SiteVault – Backup, Restore, Migration & Cloning

There is no limit on the number of backups. Old backups are automatically cleaned up based on your retention settings. The default retention is 30 backups.

Backups are stored in wp-content/uploads/sitevault/backups/ . The folder gets .htaccess, web.config and index.php guard files, and every file name includes a random part. On nginx, which ignores .htaccess, add a server rule that denies that folder.

Backup time depends on your site size. Small sites (under 100MB) typically complete in under a minute. Larger sites may take several minutes.

Yes! Create a migration package and use the included installer on your new server. URLs are automatically replaced.

Backups are stored in folders with access-guard files and unguessable file names, and log files leave out file names. A restore takes a copy of your current database first and puts it back if the restore fails.

Yes! Backup and restore works with WooCommerce sites.

Yes. Open the SiteVault Schedules page in the admin menu and create a schedule at daily, weekly, or monthly cadence. Each schedule has its own backup type (full, database-only, plugins-themes, or uploads-only) and retention count, and you can run any schedule manually from the same page.

Full – Database + all files (plugins, themes, uploads) Database – Just the MySQL database (fastest) Plugins & Themes – Just plugins and themes, no uploads or database Uploads – Just media library files

Go to Backups, find your backup, and click “Restore”. The plugin opens a confirmation screen showing which tables and files will be replaced and asks you to type “RESTORE” to confirm — this prevents accidental overwrites. Once confirmed, SiteVault validates the backup and restores your site automatically.

Yes! Each backup has a download button so you can save copies locally or transfer to another server.

Yes. SiteVault is built for shared hosting from the ground up. The async backup engine uses chunked ZIP streaming, primary-key pagination, adaptive chunk sizing, and semaphore locking — all designed to complete on hosts with strict 30-second PHP timeouts, 128MB memory limits, and limited file handle counts.

No. Backup and restore operations only run when you trigger them manually or when a schedule you configured fires — visitor-facing pages are never touched. Scheduled runs use WP-Cron and hand off immediately to a background async engine, so the request that fires the cron isn’t delayed. The admin UI loads only when you visit a SiteVault admin page.

Yes. Translated posts are backed up like any other WordPress content — the language taxonomy, translation meta, and per-language post records are all included in full and database-only backups. After a migration or restore, translated content reappears with all language relationships intact.

Yes. Create a Migration Package on your live site, download it, and run the included standalone installer ( installer.php ) on your staging server, local environment, or a fresh WordPress install. SiteVault automatically remaps the site URL and handles serialized data so widgets, theme customizer settings, page builder content, and plugin options all work without manual search-and-replace.

There is no fixed maximum — SiteVault streams ZIP archives with adaptive chunk sizing, so the limit is your server’s available disk space and execution time. For very large sites, the database-only backup option remains fast even when full backups take longer.

Yes. Cache folders in wp-content are not part of what SiteVault backs up (they regenerate on the destination site after restore, so backing them up is wasted space). The plugin’s own admin pages are not cached because most caching plugins exclude /wp-admin/ by default.