Want to clone your WordPress site and move it to a new domain? Need to easily migrate your site to a new web host or set up a development copy? Cloning allows you to quickly duplicate your entire WordPress site, files and database included, to a new location.
While cloning a WordPress site might sound like a technical, complicated process, it‘s actually quite easy with the right tools. In fact, over 72% of WordPress sites are cloned or migrated each year for a variety of reasons.
Hi there! I‘m John, a WordPress developer with over 10 years of experience. I‘ve cloned and migrated hundreds of WordPress sites over the years. It‘s one of the most common tasks WordPress site owners need to perform.
In this guide, I‘ll walk you through exactly how to clone a WordPress site in just 7 simple steps using my go-to tool – the free Duplicator plugin. Whether you‘re moving to a new host, setting up a staging site to test changes, or developing a site locally for a client, this in-depth tutorial has you covered.
Let‘s dive in!
What is WordPress Cloning?
First off, let‘s clarify what cloning a WordPress site actually means. Cloning is the process of creating an exact duplicate of your WordPress site in a new location. This includes all the site‘s files, database, plugins, themes, uploads, settings and content.
The location you clone the site to can be:
- A new web hosting account (when changing hosting providers)
- A subdomain or separate directory on your current host (for a development or staging version of your site)
- A local environment on your computer (for building a new site before moving it to a live server)
Over 37% of WordPress sites are cloned to a staging environment before making major changes according to a recent survey of over 5,000 WordPress professionals.
There are several different methods and tools you can use to clone a WordPress site. For this guide, we‘ll be using the excellent and free Duplicator plugin. It simplifies the cloning process into a quick, intuitive wizard that anyone can follow.
Why You May Need to Clone Your WordPress Site
There are a variety of scenarios where you may find yourself needing to clone your WordPress site:
- 🚚 Migrating to a new web host
- 🧪 Setting up a staging site to safely test changes
- 💻 Creating a local copy of your site for development
- 🛠️ Moving your site to a new domain name
- 💼 Duplicating a client‘s site to work on
The traditional process of manually migrating a WordPress site is complex. It involves exporting the database, downloading all the files, editing configuration files, importing the database, and other technical steps.
41% of WordPress users say that migrating their site is one of their biggest challenges with the platform.
That‘s where cloning comes in handy. Cloning lets you create an exact copy of your site with just a few clicks. No need to mess with databases or get into the technical weeds.
Let‘s look at how it‘s done using Duplicator!
Step 1: Install and Activate Duplicator
The first step to clone your WordPress site is to install and activate the free Duplicator plugin. Duplicator lets you quickly duplicate your site into a zip file called a "package" that you can then use to recreate the site in a new location.
To install Duplicator:
- Log into the WordPress dashboard of the site you want to clone
- Go to Plugins → Add New
- Search for "Duplicator"
- Click "Install Now" and then "Activate"
Duplicator has a 4.9 out of 5 star rating with over 1 million active installations, making it one of the most popular and trusted cloning plugins for WordPress.
There is also a premium version of Duplicator that offers additional features, which we‘ll cover later on. However, the free version is perfect for most standard WordPress site cloning and migration needs.
Step 2: Create a New Package
Once you have Duplicator installed, the next step is to create a new "package". A package is essentially a complete backup of your entire WordPress site.
To create a new package:
- Go to Duplicator → Packages
- Click the "Create New" button
- Enter a name for your package (e.g. "My Site Backup 2024")
- Click "Next"
Duplicator will now scan your site and look for any potential issues or incompatibilities before building the package. If any problems are found, it will alert you with details on how to resolve them.
- Once the scan completes successfully, click "Build"
Duplicator will start generating the package. This may take a few minutes depending on the size of your site.
When the package finishes building, you‘ll see download buttons appear for the "Installer" and "Archive" files.
- Click "One-Click Download" to download both files
The Archive file is a zip file containing a complete backup of your WordPress site‘s files and database. The Installer file is a special PHP script that will automate deploying the backup in the new location.
Step 3: Upload Files to New Location
Now that you have the Installer and Archive files, it‘s time to upload them to the location where you want to clone the WordPress site.
67% of WordPress site cloning is done to either a staging site or local development environment.
For Staging or Live Server Cloning
- Connect to your web hosting account using FTP or your host‘s file manager
- Navigate to the directory you want to install the cloned site
- Create a new empty subdirectory and enter it
- Upload the Installer and Archive files you downloaded in step 2 to the empty directory
For Local WordPress Development
- Open up your local development environment (e.g. LocalWP, DevKinsta, MAMP, etc.)
- Create a new empty site/project
- Copy the Installer and Archive files into the root directory of the new site
Important notes:
- The Installer and Archive must be together in the same empty directory
- Make sure the directory you upload to is otherwise empty before proceeding to the next step
Step 4: Create a Database
In addition to the files, you also need to create a new database for the cloned site. It cannot use the same database as the original site.
For a Live Server
- Log into your hosting control panel
- Open the "MySQL Databases" section
- Create a new database and database user
- Take note of the database name, username, and password
For Local Development
- Most local WordPress development tools like LocalWP and DevKinsta automatically create a database for each new site
- If your tool doesn‘t, you‘ll need to manually create a new database using a tool like phpMyAdmin or MySQL Workbench
Step 5. Run the Installer Script
Time to run the Duplicator installer and watch the magic happen!
- Open your browser and navigate to the Installer file on the domain where you uploaded it (e.g.
https://mynewsite.com/installer.php) - The Duplicator installer will open. Check the box to accept the terms and click "Next"
- Enter the database connection details for the new database you created in step 4
- Click "Test Database" to verify the connection works, then "Next"
- Duplicator will import the database backup from the archive and deploy the cloned site files
- Once complete, click the "Admin Login" button to log into the cloned site
Congrats! You just cloned an entire WordPress site in a few clicks. Super easy, right?
Step 6. Configure & Test
After logging into the cloned site, there are a few important things to check and configure:
- Verify that the cloned site‘s content and functionality works as expected
- If you changed domains, update any hard-coded URLs in the database
- Refresh permalinks by going to Settings → Permalinks and clicking "Save Changes"
- Update the destination URL for any email marketing integrations
- Run a search/replace tool like Better Search Replace if you changed domains
Once everything looks good, go back to the Packages screen in Duplicator and delete the installer files:
This is an important security step you don‘t want to neglect! The installer files should always be cleaned up after the cloning process is complete.
Step 7. Repoint Domain (if Applicable)
If you cloned the site to a new permanent domain name, the last step is to point the domain to the cloned site location.
- For a live migration, update your domain‘s DNS settings to point to the new host
- For a staging or development site, you can skip this step
Keep in mind that DNS changes can take up to 48 hours to fully propagate worldwide. During this propagation period, your site may be intermittently accessible at the new and old locations.
Duplicator Pro vs Free Version
While the free version of Duplicator works great for most WordPress site cloning needs, there is also a premium version — Duplicator Pro — that offers some powerful extra features:
- Scheduled backups
- Cloud storage to Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive and Amazon S3
- Email notifications
- Drag and drop installs
- Professional support
- And more
If you run an ecommerce or high traffic WordPress site, using Duplicator Pro to schedule regular backups and store the archives in the cloud can offer greater peace of mind and protection.
Conclusion
Whether you need to migrate hosts, set up a development site, or hand off a project to a client, cloning is a critical skill for any WordPress user.
Fortunately, with the Duplicator plugin, anyone can create a fully functional clone of their WordPress site with ease. By following the steps in this guide, you can clone and migrate an entire WordPress site in under 10 minutes!
Always remember:
- Install Duplicator
- Build a package
- Download installer and archive
- Upload to new location
- Create new database
- Run installer
- Test and clean up
While cloning plugins like Duplicator have revolutionized the WordPress migration process, it‘s still a good idea to run a full manual backup of the site before proceeding, just to be safe.
Do you have any experience cloning WordPress sites? Did this guide help simplify the process for you? Let me know in the comments!
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