Backup & Restore

The Backup & Restore tab packages your site into a single portable .emcp archive and restores it. Both run from your browser in short, resumable slices, so large sites finish reliably on modest hosts. Keep the tab open while a backup or restore runs.

Create a backup

1. Open EMCP Tools → Backup, Sync & Migrate → Backup.
2. Choose what to include:
   • Full: database + all files (themes, plugins, uploads).
   • Database only: the database, no files.
   • Files only: files, no database.
3. Click Create backup. Progress is shown live; the finished archive appears in the Available to restore list with its size and timestamp.
4. Use Download to save the .emcp off-site, or leave it in place to restore later.

Backups don’t need big PHP limits

Creating a backup adapts to your host automatically. If you want large backups to package and download faster, see Server upload limits.

Restore a backup

You can restore any archive in the Available to restore list, or upload one from another site.

From a listed backup

1. On the Restore tab, find the archive in Available to restore.
2. Click Restore, confirm, and keep the tab open. The plugin imports the database, extracts files, and rewrites URLs to this site.

By uploading an .emcp

1. Click Upload a backup and choose your .emcp file.
2. The uploader sends it in chunks and adapts to your host. If a chunk is rejected it automatically retries with a smaller one, so it works even behind a firewall or a strict request-size cap. Real progress drives the bar.
3. When the upload finishes the archive appears in the list; click Restore.

The reliable method for very large sites: FTP drop

For very large archives, or any host that fights browser uploads, skip the uploader:

1. Copy the .emcp file into wp-content/emcp-backups/uploads/ via FTP/SFTP or your host’s file manager.
2. It appears in Available to restore with no browser upload at all.

This has no size limit and bypasses every request-size cap. See Server upload limits for the details.

What a restore does, and does not, change

A restore:

• Imports the database and rewrites the site address and Elementor page-data URLs to this site (a serialization-safe search-replace, so serialized data and Elementor JSON stay valid).
• Extracts the archived files into place.

A restore never:

• Modifies wp-config.php or your security salts.
• Logs you out. Your current session is preserved even though the database is replaced mid-restore.

Caution

A restore replaces this site’s content with the archive’s. Take a fresh backup of the destination first if you might need to roll back.

Driving it with an AI agent

A connected agent can create and list backups with the create-backup and list-backups MCP tools (both on by default). See the module overview.