Restore a WordPress site from a backup

Updated October 7, 2026 · 3 min read

Bring a WordPress site to one of your servers from a backup file: a cPanel full backup, All-in-One WP Migration, Duplicator or UpdraftPlus. Works when the old site is offline.

On this page

Which backups work
Step 1: Start the restore
Step 2: Add the backup
Step 3: Choose the site
Step 4: Check and switch
What Nuvlo does with the backup
Limits

Before you start

The backup file, or a download link to it. Backups can be up to 50 GB.
To upload from your computer: a connected S3 storage provider with a bucket. See Connect backup storage. With a download link you don’t need one.
An active server. You can also create one during the restore.
Permission to manage sites.

Which backups work

Made with	What to add
cPanel full backup	The `backup-….tar.gz` file from Backup or Backup Wizard. Nuvlo finds every WordPress site in it, also in subfolders, with its database.
All-in-One WP Migration	The `.wpress` file from Export, File. Compressed exports work too.
Duplicator	The archive (`…_archive.zip` or `.daf`). The `installer.php` file isn’t needed.
UpdraftPlus	All files of one backup: the database (`…-db.gz`) and the `plugins`, `themes`, `uploads` and `others` ZIP files.

Nuvlo recognises the format from the file’s content, so file names don’t matter.

ImportantBackups protected with a password or encryption can’t be read. Export them again without one.

Step 1 Start the restore

Click Create, then Move an existing site. On Move a site to Nuvlo, click Restore from a backup file under the address field, then Continue with the backup.

If the old site is still online, you can also check its address first and choose Restore a backup under How should Nuvlo move it?.

Step 2 Add the backup

Under Add the backup, choose how it gets to Nuvlo:

Option	How it works
Upload files	Choose your storage and bucket, then drop the files. They go from your browser straight into your own bucket, under `nuvlo-imports/`. The first upload adds a rule to the bucket that lets your browser upload to it (CORS).
Download link	Paste the link, one per line. Share links from Dropbox and Google Drive work as they are. Other services need a direct download link.

Under Server for the site, pick the server. It downloads and unpacks the backup, and the site is created there. Then click Upload and unpack on … or Download and unpack on ….

Keep the page open while files upload. Once unpacking starts, you can leave.

Step 3 Choose the site

Nuvlo lists every WordPress site it found, with the WordPress version, file and database size and plugins. Pick the one to restore.

Under Address of the copy, choose the site’s own domain, a temporary address or another domain, as when you move a site. See Move a WordPress site to Nuvlo.

Click Copy … to …. Nuvlo creates the WordPress site, copies themes, plugins and uploads, imports the database and clears caches.

Step 4 Check and switch

If the old site still answers, Nuvlo compares its pages with the copy. Then point the domain to the new server and click Finish moving …, as in a normal move.

Finishing or cancelling deletes the unpacked backup from the server and the uploaded files from your bucket. The site Nuvlo created stays, and so does your own copy of the backup.

What Nuvlo does with the backup

Only the site’s wp-content folder and its own database tables are restored. Nuvlo runs current WordPress core and its own wp-config.php.
Database users, permissions, triggers, stored procedures and other databases in a dump are skipped.
Links, folders that point outside the backup, and files with .. in their path are skipped.
Unpacking stops when a backup unpacks to far more data than its size suggests, or when the server’s disk gets full.
Caches and older backups inside wp-content aren’t restored.

Limits

Backups up to 50 GB, in up to 30 files. For larger sites, use the Nuvlo Migrator plugin or SSH, which copy without an archive.
WordPress multisite networks can’t be restored automatically yet.
A Hetzner Storage Box can’t take uploads from the browser. Use an S3 bucket or a download link.
If your storage provider doesn’t let Nuvlo add the upload rule, add a CORS rule that allows PUT from your Nuvlo address in the bucket’s settings, or use a download link.