Migrating WordPress sites is a common and annoying task. Whether that’s between two different remote web servers, between a development server and production, or from production to local, there are lots of directions your WordPress site migration might flow. All-in-One WP Migration remains the tool of choice for us at WPShout most of the time. It’s certainly one of the best free ways to move a WordPress site.

Video Guide to Migrating Your WordPress Site with All-in-One WP Migration

If you recently switched over to a new host (perhaps because of a great deal from SiteGround, our favorite web host) you’ll need to move your existing site. We’ll detail how to quickly move all the information from your old site on to your new host’s WordPress install (i.e. “migration”) using All in One WP Migration from ServMask. In this tutorial, we’re assuming that your old hosting hasn’t yet expired, and that you’ve already purchased a new plan and installed WordPress on your new host.

Below is a video demo showing David moving a site from production to local (for development) using All-in-One WP Migration:

And below are written step-by-step directions to using All-in-One WP Migration to migrate a WordPres site.

Looking to Move Your Web Host?

If you’re looking to migrate yourself to a new host, we hope you’ll move to a good one. It can be hard to find the right host, because people lie about “good hosting” a lot.

Have a look at our guide to the best WordPress hosting available. It’s a completely honest summary of thousands of real customer reviews, covering all the major hosts in WordPress. It’s the clearest and most truthful picture you’ll find of the best WordPress hosting available now. Have a look:

The Best WordPress Hosting: An Honest Guide (2023)

How to Move a WordPress Site to a New Host with All in One WP Migration

Here’s a step-by-step guide to migrating a WordPress site with All-in-One WP Migration:

1. Log in to the administration area of your existing site (the site you’re moving from), if you aren’t already.
2. Select “Plugins > Add New” from the left side menu.
3. Search for “All in one WP Migration” in the top right hand search field, then click “Install Now” when you find the correct plugin from ServMask.
   

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4. Click “Activate” to tun on the plugin.
5. Find the menu for “All-in-One WP Migration” (under “Tool” in the left sidebar) and select “Export”.
   

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6. Click “Export To” and then select the option for “File“.
   

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7. After the plugin has run, click the button in the pop-up window to download your file. The file that downloads will end in an extension .wpress. Changing this extension name will cause the migration to fail, so leave it as is.
   

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8. Repeat steps 1-4 on your new WordPress install that’s supported by your new host. (In short, make sure you have the plugin installed on the receiving site.)
9. On your new WordPress site (the to one), select “Import” under the menu for “All in One WP Migration”.
10. Drag the .wpress file you downloaded from your original site into the drag and drop window to start the import.
    

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11. Once the file has finished importing click “Continue”. Since this is a new install, you don’t need to worry about anything being overwritten.
    

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12. Once you receive confirmation that that your import has been successful, logout of your dashboard, then log back in. Don’t forget, you’ve imported all the data from your old site, which includes your old password.
    

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13. On the left side menu, select “Settings > Permalinks”, then click “Save Changes”. It’s unnecessary to edit any of the default permalink structure information.
    

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14. That’s it! Check your new site to make sure everything looks correct.

More on WordPress Site Migrations

All-in-One WP Migration is our favorite way to migrate WordPress sites, but there are a number of other options. There are also times (like on very complicated WordPress sites that are set up strangely) where you’ll need to know how to migrate a WordPress site the old-fashioned way. For instructions on that and lots more, here’s our complete guide to WordPress site migrations:

How to Migrate a WordPress Site Without Crying