1. Home
  2. Knowledge base
  3. Tutorials

Restoring A Site From a .wpress Backup File

Last modified: October 22, 2025

A .wpress file is a proprietary backup format created by the All-In-One WP Migration plugin. These files contain your full WordPress site, including the database, themes, plugins, and uploads.

At Pressable, the easiest way to restore a site from a .wpress backup is by using the same plugin that created it (recommended if possible). While you can also extract and convert the .wpress file for manual migration, this process is more complex and partially outside the scope of Pressable support.

Before you begin:

  • The free version of All-In-One WP Migration supports importing backups up to 512 MB in size. This size limit refers to the backup file itself, not server memory. Pressable provides 512 MB of memory per PHP worker, so the plugin can typically handle imports successfully if your backup file is under the 512 MB upload limit.
  • Larger backups require the paid Unlimited Extension from the plugin developer.
  1. Install the plugin: Log in to your WordPress dashboard and go to Plugins → Add New. Search for “All-In-One WP Migration” and click Install Now, then Activate.
  2. Import your backup: In the WordPress dashboard, go to All-In-One WP Migration → Import.
  3. Upload the .wpress file: Click Import From → File and select your .wpress backup. The plugin will begin the restore process.
  4. Complete the import: Follow the on-screen prompts to finalize the restore. When the import is done, click Proceed to overwrite the existing site content.
  5. Re-save permalinks: Go to Settings → Permalinks and click Save Changes to ensure URLs function correctly.
  6. Verify your site: Check your pages, media, and functionality to confirm the restore was successful.

Notes:

  • Archive size does not equal required PHP memory. Imports are chunked and streamed, so many small to medium sites restore successfully with the free plugin.
  • For large backups or slow imports, the Unlimited Extension removes host upload caps and bypasses PHP time and memory limits, which reduces the risk of partial imports or stalls. Option 2 below provides a free alternative for importing larger backups and should be reviewed before making any purchases.
  • Avoid closing the tab until the upload finishes and the import process begins.

Option 2: Extracting a .wpress File For Manual Migration

If your .wpress file is too large to import with the free plugin version, or if you prefer to migrate manually:

  1. Download the .wpress file to your local computer.
  2. Extract it using Traktor: This tool extracts the proprietary .wpress archive on your local computer.
  3. Prepare your files: Once extracted, compress the files into a regular .zip archive for manual upload.
  4. Upload to Pressable: Connect to your site via SFTP and upload the zip file.
  5. Request assistance to complete migration: Contact our Customer Success team to help complete the manual restoration.

If you encounter issues with Traktor, an alternative extractor can be downloaded from GitHub here: https://github.com/fifthsegment/Wpress-Extractor

Option 3: Manual Migration Using WP CLI (Advanced)

If you’ve already extracted your .wpress file into a standard ZIP archive (see Option 2), you can complete the migration using WP CLI. This method is recommended for advanced users comfortable with command-line tools.

Prerequisites:

  • Your .wpress file must be extracted and re-compressed as a standard ZIP archive.
  • You need SFTP access and SSH access to your Pressable site (if you have one, you will have both).
  • Basic familiarity with command-line tools is required.

Steps:

  1. Upload the ZIP file: Using SFTP, upload your ZIP archive to the /tmp directory (this is parallel to /htdocs, your site root).
  2. Connect via SSH: Use SSH to connect to your Pressable site.
  3. Unzip the archive: unzip /tmp/your-backup-file.zip
  4. Copy site files to the correct location: rsync -zavh /tmp/path/to/wp-content/ /htdocs/wp-content/ Replace /tmp/path/to/wp-content/ with the actual path to your extracted wp-content folder.
  5. Import the database: wp db import /tmp/path/to/database.sql Replace /tmp/path/to/database.sql with the actual path to your SQL file.
  6. Test and verify: Check your site to ensure pages, media, and functionality work as expected.
  7. Clean up migration files: rm -r /tmp/your-backup-file.zip /tmp/unzipped/backup/ Adjust paths as needed to remove all temporary migration files.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues during the import process, consult these resources from the plugin developer:

For issues specific to Pressable’s hosting environment (not related to the plugin itself), contact our Customer Success team.

Additional Tips

Related Articles: