How to Migrate Your Site With All-in-One WP Migration (2023)

all-in-one WP migration

There are times when you might need to migrate your WordPress site. For instance, you might want to move your local site to a live server, or switch to a new web host. In these cases and more, it’s helpful to have a tool like the All-in-One WP Migration plugin.

This plugin is very easy to use, so even complete beginners can migrate their WordPress websites. Better yet, it will help you auto-replace URLs during the import process and update the permalinks for your new site.

In this post, we’ll take a closer look at the benefits of using the All-in-One WP Migration plugin. Then we’ll guide you through three steps to migrate your WordPress site. Let’s dive in! 🥽

The benefits of using the All-in-One WP Migration plugin

Your hosting provider plays a big role in how well your site performs. If you’re not happy with your current setup, it can be beneficial to switch to a new web host. Unless you want to start over from scratch, you’ll need to move your website from your old host’s server to the new one.

Some hosts will manage this process for you, either for free or at an extra cost. If you need to do it yourself, however, a migration plugin is the easiest way to get the job done. The right tool simplifies the migration process, enabling you to move your website with minimal downtime.

The best migration plugins transfer all files and database content. Plus, depending on what tool you use, you may get access to additional features. For instance, some plugins make sure that URLs are updated correctly, while others assist with testing and troubleshooting after the migration process.

There are many options, but one of the most popular migration plugins is All-in-One WP Migration.

All-in-One WP Migration has been established for years, and has been used by over sixty million websites. Better yet, this plugin is simple to install and configure, making it an excellent option for most WordPress users (even complete beginners).

Additionally, All-in-One WP Migration supports all kinds of files, such as custom uploads, plugins, and theme folders. There are no limitations on host or operating system, making it widely applicable to most websites. What’s more, this tool carries out intelligent auto-replacement of your website URLs during the import process.

How to migrate your site with the All-in-One WP Migration plugin

Now that we’ve introduced you to the All-in-One WP Migration plugin, let’s take a look at three simple steps to migrate your WordPress website using this tool.

Step 1: Install the All-in-One WP Migration plugin

To get started with your site migration, you’ll need to install and activate the All-in-One WP Migration plugin in your WordPress dashboard. Navigate to Plugins → Add New, search for the plugin, and click on Install Now:

Install the All-in-One WP Migration plugin.

After a few seconds, you can select Activate.

If the installation has been successful, you should see an All-in-One WP Migration link appear in the sidebar of your dashboard.

Step 2: Export your WordPress website

Now that you’ve installed the All-in-One WP Migration plugin, you’re ready to export your WordPress website. All you need to do is go to All-in-One WP Migration in your WordPress dashboard. Then, click on Export:

Export your WordPress website with the All-in-One WP Migration plugin.

Next, you’ll be directed to a fresh screen where you can determine the settings for your migration. The first feature you’ll see is the find and replace option:

Use the find and replace feature in the All-in-One WP Migration plugin.

You don’t have to use this feature. However, it can be helpful if you want to replace certain information during the migration process.

If you want to exclude any items from the export, click on Advanced options. Here, you can exclude plugin files, theme files, media files, spam comments, and more:

Export items from the all-in-one WP migration export.

Simply check the items that you don’t want to carry over to your new website.

After that, select Export to and you’ll see a new set of options. For example, you can export your website to Dropbox, Google Drive, or Google Cloud. Or, you can simply download your website as a file:

Export your website as a file.

The export process will begin. Typically, this only takes a few seconds. However, if you have a particularly large website with lots of data (such as an ecommerce store), this process may be slightly longer.

You’ll then be able to download your website by clicking on the Download link in the popup box:

Export your website.

This will save your website to your computer. If you choose to rename the file, it’s important not to change the extension .wpress, since this is required for the plugin to import your file correctly.

Step 3: Import your WordPress website to its new home

At this point, you’ve exported your WordPress website with the All-in-One WP Migration plugin. Now you’re ready to import the data to a new website.

Therefore, you’ll need to head over to your new WordPress website (this might be with a new host or just on a different server). Install and activate the All-in-One WP Migration plugin, just as you did in the first step.

Then, to begin your All-in-One WP Migration import, navigate to All-in-One WP Migration in your WordPress dashboard and select Import:

Import a WordPress website with the all-in-one WP migration plugin.

Find and upload your WordPress export file – the one you created in the previous step of this tutorial.

Import your website.

At this point, the import process will begin. The time this takes will depend on your new host and the size of the migration file.

The plugin will warn you that this process will overwrite your database, media, plugins, and themes. Therefore, it’s a good idea to make sure that you have a backup of your site in case anything goes wrong. Click on Proceed to continue:

Import warning message.

Once the import process is complete, you’ll receive a notification:

Successful all-in-one wp migration import.

The import is nearly finished at this point. All you have to do now is just reset WordPress’ permalinks settings. This is kind of a left-over from the way WordPress configures websites. There’s no backstory here to understand about this step – it just needs to be done.

Click on Save permalinks structure. This page will open in a new tab. You might also find that you’ve been logged out of your website. If so, you’ll need to log back into your new website, using the credentials from your old WordPress site.

Now, you should be able to see your permalink settings. Scroll to the bottom of the page, and click on Save Changes twice to complete the import. At this point, you’ve successfully migrated your WordPress site using the All-in-One WP Migration plugin!

Update permalinks structure to complete the import.

Conclusion 🧐

Migrating a website can be a complex, time-consuming process if you opt for the manual route. That’s why it’s a good idea to use a plugin like All-in-One WP Migration. This way, you can simplify the migration process and perform the entire task in just a few minutes.

To recap, here are three steps to migrate your site using the All-in-One WP Migration plugin:

  1. Install the All-in-One WP Migration plugin. ⚙️
  2. Export your WordPress website. 📤
  3. Import your WordPress website to the new location. 📥

Do you have any questions about how to migrate your site using the All-in-One WP Migration plugin? Let us know in the comments section below!


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DeborahAnn
January 26, 2024 6:00 pm

I wanted to use this plugin to migrate a test site to production but came across this instruction note:

Database Encoding
While your site is most likely using a Latin1 database character set, if your site is using any other type of database encoding like charset UTF-8, you will need to convert your database character set to Latin1.

Since our site is UTF-8, I did not want to change it over to Latin1. Is this still the case?

Thank you in advance for your response.

Member
Ivica Delic
January 28, 2024 12:29 am
Reply to  DeborahAnn

I believe there’s no need to convert it to Latin1. The instruction note you came across seems to be outdated or not applicable to your situation (I have never seen such warning and I have been using All in one since 2014). However, to be on the safe side, try first to migrate your test site to some other test environment without changing the database character set.

If you encounter any issues during the migration process, you might want to consider seeking assistance from the developers of the All-in-One WP Migration plugin for further guidance.

Best of luck with your WordPress migration!

DeborahAnn
January 29, 2024 9:46 am
Reply to  Ivica Delic

Thank you for your response. I made the change manually, but will look at trying what you suggest. Thanks, again!

kim
October 8, 2023 4:42 am

I cant see to get the import past 15%? Should this process take a number of hours?

Una
March 20, 2021 7:12 pm

If I am trying to migrate a site from a main URL to a subdomain, what settings do I need to change while creating export file OR importing the migrate file onto new WordPress installation on the subdomain?

Peggy Adams
October 1, 2020 8:02 pm

This seems to focus on migrating from one host to another. I have a situation where my live site is a subdomain of an existing domain and I’ve been developing a redesign of this site as another subdomain of the same domain. How does this impact using this plugin? The new site will be using a different theme from the currently live site. I’m concerned about lots of downtime trying to get the test site moved over to the live subdomain. Since I’ve never done such a migration before, I’m concerned enough to consider just manually installing the new theme on the live subdomain and then manually making all the same changes. I’d love to be able to use this plugin but I’m just not sure if it will take longer to fix the site after using it or by doing it manually.

The live site is http://KBMSK.org and the test site is https://testkbmsk.org.bradleyumc.org/wp

MH
September 14, 2020 3:58 am

What if I don’t want to migrate the administrator user name and password to the new site? I have a staging site with Hostgator, and I need to migrate all the content over to Blue Host. That Blue Host site is a live WordPress site, and I want to replace the content, theme, and plugins. But how do I prevent the admin user name and password from migrating?

tecshouts
July 9, 2020 8:49 am

very helpful post

alex
June 5, 2020 7:11 am

Will my current site still work after migration to another provider?
will it result in 2 working sites

Fred Meyer
June 5, 2020 10:05 am
Reply to  alex

Hi Alex, Yes, although only one will resolve at a time due to DNS being pointed at one or the other. Hope that’s helpful!

David Hayes
June 9, 2020 9:44 pm
Reply to  alex

Hey Alex, there are subtleties there, but generally yes. (Which is to say: if you’ve moved the site from say, wpshout.com to wpshout.localdev, they’ll both totally work perfectly. If we do this to move WPShout from one host to a different one, DNS and links will become at odds ?)

Gage
May 13, 2020 7:02 am

Between steps 8 and 9 for the new install.

What has to happen with the data bases and user names when you install a new copy of word press? Do all these things need to be named exactly the same as they were on the previous site prior to importing the site with the plug in? Or does the plug in make any changes.

Every tutorial just sort of skips what has to happen for the new WP install. I get it, it’s not part of the plug in; however it’s a big step of the process. Both the existing and new server are going to use Softaculous. Can I just point the install to the correct directory, leave all the default information, install the plug in, and run the import from the plug in.

I am looking for a plug in to help move the site, as it’s all the database coordination that is confusing.

Fred Meyer
May 13, 2020 6:25 pm
Reply to  Gage

Hi Gage, Good question. The big advantage of this and other migration plugins is that they handle the database stuff for you. Try the instructions above and you should see how it works out.

Anand Vadnere
May 8, 2020 12:26 pm

HELLO EVERYONE

I have Exported my website backup a long Time ago.

Now my website has got crashed, and I wanted to upload backup to again make it as it was before.

I Used “All-In-One-Wp-Migration” Plugin for the same.

Now Am trying to Import my Backup again using the same plugin, it gets to stop in between somewhere. It never completes its full Import and therefor from many days my website has became just an Sample Page.

What can I do in this case, Please Help.

Ibrahim
May 1, 2020 2:26 pm

Thank you very much, I had a .wpress backup provided and wasn’t sure how to upload it on my cpanel. This is what I did.

1. Went to my cpanel, went to script and install wordpress on the add-on domain I had created.
2. you need to make sure while you are installing, install the correct version. In my case latest version didn’t work so I selected older version.
3. Once I am in wp-login, I deleted everything in POST, MEDIA, PAGES. All of the default content.
4. Followed what is here. Installed ALL IN ONE WP MIGRATION TOOL. Imported the backup and everything worked as expected.
5. In the end also removed, ARCHIVE, RECENT POST and META from FOOTER going to appearance–> widgets.

KAMODH SINGH
April 25, 2020 9:02 pm

Thanks for giving detailed information about migration.

David Hayes
June 9, 2020 9:54 pm
Reply to  KAMODH SINGH

Glad it helped 🙂

Jessica
February 19, 2020 2:00 pm

This seems like it might be a good solution! However, my export stops when it’s nearly complete and says that there is not enough disk space, yet my hosting plan is unlimited. Any suggestions there??

Bud Manz
November 19, 2019 11:19 am

I have used All In One WP Migration extensively as part of my workflow for years. I use it to update my staging server for client verification, then when done, to make the site live.

The only plugin I use for that!

Paul Walker
September 10, 2019 7:42 am

My site can’t able to upload backup file which I created with all in one migration plugin. It’s uploading very slowly and after reaching 50% its stopped.

I tried many times to upload that backup file but still, there is a problem.

Please help me.

Anthony Wyld
June 20, 2019 10:39 pm

Sitegropund update on All in one WP Migration problem

Our System Administrators and Operations teams are still waiting on a possible bug fix from the Nginx web service’s development team on this issue, however there is currently no ETA on when such a fix may come and be applied as a permanent fix.

For now the only workaround would be to disable SPDY for the account, which can only be done by getting a Dedicated IP address.

Anthony Wyld
June 20, 2019 7:20 pm

Siteground servers no longer work it this plugin as of 20 June 2019. From siteground support:

After further investigation, we found that the issue is caused due to a rare conflict between Nginx SPDY protocol and the archives generated by the plugin. Our system administrators are aware of the downloading problem and they are currently working on a fix. Once they have more information, we will update you in this ticket. Unfortunately we can not suggest any plugin which would be able to assist you with the task.

Derek A Cook
June 19, 2019 1:07 am

Hi

I just downloaded this on your info.
I even upgraded for the extension to enable my 500mb site to be uploaded.

The actual site live works a charm http://www.derekcook.com.au. however when I go to edit the pages on the live site using divi. the pages are just a theme shell (header footer etc no actual content within the pages). Any suggestions would be appreciated.

thanks
derek

Fred Meyer
June 20, 2019 10:24 am
Reply to  Derek A Cook

Hi Derek,

I think the best first route would be AI1WPM’s support: https://servmask.com/contact-support

Let me know if they’re able to help?

Best,
Fred

John
June 18, 2019 4:44 am

All in One WP Migration is a no-no for those that used it in the past and had backed up their websites because when we try restoring files that previously could restore, we now encounter ridiculous restrictions that makes it impossible for you to restore and compels you to go and upgrade.

I don’t have a problem with any developer upgrading and giving restrictions, that’s their prerogative but it’s downright fraudulent to get thousands of people to download your free version and informing them that all’s well if they keep their backup under 512MB only to be shocked and embarrassed to find that time afterwards, that promise is as good as their poo-poo.

This has cause big issues with some web designers/developers who trusted this plugin and now have to deal with their clients or fork out the $69 charged!

I and many others have suffered this and for that simple reason I will NEVER TRUST NOR GO NEAR the developers and their plugins – tech scammers!

Bernadette Morris
June 16, 2019 9:32 pm

Thank you so much. I was waiting on my new host to migrate my site, but they were taking too long. I was able to do it with your help. Thanks again

Steve
May 16, 2019 9:50 pm

Hi
I need to transfer an entire website I am building to a new domain name, as in from oldwebsite.com to newwebsite.com on HostGator, will this plugin do this?
Cheers

Jagad
April 3, 2019 2:05 pm

How to manually restore file from .wpress ?
When i upload manually via ftp because limite hosting and want restore it but sadly need buy pro version

Any other way to restore manually ?

thanks

Nirmal Kumar
March 30, 2019 1:25 pm

Thanks for the tutorial, David. I had faced some issues in the past while moving from my shared hosting to Cloud Hosting and then I had to do manual migration which took hours to process. Next time, I will give this plugin a try.

Shane
March 18, 2019 4:01 pm

Hi, loved the tutorial, do you by chance know how am i supposed to migrate to another host with the same domain name?

Saroj Bhandari
February 15, 2019 9:36 pm

I have just tried to migrate client websites, and the whole process looks fine. You can see the backend, and it all looks fine – but when you try to visit the frontend, the only thing showing is a blank white page.

Please help and/or advise!

Moe
December 23, 2018 12:42 pm

how to upload the file using filezelaa? i mean where to upload it?
the file is very big that it can’t be uploaded using the wp dashboard, it fails and i have to restart again.
so how to do it using filezella?

Wiki Universal
December 18, 2018 8:47 pm

When I am trying to upload File, It stuck at 50 or 60 percent every time. What should I do?

Swapnil Akolkar
December 16, 2018 5:41 am

I stuck after successful migration, site front end works fine but not able work in dashboard only side bar is shown , in the admin dashboard.

Nischal
December 4, 2018 9:05 pm

What happens if i import the file twice? Will it over write or the content will be duplicated?

Fred Meyer
December 6, 2018 8:36 pm
Reply to  Nischal

Good question! If you import the same content twice, it’ll be overwritten, not duplicated.

Manuel López
November 19, 2018 11:44 am

Hi! Do you know if this plugin (All-in-One WP Migration) works in the HostGator hosting?

David Hayes
November 28, 2018 12:13 pm
Reply to  Manuel López

It should! 🙂

Brian Lacouvee
October 31, 2018 1:34 pm

All in one Migration with ServMask has been the easiest and fastest way I have ever used for backup and migrations in 10 years. Used others over the years and did actually pay for a lifetime: ‘ UpdraftPlus’, they were so complicated I hardly ever took backups, nor could i succeed most times. When i did succeed at storing data I could not use the data when I needed it. So complicated, unreliable and very upsetting. Completely unlike All in one Migration with ServMask which I really like. Great peace of mind. Last year I migrated 4 sites from one Web Host to another with All In One Migration with absolutely no trouble in very fast time. Yes I have bought 3 Extensions. Very happy about. I do my backups a well. Fast & easy. They continue to do updates regularly to improve all. All in one Migration with ServMask has been great, and the customer service on the times that I needed them was friendly, great and speedy. If anything as a buyer i wish they would start doing a yearly subscription at some point. Their pricing for a great lifetime backup and migration solution is very inexpensive compared… Read more »

Ezequiel
October 28, 2018 7:39 am

Hi and thank you for the explanation.

I am using All In One WP Migration plugin, and when I tried to import a file I received a notification saying that I need a free extension, directing me to: https://import.wp-migration.com/

I have download it but honestly I have no clue what to do with that zip.

I am working with a localhost with MAMP, just by trying I had to re-install the new WP installation again.

I recorded a video so you can see what is going on.
https://youtu.be/dHS2iy9OTXk

Could you advice?

Thanks in advance

Fred Meyer
December 6, 2018 8:38 pm
Reply to  Ezequiel

I’m sorry for the delay, Ezequiel. Curious, did you get this sorted out or could you still use help on it?

DEBAJYOTI BISWAS
August 15, 2018 3:34 am

How can I do the following? I am facing wordpress backup download problem. I wanna enable .wpress file type on my web server that I can add the .wpress file type to the server configuration (mime type application/octet-stream).?

Kalpana D
August 12, 2018 12:13 pm

This could not have come in better time. I am planning to migrate to a new host. Thanks for the post. It looks easy and I hope my transfer process runs smoothly.

Daniele Pais
July 5, 2018 8:01 pm

Great tutorial.
I use this plugin from long time and helped me to migrate but also rescue many sites.

For those like me that also use this tool to backup a site rather than only use it when a migration is needed, I suggest to set to your calendar periodically backups so that if the worst happens your website can be rescued with no fuss.

Nurul Arefin
June 14, 2018 12:39 am

I am used to follow the steps you showed in your tutorial in my several websites. One issue is putting me into a big confusion. Let me explain. I want to move my sites from HostGator to BlueHost. My HostGator account will expire soon, so I moved 4 sites to BlueHost. All things go normal except 1 issue in step 12. After I click the link ‘Permalinks Settings’ and later click Save buttons twice on permalinks structure, then a login prompt opens. Here is the confusing part. I can’t login there with my BlueHost WordPress credentials, and then I remembered the point “Don’t forget, you’ve imported all the data from your old site, which includes your old password.”, so I tried with the old username & password, I could login successfully and it seemed like I’m exactly on my old WordPress installation hosted on old hosting server HostGator. The BlueHost menu is disappeared which was visible when I installed WordPress on BlueHost (I understand that the import or restoration process of the website backup file since it “imported all the data from my old site, which includes my old password”). Is this normal? Is my current WP installation is really… Read more »

Bipin Gaikwad
June 5, 2018 12:45 am

Hie Harper,

Hope you doing well.
I have one query related to “All in One WP Migration” plugin. I have successfully hosted my old site to a new site. But I just want to change admin’s username and password for the new site.
Is it possible ?
If yes, then please let me know.

Thanks and Regards.

Andrew
April 14, 2018 10:58 pm

Hi Harper, I’m currently hosting my domain and website through Name.com & WordPress Hosting Management that’s supplied via the name.com console. I wanted to leave my registered domain with Name.com and have setup a new account with Siteground so I can have my website hosted more locally (closer to Australia) as Name.com servers are US based and the site is sometimes slow. I wanted to then migrate my website from Name.com/Wordpress to the Siteground/Wordpress webhosting facility. Sounds all pretty straight forward. Only piece of the puzzle for mere dummies like me, is that I thought I had to migrate my website hosted under Name.com/Wordpress to Siteground/Wordpress – but it turns out the WordPress Hosted Management setup is all central and all “one in the same”. So all I needed to do is redirect the nameservers under Name.com to the Siteground nameservers. Not actually migrate anything which is why I’m puzzled on why the need to export and import if the website already exists in the Wprdpress Hosted management incident. Not a big deal or that effective to just redirect nameservers. So I’m also looking for advise on “where to from here”? I’d like to have my website “hosted” by Siteground… Read more »

Nancy
April 10, 2018 11:49 am

By far, this is the easiest method moving sites to the new host. It was very easy and I had no problems at all.

To make it 100% zero downtime, just edit your Computer “Hosts” file to get access & working on your new wordpress website inside new hosting while keeping your old site still accessible for public. After finished working on site (Importing) inside your new host then simply update your DNS from your Domain Provider. Bam! Zero Downtime Migration like pro’s.

Thank you Harper for this quick and easy to follow tutorial! & Thank you ServMask for creating such a great plugin for us! plus for free! 🙂

MANOJ KUMAR
April 2, 2018 12:59 am

Thank you very much. It completely reduce my works and save times 🙂

jason
March 6, 2018 8:30 pm

It works perfectly fine thanks.

lona
January 25, 2018 8:14 am

I did exactly as you showed. I saved the permalinks page twice after eachother, but my site keeps linking to the old site! What can I do to fix this? Thanks

Fred Meyer
January 25, 2018 1:55 pm
Reply to  lona

Hi Iona,

I’d be happy to take a look–follow up with us directly by email if you’d like?

Fred

Kip
January 10, 2018 12:01 pm

This is by far the best migration plugin. I have moved many sites using it. A couple of things to remember: If you are moving to a new server/host (e.g. Godaddy to Blue Host) make sure you go to where your domain is registered, and change the nameservers. Remember, there is a bit of propagate time and the new server/host may have your site on a temp.domain string/url. Then go into your WP dashboard on the new host/server, under settings/general, make sure the WP Address and Site address are set to your domain and not to the temp domain. Don’t forget to dump cache and you should be set to go. Thanks for a great plugin.

Love Saxena
November 30, 2017 9:26 pm

Thanks a lot.
Life saving article

Moses
November 15, 2017 5:31 am

Thank you very much, just what I needed to migrate with no difficulty or complications.

william
November 2, 2017 12:42 am

According to you, you switch your site into a new host, but with the same domain, I think. If with a new domain, Can I migrate my old site into a new host with the new domain? I tried, but failed, I think the permalinks are the problem. Do you know how to solve the problem?

Ankur
October 18, 2017 5:28 am

This is fantastic. Awesome
Thanks s ton!!!!

Laksha
October 16, 2017 5:40 pm

It’s a good plugin but if you want only database, so the format is not nice.

https://wordpress.org/plugins/export-database-littlebizzy/

can make only the SQL and ZIP format, for easy one.

sanjeev
September 30, 2017 8:50 am

Hi team,
A great way to explain, really very nice work keep it up, if you have a process on migrating via file manager or filezilla i will be highly thankful to you. regards
sanjeev

Fred Meyer
October 2, 2017 11:55 am
Reply to  sanjeev

Hi Sanjeev,

Well, you also need to migrate the database, which you can’t do via an FTP client. So it gets complicated. Here’s a guide we wrote to the process.

Thanks!

Fred

Karen Forgy
August 14, 2017 1:16 pm

Do you have to change the nameservers also when using All-in-one WP?

Marco
July 29, 2017 7:42 am

Looks easy – thank for the explantion of All in one Wp Migration.

Do you have any experience with the FTP Extension?