Do you want to back up your WordPress site daily and store it securely on cloud storage like Google Drive for free? This step-by-step guide helps you how to do it using a free plugin: UpdraftPlus – Backup/Restore. UpdraftPlus is one of the most trusted backup plugins for WordPress. Its free version is enough for creating daily backups and even migrating your site if needed.

How to Automatically Take Daily WordPress Site Backups for FREE?

1. Plugin Installation & Setup

Step 1: Log in to your WordPress Dashboard > Go to Plugins > Add New > Search for “UpdraftPlus – Backup/Restore” > Install and Activate the plugin.

Log in to your WordPress Dashboard > Go to Plugins > Add New > Search for “UpdraftPlus – Backup/Restore” > Install and Activate the plugin.

Step 2: Go to Settings > UpdraftPlus Backups > Settings > Set Files backup schedule and Database backup schedule to Daily > Select Google Drive as your remote storage

This setup will automatically back up your site daily, store it on Google Drive, and retain backups for 4 weeks before automatically the old ones.

Go to Settings > UpdraftPlus Backups > Settings > Set Files backup schedule and Database backup schedule to Daily > Select Google Drive as your remote storage

Step 3: Scroll down and click “Save Changes“

2. Authorize Google Drive

Step 4: Click the pop-up link that says: “Follow this link to authorize access to your Google Drive account…” (or click the link underlined at the top in red box).

Click the pop-up link (or click the link underlined at the top in red box).

Step 5: Log into your Google account and click Complete Setup

Log into your Google account and click Complete Setup

Step 6: A success message will appear, and your first backup will be scheduled automatically

A success message will appear, and your first backup will be scheduled automatically

3. Take Manual Backup Using UpdraftPlus

Step 7: Go to the Backup/Restore tab > Click Backup Now

Go to the Backup/Restore tab > Click Backup Now

Step 8: Tick these three options: > Click Backup Now

  • Include your database in the backup
  • Include your files in the backup
  • Send this backup to remote storage
Tick these three options: > Click Backup Now

The backup will appear at the bottom and will also be saved in your Google Drive inside the UpdraftPlus folder. Time required may vary based on site size.

Step 9: You can restore this backup anytime by clicking the Restore button.

You can restore this backup anytime by clicking the Restore button.
Backup-Files-In-google-drive

4. Restore Backup from Google Drive or Manually

If your website gets deleted, hacked, or if you’re migrating to a new host, follow these steps:

Step 10: Change your domain’s nameservers to point to your hosting
Step 11: Install WordPress on your domain > Follow steps from 1 to 5 above
Step 12: Under “Existing Backups,” click Upload backup files to manually upload,
or click Rescan remote storage to fetch backup files from Google Drive
Step 13: Once backup files are visible, click Restore to bring your site back

Under “Existing Backups,” click Rescan remote storage to fetch backup files from Google Drive > Once backup files are visible, click Restore to bring your site back

Wrap Up

This is the simplest and most effective way to automatically back up your WordPress site for free. Whether it’s a theme/plugin update issue, a site crash, or a cyberattack, you’ll always have a secure backup ready. From now on, make it a habit to keep daily backups of your site. And if you ever need advanced features, you can always upgrade to the premium version of UpdraftPlus.

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