# SiteShift Migration

> SiteShift Migration is a free WordPress plugin that moves a whole website to a new web host or domain name. It saves the entire site (database, pages, posts, media, online shop, theme, plugins and settings) into one `.siteshift` file, then restores that file on the new site and updates every link to the new address automatically. There is no file size limit and no coding is needed.

- Website: https://siteshift-migration.netlify.app/
- Download (free, latest version): https://siteshift-migration.netlify.app/download
- WordPress.org listing: https://wordpress.org/plugins/siteshift-migration/
- Author: Utshojoy (https://utshojoy.netlify.app/)
- License: GPL v2 or later. Price: free, every feature included, no account or sign-up.
- Requirements: WordPress 6.2 or later, PHP 7.4 or later (64-bit). Single WordPress sites (multisite networks are not supported).

## How to move a WordPress site to a new host with SiteShift Migration

1. Install SiteShift Migration on the current website, open SiteShift → Export and click "Export to file". Download the `.siteshift` file.
2. Install WordPress and SiteShift Migration on the new host, open SiteShift → Import and drag the file onto the page. SiteShift Migration shows what is inside before anything changes.
3. Confirm the import, then log in with a username and password from the original site. Links and paths already point to the new address.

## Key facts

- No file size limit: the browser uploads the backup in small pieces, so PHP's `upload_max_filesize` and `post_max_size` limits do not apply, and an interrupted upload resumes. Very large files can also be copied by FTP into `wp-content/siteshift-backups/` and restored from the Backups tab.
- Automatic link updates: the old URL and server paths are replaced everywhere, including inside serialized PHP data, JSON-escaped URLs used by page builders such as Elementor, and URL-encoded values.
- Safe: the original website is only read, never changed. On the new site the database is imported under temporary tables and swapped in with one atomic `RENAME TABLE` at the very end, so a failed import leaves the live site untouched.
- Works on any web host, including cheap shared hosting: work runs in short resumable steps that survive low PHP time limits.
- Online shops (e.g. WooCommerce): products, orders, customers and settings move with the database.
- A different database table prefix on the new site is handled automatically.
- Moves the database and everything in `wp-content`; WordPress core files and `wp-config.php` are not moved.
- After importing a database, users log in with the accounts from the imported site.
- Privacy: no external requests, no tracking, no data collection.
- Developers: WP-CLI commands `wp siteshift export`, `wp siteshift import <file> --yes` and `wp siteshift list`.
- It imports `.siteshift` archives made by SiteShift Migration; it does not import archives from other migration plugins.