How to Back Up Your Website Before a Redesign or Migration
Last updated 16 October 2026
A redesign or a move to new hosting is the moment websites get lost: a theme is replaced, pages are deleted "temporarily", an old hosting account expires. A few minutes of preparation prevents all of it. This guide gives you a website backup checklist you can follow before any redesign or migration — in plain language, without needing to be a developer.
Why back up before a redesign or migration?
- Things break during big changes. New themes, new hosting and new page structures are exactly when files and content go missing.
- You'll want to compare. After launch, someone always asks "what did the old page say?" or "where was that image?".
- Search rankings depend on old addresses. If old pages disappear without redirects, visitors and search engines hit errors.
- Old accounts expire. Once the old hosting is cancelled, whatever wasn't saved is gone for good.
The two backups every site needs
Most guides only talk about one kind of backup. For a redesign or migration you want both:
| Server backup | Visual copy (offline website) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | The raw files and database from your hosting account | Every page exactly as visitors see it, as a ZIP you can open offline |
| Good for | Restoring the site on a server | Checking old content and design at any time, without a server |
| Who can open it | Usually a developer | Anyone — double-click and browse |
| How to get it | Your hosting control panel or your developer | A website downloader such as The Scrap AI |
The server backup lets you restore the website. The visual copy lets you see it — even after the old hosting, theme or builder subscription is gone.
The website backup checklist
Go through this list before you change anything:
- Website files — theme or template, uploaded images, documents (PDFs) and any custom code.
- Database — pages, blog posts, products, orders, customer accounts and settings. Files without the database are an empty shell.
- Visual copy of all pages — an offline ZIP of the live site (see below).
- List of all page addresses — needed for redirects after the move.
- Email — mailboxes and forwarding rules if your email runs on the same hosting.
- Domain and DNS settings — a screenshot or export of every DNS record, so email and subdomains keep working after the move.
- Forms and integrations — where contact forms send messages, analytics and tracking codes, payment settings.
- Logins — make sure you have the logins for the domain, hosting and website admin, not only your developer.
- A baseline — write down current visitors, your most-visited pages and page speed, so you can compare after launch.
How to keep a visual copy of every page
A visual copy is the fastest backup to make and the one you'll open most often:
- Enter your website address on The Scrap AI and check the free homepage demo.
- Keep all pages ticked (or choose the sections you want).
- Download the ZIP and store it with your other backups.
Later, anyone on the team can unzip it and click through the old website exactly as it was — text, images, layout and menus — without logging in anywhere. Step-by-step details are in how to download a website as a ZIP file.
Save a list of all your page addresses
When a redesign changes page addresses, every old address needs a redirect to its new page — otherwise visitors from search results and old links get an error page. Before you start, export the full list of current addresses. When you download your site with The Scrap AI, the page picker shows every page it found from your sitemap and menu; the ZIP's folder structure also mirrors those addresses, which makes it easy to build your redirect list.
Where to store your backups: the 3-2-1 rule
A widely used rule for important data:
- 3 copies of your backup,
- on 2 different kinds of storage (for example your computer and an external drive),
- with 1 copy off-site (for example in cloud storage).
Don't rely only on backups kept inside the hosting account you are about to leave.
Test your backup before you start
- Open the visual copy — unzip it and click through a few pages, menus and images.
- Check the server backup — ask your developer or host to confirm it can be restored, ideally on a test copy of the site.
- Check the dates — the backup should be from right before the change, not from months ago.
Only when both backups are confirmed should you start the redesign or migration.
Frequently asked questions
How often should I back up my website?
Always right before any big change such as a redesign, migration or platform switch. For day-to-day safety, sites that change often (shops, blogs) are usually backed up daily, while mostly static business sites can be backed up weekly.
Is my hosting company's backup enough?
Not on its own. Hosting backups may not include everything and disappear when you leave that host. Keep your own copies, including an offline visual copy you can open without a server.
What is the difference between a website backup and an offline copy?
A server backup contains the raw files and database needed to restore the site on a server. An offline copy is the website as visitors see it, packed in a ZIP that anyone can open and browse without a server. Before a redesign you want both.
Can I back up a website built with a website builder?
Many website builders don't let you export your site. You can still keep a complete visual copy of every public page by downloading it as a ZIP with The Scrap AI.