Unable to export site after Business plan expired (admin email no longer open)

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  degaulledrivecoc · Member · Jan 23, 2026 at 12:03 am

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  [This is a follow-up on a previous forum topic (“Domain degaulledrivecoc.com points to WordPress.com but not showing in my accoun”).]

  Hi, I’m trying to restore and migrate a WordPress.com site to another host so it can be brought back online.

  The Business plan on the account expired, which caused the connected domain to disconnect. I understand that part. The complication is that the email address associated with the primary Admin on the account has since been terminated and is no longer accessible.

  When I attempt to export the site content, WordPress sends the download link to that admin email address, which I can’t access. This is currently blocking both export and migration.

  What I’m trying to determine is:

  • Whether there’s a way to change or add an admin email (or temporary admin) without access to the original email, or
  • Whether the export/download link can be redirected to a different email address, or
  • If restoring the Business plan would allow me to resolve this another way without needing access to the terminated email.

  I’m may be able to restore the plan if that’s the required step, but I want to be sure it will actually unblock the admin/email issue before doing so.

  Thanks for any guidance.

  The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

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  degaulledrivecoc · Member · Jan 27, 2026 at 1:43 am

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  To reiterate: this site was previously on a Business plan which expired. I am logged in as an administrator, but the export download link is not appearing and the notification email goes to an inaccessible address. We need a direct download link for the export so the site can be migrated.

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  staartmees · Member · Jan 27, 2026 at 5:29 am

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  There is no need to create a duplicate thread. You already got answered over 3 months ago by a Staff member – https://wordpress.com/forums/topic/domain-degaulledrivecoc-com-points-to-wordpress-com-but-not-showing-in-my-accoun/#post-4092238

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  degaulledrivecoc · Member · Jan 27, 2026 at 3:30 pm

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  Hi, thanks for your input. I noted in the question this is a follow-up to that thread. I am logged in to the site as an administrator, but the export download link is not appearing and the notification email goes to an inaccessible email address. We need a direct download link for the export so the site can be migrated.

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  staff-webwizard · Staff · Jan 29, 2026 at 1:00 pm

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  Hi there! Could you please confirm that you are:

  • logged in to the degaulledrivecoc WordPress.com account?
  • generating a downloadable file on this page: https://wordpress.com/backup/degaulledrivecoc.wordpress.com?

  If you are logged in to the account, you can change the email address associated with it here: https://wordpress.com/me/account

  Also, in case you are interested, the Personal and Premium plans now also support backups. If you are interested, we can help you restore your backup here at WordPress.com at a lower cost (compared to your previous plan), as long as the size of the site doesn’t exceed the storage available in your new plan.

  You can compare our plans here: https://wordpress.com/pricing/