Written by Admin on 2025-05-06

How to Download a Live WordPress Website

If you're looking to download a live WordPress website, there are a few steps you'll need to follow. This may be useful in cases where you want to move your website to a new host or make a local backup for testing purposes. In this article, we'll walk you through the steps you'll need to take to download a live WordPress website.

Step 1: Create a Full Backup

The first step in the process is to create a full backup of your live website. This is important as it will ensure that all of your website's files and data are preserved during the download process. You can create a full backup using a backup plugin or by following the steps outlined in our article on creating a WordPress backup.

Step 2: Download the Backup Files

Once you've created a full backup, you'll need to download the backup files to your local computer. You can download the backup files through your hosting control panel or by using an FTP client such as FileZilla. To download the backup files through your hosting control panel, log in to your web host and navigate to the backup section. From there, select the backup file you want to download and click the Download button.

If you're using an FTP client, connect to your website via FTP and navigate to the backup file location. Then, right-click on the file and select the Download option. This will download the backup file to your local computer.

Step 3: Restore the Backup File

Now that you have the backup file on your local computer, you can restore the backup file to your local server. This will allow you to access your website on your local computer. To restore the backup file, you'll need to have a local server environment set up. There are many local server applications available, such as XAMPP or WAMP.

Once you have a local server environment set up, you can restore the backup file. Open the backup file in a file archiving software such as WinRAR or 7-Zip. Extract the backup file to the htdocs folder of your local server. This will create a folder with all of your website files and data.

Step 4: Update the Database Connection

The final step is to update the database connection. Since you've moved your website to a different server, you'll need to update the database connection to reflect this change. Open the wp-config.php file in the root directory of your WordPress installation.

Locate the following lines of code:

php define('DB_NAME', 'database_name'); define('DB_USER', 'database_username'); define('DB_PASSWORD', 'database_password'); define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');

You'll need to update the values for DBNAME, DBUSER, and DBPASSWORD to reflect your local server setup. Change the value for DBHOST to "localhost" if you're running a local server environment. Save the changes to the wp-config.php file.

Final Thoughts

Downloading a live WordPress website can be a great way to move your website to a new host or create a local backup for testing and development purposes. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can easily download a live WordPress website and set it up on your local server.