How to migrate WordPress to a new host

Plan the handover while your website stays active

Moving the server behind your website should leave visitors using the same familiar addresses. The difficult part is keeping the copy current while the original site continues receiving edits, messages or orders. Plan the preview and final handover before you start transferring files, and keep email and domain services on your checklist.

Keep the public address unchanged for this move

This guide covers a standard single site keeping its domain and page addresses. Moving a multisite network or a site with custom server software needs a tailored plan. If you also want to rebrand, complete the hosting move first and handle the domain change separately.

A WordPress migration does not automatically move mailboxes, DNS management or your domain registration. Write down which provider currently supplies each service. Cancelling an old hosting account can also remove email if the mailboxes live there.

1. Prepare the destination and a way to test it

Sign in to both hosting accounts and the service managing your domain's DNS. Save the current DNS records privately, then take an independent file and database backup. Keep the old host paid and accessible while you work.

Ask the new host to create an empty WordPress installation for the existing domain with sufficient storage, a compatible PHP version and HTTPS prepared. Request its supported pre-migration preview method that lets you test the new server at the real domain without changing public DNS. A temporary URL alone does not test redirects, cookies and certificates for the final address.

Confirm how the preview identifies the new server, how outgoing email and payments are contained during testing, and how to undo the switch. If the host offers a managed migration, supply the backup securely and agree the final data-transfer window. You can still use the checks below to verify their work.

WordPress Site Health Server panel listing PHP and server settings — The Server panel under Tools > Site Health > Info helps you record the current PHP version and limits for the new host. This 2021 example uses older software and demonstration values; confirm current requirements instead of copying its settings. Credit: WordPress Documentation Team, CC0.

2. Copy a standard site with UpdraftPlus

This dashboard route uses UpdraftPlus on the existing site and the new empty installation. It transfers the saved components into the destination. Confirm that custom files, configuration or data outside the plugin's backup scope are separately included by your host.

Use the plugin installation guide to install the current UpdraftPlus plugin on both installations. Check the address and host context before every restore: the destination is the new, empty installation.

On the old site, open Settings > UpdraftPlus Backups and select Backup Now. Include both database and files, then wait for a successful completion.
In Existing backups, download each component from that same backup set to your computer. Include every archive part if a component is split into several files.
Open the new installation through the host's preview method. Under Settings > UpdraftPlus Backups, choose Upload backup files and upload the complete set without renaming or extracting it.
Select Restore for that set, choose the required components and review the preparation messages. Confirm the restore only if the destination and backup are correct. Stop on missing archives or validation errors.
After completion, sign in using the source site's WordPress account because its database has replaced the empty installation's users. Keep the public domain's DNS pointed at the old host until testing is finished.

3. Check the copied site before the public switch

Confirm with the new host that your preview requests reach its server. Then test the homepage, several inner pages, recent images, menus and administrator login. Open an Elementor page in the editor and compare its public layout at mobile and desktop widths. Save the existing permalink structure if inner pages return 404.

Send a test form to an address you control using the agreed mail-testing method. Review scheduled jobs, newsletter connections, payment callbacks and plugin licences. For WooCommerce, use the gateway's sandbox workflow rather than triggering a live payment from two copies. Do not run subscription renewal jobs on the preview.

Check Settings > General still contains the intended public address. With the same domain there is no reason to replace every database URL with a temporary hostname. If a tool introduced temporary addresses, ask the host to correct that specific change before launch.

4. Transfer the final changes and switch DNS

The live site has continued changing since the initial copy. Arrange a short editing and transaction pause, then make and restore a final matching backup while those changes are paused. Each database restore imports live integration and scheduled-job settings again. The host or migration operator must keep outgoing email, payments and scheduled jobs contained through both restores and verify that containment again before further preview tests. For a busy shop or membership site, plan how payment notifications, renewals and in-progress orders are reconciled; a maintenance page does not stop every background write.

Obtain the exact website DNS changes from the new host. Update only the required records at the service that currently controls DNS. A website address record change does not require replacing mail records. If changing nameservers instead, first reproduce the complete DNS zone, including mail and verification entries, with the provider's help.

Cached DNS answers mean some visitors can still reach the old server during the transition. Agree how the old copy will stop accepting new transactions or forward traffic appropriately. Avoid allowing two independent copies to collect orders, submissions or edits.

5. Verify launch and retain a recovery route

Remove your local preview override using the host's instructions and check the domain through normal public DNS. Ask the host to confirm traffic reaches the new server. Test HTTPS, login, forms and any agreed payment test again. Check incoming and outgoing domain email separately from WordPress form delivery.

Clear the relevant site and hosting caches. Remove testing-only access or indexing restrictions from the live destination, reconnect intended live integrations and confirm that scheduled work runs on the new server only. Set up and verify its backups.

Keep the old hosting and migration backups until you have confirmed DNS transition, reconciled new data and verified every service you need. If a launch problem appears after new orders arrive, do not simply point DNS back to the stale copy. Coordinate recovery so those new records and payments are preserved.

Official references

See the UpdraftPlus migration walkthrough and WordPress migration guidance. Your hosting provider supplies the server-specific preview and DNS values.

Get help with the next step

If you need to move a shop without losing the latest orders, ask BugShield to help with the migration. We can help plan the final transfer and checks before traffic moves to the new host.

Questions answered

How to migrate WordPress to a new host FAQs

Do I need to transfer my domain registration too?

No. You can keep the domain registered with its current provider and change the website's DNS records. Registration, DNS, hosting and email are separate services.

Will the migration move my email inboxes?

A WordPress file and database transfer does not move hosting mailboxes. Confirm where email is stored and arrange a separate mailbox migration if that service is changing.

Why do I still see the old website after changing DNS?

Your device, network or DNS resolver can retain the previous answer until its cache expires. Verify the destination with your host and avoid making independent edits on both copies.

Should I run search and replace when the domain stays the same?

A same-domain hosting move does not require a blanket URL replacement. Correct only specific temporary addresses or server paths introduced by the migration tool, using its documented process.

When can I cancel the old hosting?

After traffic reaches the new host, current data is reconciled, backups work and every service still on the old account has been moved or deliberately retained. Keep an independent recovery copy first.

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