How to Backup WooCommerce Database

Imagining what would happen if your website went down unexpectedly. You could lose all of your website data, and if you run an online business, you could even lose customer information. This not only has financial consequences, but it also has a negative impact on morale.

One of the most crucial elements of maintaining a website is keeping fresh backups at all times. Therefore, if any negative circumstances occur, this insurance provides protection. It is especially important for WooCommerce sites. For example, some of the situations that cause your WooCommerce data loss can happen, such as server outages, website hacking, update failure, and so on. There is no guarantee that your website will not be susceptible to these issues.

To solve this, in this post, we’ll discuss three different methods that can help you backup WooCommerce databases.

Let’s begin!

Why do you need a WooCommerce database backup?

Data backup is like a ‘shield’ that protects your Woocommerce store. Normally, when upgrading, you could encounter extension and plugin incompatibilities, as well as custom code problems. A backup ensures that you can always roll back to the last version.

What will happen if your database is lost? You will lose clients and money, both of which will significantly impact your whole business model. Backing up your WooCommerce is the least you can do to ensure that your business remains operational.

Here’s the reasons why you need to backup your WooCommerce database:

• Ensure information is always safe when faced with unanticipated risks
• Ensure compatibility between extensions and plugins
• Avoid risks to consumer security and even corporate money

How to backup WooCommerce database

There are three methods to backup databases for WooCommerce, and we’ll go through them one by one.

Method 1: Manual backup

The manual backup technique is not complicated, but it can be risky and time-consuming. It usually includes the following steps:

Step 1: Download WordPress Files

Upload your WordPress site files to your local system (your computer or laptop). You can do this via:

1. A FTP tool like FileZilla
2. File manager in your web host account’s cPanel

So first, you must backup the web files. Using an FTP client like FileZilla to connect to your web server, which downloads all the files in the root of where you have installed your WordPress instance. If you don’t have FileZilla, download it first.

Next, open your FileZilla on your system. Then, create a directory on your local computer system where you can add backup of your WordPress files. Connect your server and navigate to your WordPress installation.

Go to FileZilla > Server, and click ‘Force showing hidden files’

Select all of your files and save them to the previously created folder. It will take some time for the download to complete.

Step 2: Backup WooCommerce Database

In the next step, you need to backup your database. Through your host’s database management panel, access phpMyAdmin.

Then, select the database from the wp-config.php file. After you select the database, you will see all the tables on your screen.

Step 3: Export database

Select all the tables and click Export.

It should be noted that this process is not ideal for running on a regular basis. Even the smallest error may have a significant impact. If you decide to backup your database by this method, please consider it carefully!

Method 2: Backup via your web server

Most WordPress hosting providers offer backups included in their plans or as an extra-paid feature. However, they usually offer daily backups. It would be difficult to find a host that offers real-time backups. But, if you really must backup via your server, here’s how to do it.

• Contact your hosting provider and download the final backup. If you have the on-demand backup option, start afresh backup and then download it.
• Export and backup your database via manual method. In addition, you can export the database to your local directory using MySQL manager.

For example, we’ll show you how to backup a WooCommerce database with Cloudways, one of the best WooCommerce hosting providers in the market.

Step 1: Log-in to Cloudways and choose your WooCommerce website on Applications.

Step 2: Next, go to Servers > Server Management > Backup. You need to enable Local backups by clicking on the pop-up near it.

Step 3: You can choose an On-demand backup. It will perform a backup of all your data and files. Click on the Table backup now to start this process.

As mentioned above, server backups are generally known to be unreliable. When using this approach to backup databases, you still run the risk of losing important information. Therefore, please only use this method when absolutely necessary.

3 best plugins to backup WooCommerce database

The most convenient method to backup data on WooCommerce is to use an automated backup plugin. It is simple and quick to set up and utilize. Many plugins, including BlogVault, UpdraftPlus, and BackupBuddy, have simplified the backup process and made backups simple to create and manage.

And then, we’ll introduce you to how to backup your WooCommerce database by using the above three plugins.

1. UpdraftPlus

Back up your files and databases to the cloud and recover them with a single click! UpdraftPlus is the world’s highest-ranked and most popular scheduled backup plugin with over three million active installs. This plugin assists you in simplifying backups and restoration. Although it is free, upgrading to premium allows you to access advanced features such as scheduling, security, restoring, recovering, and migrating.

Highlight features:

• Backs up to more cloud options than others
• Allow setting up automatic backup schedules
• Easily duplicates or migrates websites
• Multisite/multi-network compatible
• Backs up non WP files and databases to multiple remote destinations

Price: free

2. Blogvault

Blogvault is an ideal WooCommerce backup solution for casual users. No matter how little, all changes to your site’s activity will be promptly backed up to the cloud. This plugin provides real-time backups on higher-tier plans, which is great for WooCommerce stores. Moreover, it also provides a WooCommerce security function that protects your website effectively.

Highlight features:

• Changes captured and backed up instantly
• Easy rollback from any of the 365 backups
• View activity updates to quickly identify problems
• Custom table backups for WooCommerce stores
• Compatible with all web hosts

Price: $7.4

3. BackupBuddy

BackupBuddy is an iThemes premium plugin that helps you backup and migrates data. This plugin’s biggest advantage is its license-based service. You are allowed to use this plugin for any website if you have its license. There are three packages for you to choose from based on the number of websites and storage space you need.

Highlight features:

• Set up backup schedules to run automatically
• Send and store your backup files off-site in a safe, secure location
• Customize backup contents
• Allow downloading the backup zip files
• Allow moving your entire WooCommerce site to a new host or server

Price: $80

Some tips for managing your WooCommerce store’s backup

When backing up your WooCommerce store, you should keep the following points in mind.

• Make sure you have several backups and that they are easily accessible and downloadable. If something happens to your sites that prevent them from being accessed, your backups will be useless unless you can access them. Storing your backups offsite allows you to avoid becoming passive in such situations.

• Using Google Analytics, determine the time of day when your website receives the least traffic/orders. If you are using periodic backups, schedule them for that period.

• If you are concerned about order data loss when restoring a backup, you can use the Maintenance mode plugin. In this way, you can temporarily prevent your site from accepting new orders.

• If you are using a backup plugin, make sure this plugin offers good customer support. In case of any problems, you must have access to support from their team.

Conclusion

Backing up your WooCommerce database is part of basic website management. The loss of data has a much greater impact on an online business than it does on a normal website. Customer information, company strategic information, and essential orders must not be lost.

To set up an effective backup strategy for your WooCommerce store, we highly recommend using a real-time WooCommerce backup plugin that backup all site activity.

Automated processes are a simple but ideal method to monitor website efficiency and reduce outages. We hope this post is helpful in effectively backing up your WooCommerce database.

Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment below if you are still unclear about something!