A backup that lives on the same server as your website is not really a backup. Here is how to put automatic, off-site backups on autopilot with the free version of BackupEase and your own Google Drive.
What you'll have when you finish
A full copy of your WordPress site landing in Google Drive every day without you lifting a finger, old copies cleaned up automatically so Drive never fills, and an email in your inbox the moment a backup ever fails. Set it once and forget it.
- Prerequisites: BackupEase installed and active, and a Google account.
- You'll need access to: a WordPress admin account and the Google Cloud Console to create OAuth credentials (a one-time step).
- Time: about 10 minutes.
- Connect your Google Drive
- Schedule a daily backup to Drive
- Keep Drive tidy with retention
- Get told when something breaks
- Prove it works
1. Connect your Google Drive
BackupEase uploads to your Google Drive using your own Google credentials, so your backups stay entirely inside your account. This is a one-time setup.
2. Schedule a daily backup to Drive
A manual backup you have to remember is a backup you will eventually skip. A schedule removes you from the loop.
3. Keep Drive tidy with retention
Without limits, a daily backup piles up and eventually fills your Drive quota, at which point new backups start failing. A retention rule prevents that.
From now on, cleanup runs automatically after each backup, so Drive holds a rolling week of restore points and nothing more. You can set a different limit for Local Server independently.
4. Get told when something breaks
A silent backup failure is the worst kind. Turn on notifications so you always know your safety net is intact.
5. Prove it works
Do not wait for the schedule to find out whether everything is wired up correctly.
Where to go from here
Your site now backs itself up to Google Drive every day, trims its own history, and emails you if anything fails, all without you touching it again. The only ongoing task is a quick monthly check that backups are still landing in Drive and that one restores cleanly.
Frequently asked questions
Does BackupEase upload to a shared Google account?
No. You connect your own Google account with your own OAuth credentials, and backups upload to a BackupEase folder in your Drive. Nobody else has access.
Is Google Drive free in BackupEase?
Yes. Local storage and Google Drive are both included in the free plugin. FTP, SFTP, OneDrive, Dropbox, and S3 are added by BackupEase Pro.
Will a daily backup slow my site down?
Backups run in the background and in small chunks, and you can schedule them for a quiet hour. Lower the aggressiveness in Settings › General if your host is very constrained.