This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Darlene Antonelli, MA. Darlene Antonelli is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. Darlene has experience teaching college courses, writing technology-related articles, and working hands-on in the technology field. She earned an MA in Writing from Rowan University in 2012 and wrote her thesis on online communities and the personalities curated in such communities.
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This wikiHow will teach you how to manually restore a WordPress site from a backup using phpMyAdmin and cPanel. If you have a plugin like Jetpack or UpDraftPlus, the backup is stored automatically in your Administration dashboard and can be restored by simply clicking a button.
Steps
Using cPanel
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Log into your cPanel account. You can use any web browser to restore your WordPress's backup in cPanel.
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Click Backup Wizard. It's a green button with the refresh icon under the header "Files."
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Click Restore. You'll see this under the "Restore" header on the right side of the wizard. If you want to make a backup, you can also use the Backup Wizard to do so.
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Click to select MySQL Databases. The database files contain all your site's content and settings.
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Click Choose File. You'll see this in the far left of the wizard window.
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Double-click the database file from your computer to select it, then click Upload. You'll see the upload button under the "Choose File" button.
- Your WordPress site will change according to the uploaded file, but if you want to restore some of your site's files, like your uploaded images, repeat the "Backup Wizard" process, but choose to restore the "Home Directory."[1]
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Using phpMyAdmin
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Go to your WordPress host and sign in. You can use any web browser to access your WordPress's hosting suite, which should also have an area to view your database dashboard.
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Click to select the database you want to import data into. You should see a list of tables or text that says "No tables exist," depending on your setup.
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Click the Import tab. It's along the top of the screen.
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Click Browse. You'll see this next to a text field. If you know the exact file path of your database file, you can enter it here.
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Click Browse again then navigate to and double-click the database file. The file you're using here will replace the current file in your system.
- Make sure "SQL" is selected in the Format drop-down.
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Click Go. It may take a while to upload and install your database file depending on its size and your internet connection, but when it's done, you'll see either a success or error message.
- If you get an error message, your internet connection may have been interrupted or you can look on the WordPress support forums for help.
- If the upload is successful, you'll see your WordPress site change according to the new database.[2]
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Expert Q&A
References
About this article
1. Log into your cPanel account.
2. Click Backup Wizard.
3. Click Restore.
4. Click to select MySQL Databases.
5. Click Choose File.
6. Double-click the database file from your computer to select it, then click Upload.
