Update all WordPress database URLs

Overview

This article explains two ways to update all URLs in your database to a new URL.

Reasons to update the URL

There are a few reasons you would need to update the URLs in your WordPress database.

Moving to a new domain

The primary reason you would follow these instructions is after manually moving your WordPress site from an old domain to a new domain. For example:

• https://example.com
  to
• https://dreamhost.com

You would then use these steps to update the URLs in the imported database.

Adding or removing www

Another reason to update your URLs is if you have created a custom .htaccess file to add or remove www from your domain. This may result in a "Too many redirects" or "The page isn't redirecting properly" error. You can then use these steps to ensure all URLs add or remove www.

Forcing HTTPS to the URL

If you've added an SSL certificate, the first part of the URL now changes from HTTP to HTTPS, but you should also ensure that all URLs in your database also use the HTTPS version.

How to update the database URLs

Either of the following options can be used to update the URLs in your database.

Option 1 — Using the command line

If you are familiar with the command line, you can use wp-cli to update all URLs in the database at once.

1. Log into your server via SSH.
2. Navigate to your WordPress directory. Make sure to change username to your Shell user:

   [server]$ cd /home/username/example.com

3. Create a database backup in your user directory. This is recommended so you can revert your changes if needed:

   [server]$ wp db export ~/backup`date +"%d-%m-%Y"-%T`.sql
   

4. Test the update first.
   • The --dry-run flag is used to test the command without making any changes.
   • The --all-tables-with-prefix flag is used to ensure the change is applied to all of the tables.

   [server]$ wp search-replace 'https://www.example.com/' 'https://dreamhostexample.com/' --all-tables-with-prefix --dry-run
   

   The above response confirms that there are replacements to be made. When you’re ready to run the command, remove the --dry-run flag:

   [server]$ wp search-replace 'https://www.example.com/' 'https://dreamhostexample.com/' --all-tables-with-prefix
   

5. Clear any cache that results from the search-replace functions:

   [server]$ wp cache flush
   Success: The cache was flushed.

Option 2 — Using a plugin

This option uses the Better Search Replace plugin to update all URLs in the database. An instructional video is also available.

1. Make a backup of your database. This is recommended so you can revert your changes if needed.
2. Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
3. Install and activate the Better Search Replace plugin.
4. Navigate to the plugin under Tools > Better Search Replace.

   

5. Click the Search/Replace tab.
6. Enter your current HTTP URL in the first field titled Search for. For example:
• http://example.com
7. Enter your new URL in the second field titled Replace with. For example:
• https://example.com/blog
8. Select all tables.
9. Leave Replace GUIDs unchecked (recommended). See this page for further details.
10. Check the box titled Run as dry run?. 
11. Click Run Search/Replace. This responds with a message notifying you of what would have been updated if you did not check the Dry Run box.
12. Run it again with the Run as dry run? box unchecked. A confirmation displays notifying you of how many changes were made.

Clearing your cache

After all URLs have been updated, you should delete your cache. This helps ensure the new URLs are used when visiting your site.

See also

• WordPress overview
• How to log into your WordPress site
• WordPress wp-cli overview
• WordPress wp-config.php overview