Nota Backup & Restore – WordPress Backup, Migration & Clone
Nota Backup & Restore lets you back up, restore and migrate your WordPress site with one click — all files + database in a single ZIP. Designed for reliability on shared hosting: chunked processing ensures backups never fail due to PHP timeouts or memory limits.
Nota Backup & Restore works as a complete site duplicator — clone your WordPress site to a staging environment, migrate to a new host, or restore from any backup with one click.
Try It Now — Free Demo
Want to test the plugin before installing? Launch a free demo site with Nota Backup & Restore pre-installed — create a real backup, browse the history, and download the ZIP. No signup required.
Free Features
- One-click full backup — all WordPress files + database in a single ZIP
- Selective backup — database only or files only
- Chunked ZIP creation — never times out, even on large sites
- Configurable chunk settings — files per chunk and MB per chunk
- AES-256 encryption for database backups
- Custom exclusion rules — skip any folder or file path
- Backup history with status, size, duration and error details
- Estimated backup size before you start
- Dashboard widget showing last backup status
- Standalone installer — migrate to a new domain without WordPress
- WP-CLI commands — create, list, verify and manage backups from the terminal (
wp nota) - Server compatibility panel — shows PHP version, ZipArchive, PDO SQLite availability and more
Premium Features (Pro Version)
The following features require the Pro version:
- SQLite archive format — faster compression, smaller files, incremental updates (only changed files rewritten)
- Cloud Storage — Google Drive, Amazon S3, Wasabi, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, FTP/SFTP
- Automatic scheduled backups — daily, weekly, monthly
- Admin panel restore — one-click restore directly in WordPress
- Emergency Recovery — standalone restore page that works even when WordPress is broken
- Email notifications — success and failure alerts
- Staging environment — create a staging site, test changes, push to live
How It Works
- Go to Nota Backup in the WordPress admin sidebar
- Click Start Backup
- The plugin creates a ZIP file of all your files and database
- Download the ZIP from the backup list
Migrate or Clone Your WordPress Site
Nota Backup & Restore doubles as a free WordPress migration and cloning tool:
- Move to a new host — back up on the old server, restore on the new one with the standalone installer
- Change your domain — all URLs and file paths are replaced automatically, including inside serialized PHP data
- Clone a site — duplicate your site to a subdirectory or a new server for testing or development
- Transfer from local to live — build locally, then move the entire site to production in minutes
No size limits, no premium unlock for migration — the standalone installer is included in the free version.
Standalone Installer
The installer is a standalone migration tool that runs without WordPress. It is downloaded separately from the admin panel — it is not bundled inside the backup ZIP:
- Download the backup ZIP and the Installer PHP file from the backup list
- Upload both files to the new server’s web root
- Open
https://newdomain.com/installer_{backup_name}.php - The installer extracts the ZIP, then prompts for new database credentials and new site URL
- Follow the step-by-step wizard — URLs and paths are replaced throughout the database
WP-CLI Commands
Nota Backup & Restore is fully WP-CLI ready. Manage backups straight from the terminal — ideal for servers, automation and CI/CD pipelines. All commands return proper exit codes, so failures stop your scripts.
wp nota backup — Create a backup.
* --type=<full|db|files> — what to back up (default: full)
* --tables=<a,b,c> — limit the database export to specific tables
* --exclude=<path1,path2> — exclude files/folders (relative paths resolve against the WordPress root)
* --encrypt — encrypt with the saved AES-256 password
* --notes=<text> — store a note with the backup
* --porcelain — output only the resulting filename (for scripts)
wp nota list — List backups (`--format=table|json|csv|ids`).
wp nota info <id> — Show details for one backup.
wp nota verify <id> — Check that a backup archive exists and is readable.
wp nota download <id> [--output=<path>] — Copy a backup file to a chosen location.
wp nota installer <id> [--output=<path>] — Generate the standalone migration installer for a backup.
wp nota delete <id> | --all | --keep=<n> [--yes] — Delete backups.
wp nota status — Show the current backup engine status.
wp nota cleanup — Clear a stuck/interrupted backup state.
Examples:
wp nota backup --type=full --notes="nightly"
wp nota backup --type=db --tables=wp_posts,wp_postmeta
wp nota backup --exclude=wp-content/uploads/videos,wp-content/cache --encrypt
wp nota list --format=json
In-dashboard restore is a Pro feature; on the free version, use wp nota installer <id> to migrate via the standalone installer.
External Services
This plugin does not connect to any external APIs or services. No data is transmitted to any third party. All backup processing (ZIP creation, database export, encryption) runs entirely on your own server.
The plugin displays a link to https://www.wp-nota.com/pricing/ in the admin UI. This is a plain HTML hyperlink — clicking it opens the page in a new browser tab. No data of any kind is sent to this URL by the plugin.
Because no external service is used, no Terms of Use or Privacy Policy link is applicable to this plugin.
Note: The Pro version (distributed separately, not hosted on WordPress.org) connects to third-party cloud storage services (Google Drive, Amazon S3, Wasabi, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, FTP/SFTP). That code is not present in this plugin.