Backing up WordPress with the Jetpack backup plugin

Creating backups using the Jetpack plugin

The Jetpack plugin makes it easy to back up, restore, migrate, and even clone your WordPress website in one click. Once you have built your backup strategy, we can move on to discover the key features Jetpack presents for backing up WordPress.

Step #1: Getting started by installing the Jetpack plugin & selecting a plan

Jetpack offers backups as part of the paid subscription. The Jetpack plugin’s basic features are included in the free version, but they do not include the backup option.

Installing the free jetpack plugin

Before we move on to the various Jetpack: WordPress Security, Backups, Speed, & Growth paid plugin plans and options, let’s install the popular free Jetpack plugin from the WordPress Admin Dashboard and activate it. In the activation process, you will need to approve to connect your website to WordPress.com. It is necessary to ensure the plugin’s features work correctly. If you do not have a WordPress.com account yet, it’s time to get one.

The paid Jetpack plugin plans: Jetpack backup, Jetpack security & Jetpack complete

There are three main paid plans the Jetpack plugin offers: Jetpack Backup, Jetpack Security, and Jetpack Complete. The Jetpack Backup plan can be sufficient if you consider Jetpack as a backup solution only. Otherwise, you can leverage the extended list of features by choosing the Jetpack Security or Jetpack Complete plans. Each next more expansive plan encapsulates everything the previous one provides while adding new tools. 

Below you can see the paid Jetpack plugin pricing at the time this article was published. The discounts shown in the image below are just an example and may vary as the pricing plans evolve over time. Furthermore, the discount percentages may change and only work for the first year if you pay for Jetpack for all 12 months with one payment.

The standard backup plan includes 10 GB of backup storage. You can upgrade to larger plans with up to 10 TB of backup storage for $16.90 monthly ($69.95 after the first year). The prices shown below are subject to change.

The amount of storage you need depends on the size of your website. If you are unsure, contact your hosting provider to determine how much disk space your website occupies.

Step #2: Discovering what Jetpack backs up

As the Jetpack plugin was developed for backing up WordPress websites, it does not just save all the files but backs up only what’s needed to be backed up, thus saving time and storage space.

Jetpack backs up the following data:

• Your WordPress database. Only the tables that utilize your WordPress table prefix and have a primary key.
  
• Everything in the uploads, plugins, must use plugins, and themes directories.
  
• All files in your WordPress website’s document root directory with a few exceptions. These exceptions include WordPress core files that you can update and redownload anytime, and subdirectories that contain other WordPress installations.

Excluding data from being backed up

You can exclude files in certain directories from being backed up by creating a .donotbackup file inside them. If you name a directory donotbackup, its files and all subdirectories will be excluded as well.

Step #2: Discovering what Jetpack backs up

As the Jetpack plugin was developed for backing up WordPress websites, it does not just save all the files but backs up only what’s needed to be backed up, thus saving time and storage space.

Jetpack backs up the following data:

• Your WordPress database. Only the tables that utilize your WordPress table prefix and have a primary key.
  
• Everything in the uploads, plugins, must use plugins, and themes directories.
  
• All files in your WordPress website’s document root directory with a few exceptions. These exceptions include WordPress core files that you can update and redownload anytime, and subdirectories that contain other WordPress installations.

Step #3: Real-time & daily: running backups

With all three Jetpack plugin plans, you can get your data backed up both in daily and in real-time backup intervals. As we discussed, you may need real-time backups if your website undergoes many changes daily.

Real-time backups: How they work & what data is backed up

The Jetpack plugin utilizes built-in hooks system in WordPress to receive alerts when information changes on your website. Jetpack immediately saves the changes to multiple servers to generate a new website backup.

Only specific changes get backed up in real-time, and here is a summary what you get backed up in real-time:

• WordPress core database tables changes
  
• WooCommerce database tables
  
• Any file changes like media uploads

All of the above and all other data points are backed up daily.

Viewing daily backups & the changes backed Up

A new daily backup is saved every 24 hours from the previous one. However, it is not possible to set a specific time for daily backups to occur.

Running a daily backup can take from a few minutes to several hours, depending on the size of your website. You can view your daily backups from the Backup tab.

Once a new backup is saved, it will show you what changes to the website, if any, have been backed up from the last time a backup ran. 

The Jetpack activity log for backups 

The Jetpack plugin’s activity log shows the complete list of changes on your WordPress website. Some of the specific events that will be shown there are the following:

• Updates to the website’s posts and pages
  
• Comments added and forms submitted
  
• Plugin and themes installations, updates, or removals
  
• Registered users’ login attempts.

You can view the website’s activity log by choosing it from the menu on the left, just above the Backup tab. You can view all activity or use filters to select the events you would like to be shown. For example, the Jetpack plugin currently allows you to filter by Date Range and Activity Type. 

Step #4: Restoring from Jetpack backups

The Jetpack plugin provides website restores in one click. You can restore your website to a particular event, day, or download a backup and perform the restoration manually from it. 

Downloading a backup

Once you have more than one backup, you can navigate through them and see the changes made with each. To download any existing daily backups, navigate to the backup you need, and click on the Download Backup button.

The process of downloading one of the real-time backups is similar. You may select one of the events manually or opt to filter the events by Date Range and Activity Type, and click Download.

The process of downloading one of the real-time backups is similar. You may select one of the events manually or opt to filter the events by Date Range and Activity Type, and click Download.

Restoring your website in one click

For Jetpack to be able to restore your website, you need to provide a way to connect to the server that hosts it. For example, you can add your SSH, SFTP, or FTP/FTPS credentials. 

After you have saved the credentials and the Jetpack plugin has established a connection, you can easily restore your website from any existing backup.

Go back to the Backup or the Activity Log tabs, navigate to the backup you want to restore, and click Restore to this point. Like downloading a backup, you can deselect any items you do not wish to include in the restore. If you want to restore the entire site, leave all the boxes checked. Once you are ready to proceed, click on the Confirm restore button. You can watch the progress as your website is restored. Once the restore is complete, you can view your website.

Cloning & migration

The processes of site cloning and migration are similar. First, you need to download a backup of your website and restore it to the destination server manually. Cloning requires just one more step added to the process of migration — updating the links in your WordPress database to reflect the new domain name. That can be achieved using different tools, including WP-CLI Commands for Your WordPress Database. We recommend contacting your server provider for any assistance you may need.