How to migrate WordPress site without FTP or MySQL access

Learn how to migrate WordPress site to new domain in a few easy steps without access to FTP or MySQL details in this complete guide.

In our complete guide to migrating WordPress website from one host to another, we talked about the best possible way to move a website across host when you have access to the FTP and SSH to your host.

It’s possible that you might not have access to the FTP and SSH details of a WordPress host that you’re trying to move and in such cases, you might not have a lot of options.

I recently moved one of my websites to a fully managed WordPress host that didn't offer access to FTP and SSH details and I was left with very limited options.

There’s default import-export function built-in WordPress which works fine for small websites but if you have a lot of media files on your website, you will easily run into some kind of timeout error.

Besides, the built-in import-export function using the default WordPress plugin only lets you import posts and pages, not entirely everything. You still need to do all the manual work of installing plugins and themes and configuring them accordingly.

So, here’s how you can migrate your entire WordPress website from one host to another when you don’t have FTP or MySQL access on your new host.

Easy Steps to Migrate WordPress site

Among the several WordPress migrations plugins and we will use the All-in-One WP Migration plugin from ServMask to help us with the process. The plugin is really popular among WordPress users with more than 1+ million active installations.

All-in-One WP Migration plugin also has more than four thousand five-star reviews showing the quality and usefulness of the plugin.

Export Site Using All-in-One WP Migration Plugin

First, we will need to install the plugin on your current website host. This is your existing host where you are looking to move away from.

Step 1: From your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Plugins >> Add New and search for “All-in-One WP Migration” plugin.

Install and Activate the plugin.

Step 2: You will now see the All-in-One WP Migration plugin tab. Click on Export.

All-in-One WP Migration >> Export

Step 3: Review the advanced options, if necessary or skip this step. Although you don’t have to do anything here, just review the options and select the option if useful for you.

I would recommend selecting “Don’t export spam comments” as there’s this might reduce your file size and either way there’s no point exporting spam comments.

For advanced users, there’s also Find and Replace tool as the first option on this page. Like it says, it finds “text that you define” and replace with “another text that you define” in the database of your website. Only use this tool if you know what you are doing.

Step 4: Click on Export To button and choose File. The tool will start creating the export.

Export To > File

As you can see in the options, you can also choose to export to Dropbox, Google Drive, or Amazon S3 account. This can be useful if want to save the backup of your export file on cloud services.

Step 5: After your export is ready, you will see an option to “Download Localhost” along with the total file size. Click on the download button and save the export file locally on your drive.

The export file is downloaded in .wpress extension and it’s very important that you don’t change the extension.

Now that you have the export file saved, we need to switch working on your new WordPress host.

Import to New Site using the same Plugin

Assuming that you have WordPress installed already on the new host, go ahead and install the same All-in-One WP Migration plugin on this new WordPress website.

Step 6: From your new WordPress website dashboard, navigate to the import option of the All-in-One WP Migration menu tab.

All-in-One WP Migration >> Import

Step 7: Click on the “Import From” button and select the export file that you saved earlier from the previous website.

The import process will start and it might take some time depending on the speed of your web host speed and internet.

Step 8: Once the upload process is complete, you will see a warning saying the process will overwrite everything. Click Continue to proceed with the import.

Step 9: You should see a success message with an additional step that you need to complete. Click on the Permalink Settings to make sure you’re using the right permalink structure.

Step 10: You will be asked to login to your website and this is the same detail from your website at previous hosting.

Login to your website using the previous login details and as recommended by the plugin, click save changes (twice) on this settings page to save the permalink structure.

Congratulations! You have successfully moved your entire website to a new hosting account without requiring any FTP details.

Free Plugin Limitations

The free version of the plugin has limited on the export and import sizes of your WordPress backup files. This shouldn’t be a problem for those who have fewer files and their export size is within the limit.

However, if you have a lot of files on your website and it exceeds the export size limit, you might consider opting for a premium version of the All-in-One WP Migration plugin.

The plugin is sold by ServMask on their website and is available for a lifetime price.

If you’re looking to buy the premium version of the plugin, my recommendation is to get their Google Drive Backup plugin which is slightly more but comes bundled with the unlimited version.

This way, you will not just use the plugin for one-off migration process, but can actually make use of their premium backup feature.

Supported Hosting Providers

Although the plugin should work with most of the WordPress hosts, the authors have listed the supporting hosting providers that they have tested the plugin on.

If you are moving to and from one of these popular hosting providers, the plugin should work seamlessly.

• DigitalOcean
• Bluehost
• InMotion
• Web Hosting Hub
• Siteground
• Pagely
• Dreamhost
• Justhost
• GoDaddy
• WP Engine
• Site5
• 1&1
• Pantheon

There’s also a regularly updated page on the Servmask Knowledge Base for a complete list of hosting providers supported by the plugin.

Easiest way to migrate WordPress site?

All-in-One WP plugin is the easiest WordPress migration process I have come across for migrations.

It’s especially useful for those hosts that haven’t built-in migration tool for the process. Some hosts such as WP Engine provide an excellent migration tool to move your website and some hosts such as FlyWheel help you move your website for free.

But in all other cases where there isn’t an easier migration process to the host that you’re trying to move your website, the All-in-One WP plugin can be your best tool.

Have you used the plugin to migrate your website? What other alternatives do you suggest moving WordPress websites without FTP or MySQL access? Let me know in the comments below.