How to Backup WordPress Multisite

There’s no easy way to say this: If you’re not already creating regular WordPress multisite backups, your entire network could be in jeopardy. 

OK, that may sound severe, but ask yourself this: 

Can you really afford to risk losing every site on your network just because you didn’t have a working backup copy on hand should a security breach or downtime issues cause the whole thing to stop working correctly?

If you answered ‘no’, read on.

In this guide, we’ll show the quickest and simplest way to backup your multisite network so that you’re always fully covered in case of emergencies.

Why You Need to Backup Your WordPress Multisite Network

An important aspect of WordPress maintenance, backing up any site is always a good idea. It means that you always have a good working copy of your site available in case something goes wrong. 

If you’re running a multisite network, then backups are not just important, they’re absolutely essential. 

Look at it this way: 

When all your sites are hosted and managed separately, a problem with one site will typically only affect that individual site. 

Sure, there are exceptions. A problem with the hosting server, for example, will naturally affect all sites on that server, but the truth is that most common WordPress errors are isolated to an individual installation. 

In other words, even if one site is harmed by a plugin error, password breach or other problem, the rest of your sites will be safely unaffected.

However, the very nature of a multisite network means multiple sites running on the same WordPress installation. 

As such, a single problem on that installation can take down your entire network, impacting every site you manage.

Now, can you imagine what would happen if that network went down and you didn’t have a readily available WordPress backup? Worse yet, what if you also lost critical files on your Mac because you didn’t maintain a backup of your important data? 

• How many visitors would be affected? 

• How many of those visitors would turn to a competitor when they can’t get what they want from you?

• How many sales would you lose?

If the answer to any of those questions made you shudder, you’ll understand why backing up your WordPress multisite installation isn’t just a best practice, but a crucial security measure that provides long-term protection. 

Why Multisite Backups Differ From Regular WordPress Backups

OK, we’re all on the same page that multisite backups matter, so why not follow the usual straightforward process for backing up WordPress? 

Simply put, that process isn’t necessarily the best way to overcome the unique challenges presented by a multisite installation. 

Here’s why:

Although you’re managing a number of different websites through a single WordPress dashboard, each one of those sites has its own tables in a database which also contains additional tables for your main WP instance and the overall network. 

What’s more, each site has its own subfolder in the main uploads folder. By default, WordPress automatically generates additional subfolders within these site-specific folders that organize your media uploads by date.

For example, as you’ll see in the screenshot above, you have one folder for every year, and within that, another folder for each month that you uploaded content. 

All told, that’s an awful lot of upload folders, significantly more than you’d get on a single website. 

All those tables and all those countless folders with their countless number of files, ultimately push conventional single-site backup tools beyond their resources. 

In other words:

Backing up a potentially huge network of websites can be a massive undertaking that your average WordPress backup plugin simply wasn’t designed to complete. 

Which, leads us to our next important point:

Choosing The Best Way to Backup Your Multisite Network

If the usual method for backing up a single WordPress site isn’t going to work, you’re going to need a method that will.

Here, you have three options: 

1. Use a WordPress Multisite Plugin

If you’re looking for the simplest, fastest, and most efficient way to create backups of your multisite network, here it is:

Use a plugin specifically designed for the task. 

A quick search for ‘multisite backup’ in the WP Plugin directory reveals Splleing mstkae results, so there’s no shortage of options. 

To help you narrow them down, here’s our top three recommendations:

Plugin	Cost	Best for
UpDraftPlus Multisite Add-On	$25 p/y + UpDraftPlus Premium	Ease of use
BlogVault	$125+ p/y	Large-scale backups
DuplicatorPro	$199.50 p/y	Secure encryption

• UpDraftPlus Multisite Add-On – We’re big fans of the regular UpDraftPlus backup plugin thanks to its simplicity and flexibility. The Multisite Add-On boosts that five-star tool with the additional power and technical settings it needs to handle your network backup. 

• BlogVault – Running a network with over a thousand sites or more? BlogVault offers purpose-built features to handle mammoth backups. Unlike UpdraftPlus, BlogVault also allows you to restore individual sub-sites.

• Duplicator Pro – Custom backup schedules for individual sub-sites, trademark DupArchive file format, and military-grade encryption, Duplicator Pro is a solid addition to any WordPress maintenance toolkit.

2. Using FTP

Using an FTP client like Filezilla certainly gives you more hands-on control over every detail of the backup process. 

It’s also worth noting that using an FTP client means one less plugin. One less plugin means one less impact on your server resources and one less opportunity for a potential plugin conflict. 

On the downside, carrying out this manual process can be time-consuming. That’s not to mention that it can also appear more technically challenging to those not already familiar with FTP. 

3. Use Your Hosting Company’s Automated Backups 

Some WordPress hosting companies provide regular backups, either as a free part of your hosting contract or a paid add-on service. 

On the one hand, letting your web host manage backups for you means you don’t have to do a thing. 

On the other, you have to consider what happens if your host’s servers go down and you can’t even access your backups?

It’s still worth asking your provider about backups and taking advantage of any free service provided to give you an extra emergency copy of your network. However, we’d recommend combining this with either FTP or, preferably, using a WordPress plugin. 

How to Backup WordPress Multisite: Step-by-Step Guide 

Since plugins are the fastest and easiest way to backup a WordPress multisite network, that’s the method we’ll use for this tutorial. 

To be specific, we’re going to use BlogVault. If you chose a different plugin, you may find that the actual steps vary, but the process will be the same:

1. Create an Account 

Head to BlogVault.net and click Sign Up to create an account.

Here, you can sign up with either your Google account or by entering a username and password. 

2. Connect to WordPress

Once you’re logged in, click Add New Site to begin the process of integrating BlogVault into your network. 

Next, enter the login credentials that you use to access your WordPress multisite dashboard.

When you’ve done that, hit Submit . This gets the ball rolling by connecting to WordPress and adding the BlogVault plugin.

With the plugin successfully installed, hit Initiate Sync to finish connecting BlogVault with your multisite network. 

3. Create an Initial Backup 

It may take a few moments for your site to fully sync. Once it’s done, click on Enable Backups to access details about your WordPress backups.

From there, click Backup Now to create your first backup. You can then choose to download this to your server or upload it to a third-party platform, ensuring you’ve always got an emergency copy of your network on hand in case something goes wrong.

4. Enable Real-Time Updates

Creating that initial backup is only part of the process. For maximum protection, head over to the Real Time Updates tab and ensure that it’s switched on.

With this feature enabled, BlogVault will keep tabs on your site and automatically generate a new backup when you carry out updates so that you’re always covered whenever you make changes to your site.

How to Restore Your Multisite Backup 

In one sense, you can think of backups as like an insurance policy for your website. Just like an insurance policy, you’ll hopefully never have to use it. 

However, should the worst happen and you do need to restore a backup, the good news is that it’s a very straightforward process.

Simply log in to your BlogVault account, select your multisite backup from the list of sites, then tap restore.

Backing Up Your WordPress Multisite Network: A Recap

Creating a WordPress multisite backup is a much bigger and more complex process than backing up a single site, but that doesn’t mean it has to be complicated.

While your hosting provider’s in-built backup features can come in handy in those worst-case-scenario moments, and while FTP backups give you full manual control, the truth is that you can easily backup your entire network in minutes using a plugin like BlogVault, Duplicator Pro, or UpDraftPlus. 

Looking for more ways to make multisite management even easier? Check out our top 6 recommended WordPress multisite tools.