How to restore a BackupScope backup

BackupScope Free creates and verifies your backup but does not restore it with one click. The backup is a normal ZIP, so you can restore it by hand with tools your host already gives you. One-click restore is part of BackupScope Pro.

One-click restore in BackupScope Pro

In Pro, open BackupScope → Restore, choose a backup (stored on the server or off-site) and what to restore: everything, files only or database only. Before anything is overwritten, a safety backup of the current site is made, so you can go back. The database is imported into separate tables and switched over in one step at the end, so the site keeps working while the restore runs. BackupScope and its settings are not changed by a restore, and wp-config.php is only restored if you ask for it.

The rest of this guide covers restoring by hand, which works with or without Pro.

What is inside the ZIP

backupscope-<date>-<id>.zip
├── manifest.json          what was backed up, from where
├── database/
│   └── database.sql       your database
├── files/
│   ├── wordpress/         your WordPress folder (wp-admin, wp-content, wp-config.php…)
│   └── external/          folders that live outside it, if any
└── backupscope/
    └── skipped-files.json files that could not be read, if any

Open manifest.json first. It lists which folders were included, which were excluded, and the site URL and table prefix at backup time.

1. Unzip the backup on your computer

Use your system's unzip tool or 7-Zip. On Windows, if Explorer reports a "path too long" error, use 7-Zip — some plugin files have very long names.

2. Upload the files

1. Connect with your host's file manager or SFTP.
2. Upload the contents of files/wordpress/ into your web root (usually public_html), replacing existing files.
3. If the backup has files/external/, upload each folder to where manifest.json says it belongs (for example a wp-config.php one level above the web root).

3. Import the database

1. Create a new, empty database (or empty the existing one) in your hosting control panel.
2. Open phpMyAdmin or Adminer, select the database and import database/database.sql.
3. For large files, use the command line:

   mysql -u USER -p DATABASE_NAME < database.sql

   If phpMyAdmin rejects the file size, ask your host to import it or use a tool such as BigDump.

4. Check wp-config.php

If you restored to a new host or a new database, update DB_NAME, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD and DB_HOST in wp-config.php. The table prefix must match the one in manifest.json.

5. If the domain changed

WordPress stores the site address in the database, often inside serialized data. Use a serialization-aware tool, never a plain text replace:

wp search-replace 'https://old-site.com' 'https://new-site.com' --all-tables

6. Finish

• Log in with the user accounts that existed when the backup was made.
• Go to Settings → Permalinks and click Save to rebuild the rewrite rules.
• Clear any caching plugin or server cache.