Migrating WordPress Files

During the migration process to migrate your existing WordPress site from a previous host to InMotion Hosting, the next step is to copy or migrate all of the WordPress application files. To do this we will be using FTP. If you do not have your FTP credentials from your previous host, please be sure to contact them to retrieve this information prior to completing the following steps.

You may also wish to see our plugin based approaches in our new WordPress Migration Guide.

Since we will be using an FTP client, please be sure to obtain one. There are many free FTP clients available but we recommend downloading and using FileZilla. FileZilla is free and can be found here.

Downloading a Backup of your WordPress site

1. Create a folder on your desktop where you can download and store the files we will be working with. For this tutorial, we will be creating a folder called “wp-files“
2. Open FileZilla.
3. In the Quickconnect feature located in the top bar of the application, enter your Host, Username, and Password from your previous host. Click “Quickconnect“
4. 

   After connecting, you will see a list of your folders and files in the lower right hand pane. Navigate to the folder that contains all of your WordPress files. If you are unsure of the correct directory, you should be able to contact your previous host and retreive that information. If you notice other folder such as “wp-admin” and “wp-content“, you are likely in the correct place.

5. 

   Next, in the lower left window pane within FileZilla, you will need to open the “wp-files” folder on your desktop that you created earlier. If you do not see it, click on the “Desktop” link in the upper left window pane.

6. 

   Download all of the files on the right window of FileZilla to the “wp-files” folder you opened in the left window pane. The easiest way to do this is to click anywhere on the bottom right window pane. press Crtl + A, then drage and drop all the files to the lower left window pane.

7. 

   This can take a fairly long time, depending on the size of the files you are downloading. Don’t be surprised if it takes 15 minutes or more. Once this completes you now have a copy of WordPress on your desktop. You can confirm by simply opening your “wp-files” folder on your desktop and checking to see if the files and other folders are located in there.

Uploading your WordPress Backup Files

At this point you now have a copy of your WordPress application files downloaded. Next, you will need to uplaod them to your InMotion Hosting account by following the steps below.

1. Open FileZilla
2. In the lower left window pane within FileZilla, open the “wp-files” folder that you created earlier in this tutorial. If you dont see in, click “Desktop” link in the uppoer left window pane.
3. Towards the top of FileZilla, you should see right below the File | Edit | View menus the Quickconnect boxes. You would simply want to fill these out like so:
   

   Host	Username	Password
   example.com	userna5	tpfC$mBDn0

   If you don’t know your FTP details please check out our FTP getting started guide for those.

4. After you have established a connection to the server, in the lower irhgt window pane navigate to the folder where your WordPress site will be located. If WordPress is the primary domain on your account, you will want to navigate to the public_html folder.
5. Upload all the files from your “wp-files” located on your computer. This can take some time depending on the number and the size of the files you are uploading.
6. Congratulations! You have successfully migrated your WordPress files.

You have now completed migrating your WordPress files, congratulations! The next step in the process is to migrate your WordPress application files.

Please check the next article on Configuring WordPress After a Migration. If you missed our previous article, please see the Migrating your WordPress Database tutorial. For more information on this course please visit Migrating your Existing WordPress site to InMotion Hosting.