Backups on Flywheel
How automatic and manual backups work on Flywheel, how to restore a backup, and what to do if something goes wrong.
Flywheel automatically backs up your WordPress site every night. If something goes wrong — a bad plugin update, accidental content deletion, a hack — you can restore your site to a previous state quickly and easily.
Quick summary
Flywheel backs up your site's files and database every night and keeps each backup for 30 days. You can restore a backup from your site's Backups tab in a few clicks. We manage backups on your behalf, but you can also start a restore yourself.
How Flywheel backups work
Flywheel runs automatic backups every night. Each backup captures:
- Your site's own files: the wp-content folder (your theme, plugins and media uploads) and anything else unique to your site. Flywheel says its backups leave out the default WordPress files.
- Your WordPress database: all your content, settings, users, and page data.
Flywheel stores backups on different servers from your live site. It keeps each backup for 30 days, then deletes it permanently. To keep a backup for longer, download a copy.
Viewing your backup history
Log in to Flywheel and open your site dashboard.
Click the Backups tab on your site's dashboard.
View the list of backups. You'll see the backups from the last 30 days, with details about each one and any description added when it was made.
Restoring a backup
Restoring overwrites your current site
Restoring a backup replaces your current live site with the backed-up version. Any changes made after the backup was taken will be lost. A restore can't be cancelled once it starts, and your site is offline while it runs. If in doubt, contact us before restoring.
Open the Backups tab in your Flywheel site dashboard.
Find the backup you want to restore. Choose the most recent one before the problem occurred.
Click Restore next to that backup.
Confirm the restore. Flywheel asks you to confirm, since this overwrites the current site. Tick the confirmation box, type your Flywheel password, then click Restore backup.
Wait for the restore to complete. How long it takes depends on the size of your site. Larger sites take longer. Visitors may see an error page until it finishes.
Check your site. Visit your live site in a fresh browser tab to verify it's working correctly.
Creating a manual backup
Before making significant changes (like a large update), it's good practice to take a manual backup:
Open the Backups tab in your site dashboard.
Click Create new backup. Add a short description when asked (it helps you tell backups apart later), then click Create Backup.
Wait for it to complete. A progress bar shows how it's going. When it's done, the new backup appears in your backup list.
Downloading a backup
You can download any backup in your list. This is useful if you want to keep a local copy or move your site to another host. On the Backups tab, hover over (or tap) the three-dot menu next to the backup and choose the download option. Flywheel then emails a download link to the address in your Flywheel profile. A small site's backup usually arrives within a few minutes. Larger sites take longer.
Common questions
How far back do backups go?
Flywheel keeps each nightly backup for 30 days, then deletes it permanently. The 30 days is the same on every plan.
Are backups included on all Flywheel plans?
Yes. Nightly automatic backups are included on all Flywheel plans. They cover your live site only: Flywheel doesn't back up staging sites.
Do I need to do anything to enable backups?
No. Flywheel's automatic backups run without any configuration. They're on by default.
What if I need a backup from more than 30 days ago?
Flywheel deletes backups after 30 days, so a backup that old won't exist. This is one reason we recommend downloading occasional manual backups for important milestones (like just before a major redesign).
Related guides
- The Flywheel dashboard explained
- Staging sites on Flywheel
- Backups on WP Engine
- Backups on Kinsta
- Restoring your site from a backup
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