How To Backup WooCommerce: Methods To Know

Do you have any way to get your WooCommerce store backed up once it gets hacked or scammed by any intruder or scammer? If not, then you need to back up your WooCommerce store. 

The reason why you need to have a backup for your WooCommerce store is for the safety and security of your online existence. Any attack on your online store must not make you unavailable for your users, and for that matter, creating a complete website backup is pivotal. 

In this blog, we will discuss further reasons for creating a backup and how to back up a WooCommerce store through three different methods. 

Why Backup Your WooCommerce Store?

Avoid Data Loss

Your WooCommerce site data is of paramount significance, and you shouldn’t lose it at any cost. Being one of the most significant driving forces for your online store, creating a WooCommerce backup is crucial. You will always have peace of mind in not losing your website data, which is of utmost importance no matter how many risks and threats come your way. 

Preventions Against Security Risks

Intruders, malware attacks, and cyber issues affect any online store the most; they sometimes bring damages that are irreversible. Creating a WooCommerce backup prepares you for all such situations. Recovery of affected files and website data even after you get hit by a disastrous attack is possible when you have created a backup.

Worry-Free Website Updates and Upgrades

It is not necessary to create a WooCommerce backup only to mitigate security risks; you can do it before any major website update or upgrade. Sometimes, it is also done when migrating the website from one platform to another, i.e., Wix to WooCommerce migration. But this does not count as an update. Making any change to the code and other features of the website requires creating a proper backup to avoid potential website failures and having a backup to recover from it. 

Avoid Sales Breaks

Any threat to your WooCommerce makes it prone to a lot of potential threats and risks that could make your website unavailable. Having a proper website backup can help you avoid website downtime issues that adversely affect your sales. Even if your website is affected by any issue, you will always have a backup to restore and make yourself available for your users without making them wonder about your existence. 

Data Required For Analytics

Instead of looking for your website data in the WordPress interface, consuming a lot of your time, it is always better to have spreadsheet files. You can use this data that you have extracted as your WooCommerce store backup for analytics, reporting, and decision-making. You will have all the website data available for analytics without consuming much of your precious time. 

3 Methods To Backup Your WooCommerce Site

Web Host Backup Plan

You will always need a web host for your WooCommerce store. You can take the services of your hosting provider to create a WooCommerce backup. 

However, not all web hosts offer a backup plan. Some may have a free backup plan, and some may charge you an additional amount to create the backup. So, it's better to thoroughly analyze your web hosting plan and then proceed. 

Despite all this, a web host backup plan is not the ideal solution, and here is why:

• Any issues with the web server, there will be no way you can access your website backup
• Having a backup on your server can engage a lot of resources that you might have utilized in the efficient performance of your website.
• Some hosting services offer offsite backup services, which adds more to your troubles when accessing them.

So, these issues make this backup plan mediocre and make it less preferable. 

Manually Backup WooCommerce Store

Although manual backups are the last resort due to the complexity they hold and the potential failure risks they bring, they are still one of the methods for creating website backups. 

If you still choose to go with this backup method for your WooCommerce store, then you have to follow these steps:

Create A WooCommerce File Backup

One of the important tasks in creating a backup is to create the backup for your files. For file backups, you have these options:

cPanel: You can use a file manager to have your WooCommerce files zipped and downloaded. The file managers may vary depending on the software you choose to extract these files.

• FTP: The file transfer protocol (FTP) is another software you can choose to create the file backup for your WooCommerce store. The tricky part with this method is that you need a client installation to view your website files and folders. Once you view them, you can download the root file of your website. 
• SSH: For people with technical knowledge and understanding of the command-line interface, this is also one of the methods for creating file backups. With the help of
• SSH: Connect to your WooCommerce site remotely and download the site files with just a single prompt.

Using any of these three methods, you can successfully create a backup for your WooCommerce files.

Create A Backup For Database

Now, to create the backup of your WooCommerce database, we recommend you do it through phpMyAdmin if you do not want to do it through the command prompt. 

Here are the steps to follow:

1. Select phpMyAdmin from your database
2. Choose the database you want to create a backup for
3. Now choose Export from the menu list
4. Choose the format in which you want to export your WooCommerce database; SQL is the recommended format
5. Now click on the Go button to start creating a backup for the database
6. Once done, put it together with the WooCommerce backup files in the same folder

Backup Using A Plugin

WooCommerce plugins are the best and the right way to create a backup for your WooCommerce store. 

The reasons why a plugin is the best way to create a backup for your online store are as follows:

• Reliable backup method
• Error-free method
• Requires less human effort
• Quick and timely backups 
• Reversible actions
• Controlled backups
• Schedule backups
• Incremental, partial, and complete backups

These are the reasons that make one choose to create a WooCommerce backup with the help of a plugin among all the available options. 

To answer your question on how to back up WooCommerce using a plugin, here are the steps involved:

Step #1: Find a Plugin

The first and foremost step to backing up a WooCommerce store using a plugin is to find the best backup plugin. The extensive plugins available for creating backups are not always secure and up to the mark. Be sure to go with reliable plugins, trustworthy, or more precisely, from vendors on the WooCommerce marketplace. 

Step #2: Install and Activate The plugin

Now that you have found your plugin to create a backup for your WooCommerce store, these are the steps to follow for its installation.

• Go to your WordPress Dashboard → Plugins → Add New, and search for the plugin name that you have decided to integrate
• Now click on it to install the plugin
• Once installation is complete, activate the plugin

Step #3 Choose the Backup Frequency

After successful installation and activation of the plugin, you can manage the plugin settings. 

These settings will enable you to choose:

• Backup frequency and duration 
• Schedule a backup
• Choose the files you want to create a backup for
• Choose storage for the backup created
• Enable or disable email notifications for the backup created

Once you have managed all these settings, all you have to do is click on the “Backup Now” button, and a backup of the WooCommerce store will be created.

Which Method Do You Find Feasible?

Creating a proper and regular WooCommerce store backup should be on your to-do list, as it is crucial. While creating a backup is essential, understanding how to back up a WooCommerce store is also an important consideration. We have explored all possible methods for creating a successful WooCommerce backup; now, the choice is yours. We recommend choosing the plugin method due to its ease and simplicity for creating a backup. With this approach, a successful backup can be made without the worry of your website being hacked, as you will always have a way to restore it. So, ensure your website is backed up by selecting the right WooCommerce plugins!