One of the most common regrets I hear from beginners after they migrate their WordPress site is this: “I didn’t realize how much I’d need from my old site… until it was gone.”
Creating a full backup before WordPress migration is one of the simplest ways to protect yourself – not only from technical problems, but from the frustration, angst, and anxiety of losing pages, settings, layouts, or tiny details you forgot to copy first.
If something goes wrong during the move (and it does more often than people would think), having a backup turns a stressful moment into a simple fix… and gives you an easy way to look back at the old content when you need it most.
A Real Story From Yesterday Where a Backup Before WordPress Migration Would Have Helped a Ton
Yesterday, an old client reached out. Their question was curious because they were asking about a staging site. Their new developer needed access to a site that I had developed back in 2016. They had rebuilt it and migrated it to the new hosting account, but needed access to the old site because now the client needed something from the old site brought in to the new site (all the floor plans for their homes they offered on their site). At first, I tried giving them access to the files through FTP, but this only gave them a piece of the puzzle. They could see all the floor plan images, but not the names of the floor plans or the houses they belonged with. What they needed was a complete rebuild of the old site on a temporary domain, so that they could access the dashboard, copy the information they needed in a format that made sense to a human being.
So, this morning, I am restoring the site from a backup to a temporary domain where they can access the things they will need to be able to get this information. Think of how this developer must have felt, knowing they didn’t have access to the old site. They hadn’t made a backup before migrating. They probably thought they were done with the old site and would never need it again. It’s a common misconception, and a lesson that I had to learn the hard way, too.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had things go wrong during a migration, especially in the beginning of my career as a web developer. It always made my heart jump into my throat and the sinking feeling in my gut, knowing that I had something that I had to figure out quickly, since usually the site was down. My adrenaline rushed, and I went into panic mode, trying to make everything work quickly, knowing that this was a critical moment for my relationship with my client.
I learned quickly how critical backing up the old site was. And, even when the client assured me they didn’t need anything from the old site, I would still back up the old site for my own sanity and peace of mind before replacing it with the site I had built.
Why It’s Hard to Get Information from Your Old Site AFTER Migration
- You don’t know how long you’ll have until the old environment gets wiped or overwritten.
Sometimes it happens automatically upon DNS changes or migration completion. - You can’t log back into the old dashboard.
For many people, the WordPress admin link no longer exists once you point your new domain. - You lose access to:
Old theme settings
Old menus
Old widgets
Plugin configurations
Custom CSS
Shortcode lists
Old page templates
Old blog formatting
Image placements
Fonts and color codes used on specific pages - Rebuilding from memory is nearly impossible for beginners.
(And extremely stressful) - You don’t know what’s missing until it’s gone.
Every experienced builder knows this feeling
Workarounds That ONLY Work If You Have a Backup
- You can open the backup in a staging site.
You can literally click through the old admin area, compare settings, pages, styling, etc. - You can copy and paste old formatting.
This could save you HOURS. - You can re-export menus, settings, or layouts.
Many plugins allow exporting once you have the old site in a container. - You can screenshot old pages.
This is helpful as a reference when rebuilding in another theme. - You can grab a number of helpful things, such as:
The exact color hex codes you used
Old forms
Plugin configurations
Custom CSS blocks
Old text you forgot to copy over
Old images or media files - You can restore only the pieces you need.
You don’t have to revert the whole site back – you can grab the pieces you need and keep the rest. - A backup is not only your safety net, but also your reference library.
Many people forget about the last part until it’s too late.
What Can Go Wrong During Migration (and How a Backup Helps)
Problem #1 – The White Screen of Death
Your site loads, and loads, and loads, and then… nothing. Just a blank page.
If you make a backup before WordPress migration, you can instantly roll back to the previous version.
Problem #2 – Plugin Conflicts
Have you ever had a site that worked perfectly, and then all of a sudden, it didn’t?
If you have a backup, spin up a staging site with it and you can check the old site’s settings to see which versions of each plugin were running. You could even upload the old version of the problem plugin as a temporary fix while you troubleshoot the new version.
Problem #3 – Missing Pages or Menu Links
A hidden draft page, a custom link, or a weird permalink gets lost. Pages that were built for long-tail SEO were forgotten and suddenly need to be brought over or redirected.
If you have a backup, spin up a staging site, and you can check your old menu structure and rebuild it quickly.
Problem #4 – Theme Settings Disappear
Now, I haven’t seen this one very often, but it has happened to me a few times. Your Divi presets, global colors, page templates, or Header/Footer setups vanish.
If you make a backup before WordPress migration, spin up a staging site, and you can go to your old Divi Theme Options in the backup and copy the settings.
Problem #5 – Forms Stop Working
It’s so frustrating when something like this goes wrong. And often it’s just overlooked in the hustle and bustle of building a site. You think you have everything and realize there was an important form that was hidden on a back page somewhere and forgotten until migration.
When you have a backup, you can look up your old form fields, emails, notifications, etc.
Problem #6 – Images Don’t Transfer
This used to be more common for me than it has been lately, but I have still run into it once in a while that many of the images didn’t transfer during migration.
If you have a backup, you can easily pull these images from the old wp-content > uploads folder.
Problem #7 – Custom CSS or Code Snippets Get Lost
This is especially true if they were stored in the customizer Additional CSS panel.
If you have a backup, you can spin up a staging site and copy and paste them into the new site.
My Gentlest Conclusion
Migrating a website doesn’t have to be scary – and you absolutely don’t have to know everything before you start.
But giving yourself the gift of a good backup before WordPress migration can save you from so much stress and worry that it’s well worth the few minutes it takes to run a backup.
And, don’t worry if you don’t have space on your hosting platform for a staging site. You can always download local and run it on your own machine if you just need it as a private reference.
Just make sure you get a complete backup, which consists of the database as well as the files. They’re both important in being able to spin up a staging site. If you only have one, you will be missing a lot of information, and your backup will not be able to be used to create a staging site.
Backups give you the confidence and freedom to explore, experiment, and launch your new site… knowing you can always look back if you need to.
Your backup isn’t just your safety net; it’s your reference library, your peace of mind, and your secret power in a tight spot.