Import a website from cPanel or Plesk
Move an existing site onto WordPress Cloud by uploading a full backup from your previous host.
The import wizard takes a full account backup from cPanel or Plesk and restores it onto WordPress Cloud. Applies to all WordPress Cloud packages.
Go to Websites → Import website.
Select New import. The wizard has four steps.
1. Select your previous hosting provider
Choose cPanel or Plesk. The choice changes the archive format expected later, so pick the panel the backup actually came from.
2. Select the import method
Upload website backup — generate a backup at your old host and upload it through the browser.
3. Provide the backup
For cPanel, the panel spells out how to produce the archive:
- Log in to cPanel at your current provider.
- In the Files section, select Backups.
- Under Full Backup, select Download a Full Account Backup.
- Under Generate a Full Backup, choose Home Directory as the backup destination, then Generate Backup.
- When it finishes, download it from Backups Available for Download.
Then Choose file and upload it.
| Source panel | Archive format | Maximum size |
|---|---|---|
| cPanel | .tar.gz | 10 GB |
| Plesk | .tar | 10 GB |
The Plesk path expects a plain .tar, not .tar.gz. The panel does not
currently print instructions for generating a Plesk backup — produce a full
backup from Plesk's own Backup Manager, download it, and upload it here.
If the archive is over 10 GB, reduce it before exporting. Old backup archives inside the home directory are the usual cause; so are large media libraries that belong in object storage.
4. Review and confirm
Check the summary, then Import.
After the import
- Confirm the site loads on its own domain before changing DNS.
- Check the PHP version matches what the site ran on previously — see PHP versions and settings.
- Set Site URL under Apps → Toolkit → General to the domain the site will actually serve on.
- Only then repoint your DNS.
Related
Staging sites and pushing live
Build on a throwaway staging domain, then promote it to a production domain with a WordPress search and replace done for you.
The WordPress Toolkit
Manage WordPress itself from the panel — version and auto-update policy, plugins, themes, users, single sign-on, maintenance mode and debug constants.