTP and Database credentials for both the old and new hosts.
  2. No Caching: Turn off caching plugins (WP Rocket, W3TC) on the old site to prevent exporting cached files.
  3. Backup: Create a full backup of the old site.

Method A: The Plugin Route (Best for Small Sites < 500MB)

For standard brochure sites, plugins save time and handle the database search-replace automatically.

  • All-in-One WP Migration: Easiest UI, but has upload limits on the free version.
  • Duplicator: More robust, creates a standalone installer package.

The Process (Duplicator)

  1. Install: Install Duplicator on the Old site.
  2. Build: Go to Duplicator > Packages > Create New. Scan and Build.
  3. Download: Download the Installer.php and the Archive.zip files.
  4. Upload: Upload both files to the public_html (or /var/www/html) folder of the New server.
  5. Install: Navigate to http://new-site.com/installer.php in your browser.
  6. Run: Follow the wizard. It will extract files and update the database URLs automatically.

Method B: The Manual Route (Best for Large Sites / Developers)

If your site is 5GB+, plugins will likely timeout. The manual method is faster, more reliable, and gives you full control.

Step 1: Export the Database (Old Host)

Use phpMyAdmin or the command line (CLI).

# CLI Method (SSH)
mysqldump -u db_user -p db_name > data.sql

Step 2: Download Files (Old Host)

Compress the wp-content folder. We generally do not need the core WP files (we will install fresh ones), just the content.

# SSH Method
tar -czf wp-content.tar.gz wp-content/

Download wp-content.tar.gz and data.sql to your local machine or transfer directly to the new server.

Step 3: Prepare New Host

  1. Install a fresh WordPress instance on the new server.
  2. Delete the wp-content folder in the new installation.

Step 4: Upload and Extract

Upload your wp-content.tar.gz and data.sql to the new server.

# Extract content
tar -xzf wp-content.tar.gz

Step 5: Import Database

Warning: This overwrites the fresh install's database.

mysql -u new_db_user -p new_db_name < data.sql

Step 6: Update wp-config.php

Ensure the wp-config.php file on the new server has the correct database credentials (DB_NAME, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD) and table prefix.

Phase 3: The Search & Replace (Crucial)

Your database still contains links to http://old-site.com. You must change them to http://new-site.com.

Do NOT run a simple SQL query. WordPress stores data in "Serialized Arrays" (PHP objects). A standard SQL replace will break widgets and theme settings because it changes the string length without updating the serialization length count.

If you have SSH access, this is the safest method.

# Dry run first
wp search-replace 'http://old-site.com' 'http://new-site.com' --all-tables --dry-run

# Execute
wp search-replace 'http://old-site.com' 'http://new-site.com' --all-tables

Phase 4: Final Checklist

  1. Permalinks: Go to Settings > Permalinks and click "Save Changes" to regenerate .htaccess. This fixes 404 errors.
  2. SSL: Ensure your SSL certificate is active.
  3. Caching: Re-enable your caching plugins and clear the cache.
Created: March 17, 2026 • Last Modified: February 28, 2026