WordPress Migration: How to Move Your WordPress Site

Better performance, lower costs, or faster support—there are plenty of good reasons to move your WordPress site to a new hosting provider. But how do you do it right?

This guide walks you through migrating your website either automatically through your new host or manually with a plugin. We’ll use Hostinger as an example for the automated migration process.

Moving a WordPress website to a new server isn’t as complicated as it used to be. In practice, two methods work well:

We’ll compare the pros and cons of both methods and show you how to migrate your WordPress website to a new server step by step.

Many hosting providers now offer automated WordPress migration services. Your new host transfers your entire website, including your files and database. This is now the standard approach at most major hosting companies.

The process is similar with most providers: You provide the login details for your existing website, and the provider handles the rest. The main differences are how each host handles the migration process and how quickly its support team responds.

The biggest advantage is how simple it is. You don’t have to worry about any technical details. The hosting provider takes care of the entire process for you.

The downside is that you're handing over control. Automated migration tools often can't handle custom configurations, and once the process starts, you can't make any changes.

We'll walk you through the migration process using Hostinger's free WordPress migration service. Other providers follow a similar process, but their interface and terminology may differ.

Before you start your WordPress migration, make sure you can access your current website's backend. Hostinger needs one of the following to migrate your site:

You'll either provide Hostinger with your website URL and WordPress admin login credentials or upload a recent backup.

To start the migration, log in to your Hostinger account and open hPanel. In the sidebar, go to “Websites” and select “Transfers”.

Hostinger’s migration assistant will guide you through the next steps:

Hostinger will ask how you want to transfer your website. You can choose “Use login details” or “Upload backup files”.

In this example, we’ll use the WordPress login details:

If you choose to use login credentials, enter the URL of your current website:

Next, choose how you want to grant access. Hostinger lets you use your login credentials or cPanel, a control panel for managing web servers:

If you selected the login credentials option, enter them in the next step. The WordPress account you use must have administrator rights.

Also, double-check that the URL and path to your WordPress backend are correct. By default, this is /wp-admin:

Hostinger will verify your details. If everything checks out, you’ll see a summary of your migration request:

After you submit your request, Hostinger starts the migration. For smaller websites, the transfer usually finishes within an hour. Larger sites may take up to 12 hours.

When Hostinger finishes, you’ll get a confirmation email and a notification in your hPanel. Now test your migrated site on Hostinger’s server. Check all pages, features, and plugins to make sure everything works.

If everything checks out, the last step is to update your domain’s DNS settings so they point to Hostinger’s server.

First, check where your domain is currently managed. It could be with Hostinger (if you registered it there) or another provider like IONOS or GoDaddy.

You can find the IP address in your hPanel under “Hosting Plan” details.

The change can take up to 24 hours to take effect worldwide. During this time, visitors might see either your old or new website. You can track the process using a DNS checker.

Once the DNS update is complete, don’t delete your data from the old host until you’re sure everything works.

A manual WordPress migration means you handle every step yourself: exporting your files, transferring them to the new server, and setting everything up.

Unlike an automated service, you won’t have a guided assistant. You control the entire process and see exactly what’s happening at every stage.

Tools like Duplicator can simplify the process by packaging your entire website for export and restoring it on the new server.

Whether you use a plugin or not, a manual migration takes more effort than an automated one. But it gives you more control. You can track every step, pause or repeat tasks as needed, and handle special requirements directly.

For users with less technical experience, all these small steps can feel overwhelming.

If you want to handle the move yourself, you can use a migration plugin like Duplicator.

Duplicator creates a .zip archive with all your website data, including the database, themes, plugins, and media files. It also generates an installer file that helps you unpack and set up the archive on your new server.

Install the Duplicator plugin on your current WordPress site. You'll find it in the plugin directory in your admin area under Plugins → Add New:

Activate the plugin, then go to the sidebar and select “Duplicator” → “Backups.” On the right, click “Create New”.

Now choose which components to back up. By default, all the essentials are already selected:

Click “Next” to run an automatic server scan. If the scan succeeds, click “Build” to create a copy of your website.

Once the package is ready, download these two files:

Duplicator lets you download both files with a single click:

To import your website, you'll need FTP access to your new hosting provider. At Hostinger, you'll find these credentials under “Plan Details” in the “Hosting Plan” section.

Use these credentials and an FTP client like FileZilla to connect to your new server. Then upload the two Duplicator files you downloaded earlier to an empty target directory.

The upload may take a few minutes. Once it's done, open your new website in a browser and add /installer.php to the URL to launch the Duplicator setup:

Enter the database credentials Duplicator should use for your new WordPress site. If you haven't set up the database yet, do that now in your new host's control panel.

You’ll need:

Now Duplicator runs the import. It unpacks the .zip archive, copies the files to the directory, and imports the database. This may take a few minutes.

Once the import is complete, log in to your new site’s WordPress admin area with your existing credentials. Duplicator will prompt you to remove the installer files you no longer need:

The WordPress dashboard shows a summary of the import. Your migration with Duplicator is now finished:

After checking your new site, update your domain’s DNS settings so it points to the new server. To do this, change the A records with your domain provider. We’ve already explained how to do this above.

To move your WordPress website, you have two main options: let your new hosting provider handle the migration or do it yourself with a plugin.

A hosting provider’s migration service is a good choice if you want to save time. It's automated, needs minimal input, and handles most standard setups reliably. Nearly all hosting companies offer this service today.

If you need more control, go with a manual migration using a plugin like Duplicator. You'll need some technical know-how and should allow extra time for preparation.

Both methods work. The key is to test your site thoroughly afterward so everything runs smoothly and your visitors can access your website without any issues.