Automatic backups run every day. A manual one is for the moment just before you change something — so your fallback is minutes old rather than hours. It takes a few seconds and it is the single best habit in WordPress.
The quick way
Open the site and select Create Backup on the Security card.
There is also Add New on the Backups tab, which does the same thing.
What you are asked
Before it runs you can choose what to include:
- Directory — your files.
- Database — your content.
- A note — a line of your own text, stored with the backup.
Unless you have a specific reason, take both. A files-only or database-only backup is occasionally useful to a developer and is rarely what you want in a hurry.
Write a note. Really.
The note is the difference between choosing a backup confidently and guessing from a list of dates. "Before WooCommerce 11 update" or "Working, before new theme" takes five seconds and tells you exactly what you are restoring, possibly weeks later.
It runs in the background — you do not need to sit on the page.
When it is worth doing
- Before updating a plugin or theme, especially a large one.
- Before a WordPress major version update.
- Before editing theme files or anything in the database.
- Before letting a new plugin loose on a live site.
- Before handing the site to someone else to work on.
- Any time the site is exactly how you want it and you are about to experiment.
Remember the allowance
You can hold ten manual backups. Once it is full the oldest goes, so clear out ones you no longer need rather than losing one you did want.
