Overview
You can import and export WordPress site content using an XML or WXR (WordPress eXtended RSS) file, either from the WordPress dashboard or with WP-CLI.
How do I import content?
The following steps show how to import an XML or WXR file into a WordPress site.
How do I import a site's XML data in the dashboard?
- Log in to your WordPress site.
- Navigate to the Tools > Import page.
- Click the Run Importer link.
- Browse your computer for the XML file, then click Upload file and import.
- Choose if you'd like to create a new WordPress user for the import, or use an existing user.
- Click the Submit button.
An XML file is uploaded to your website.
How do I import a WXR file using WP-CLI?
If you have a WXR file, you can import it using the WP CLI wp import command. This command uses the file, --authors, and --skip options which you can read about here.
In the following example:
- file is set to the name of the file you're importing. In this example it's my-wordpress-site.xml.
- --author is set to skip
- --skip is excluded from this example
- Upload your WXR file to your WordPress site using an FTP client. Make sure the XML file is in your website's directory.
- Log into your website via SSH.
- Run the following command to import the XML file.
[server]$ wp import my-wordpress-site.xml --authors=skip Error: WordPress Importer needs to be installed. Try 'wp plugin install wordpress-importer --activate'.
An error displays if you have not already installed the WordPress Importer plugin. If so, run the command mentioned to install it.
[server]$ wp plugin install wordpress-importer --activate
Once installed, run the import command again. If successful, you'll see the following message:
Success: Finished importing from 'my-wordpress-site.xml' file
How do I export content?
The following steps show how to export a WordPress site to an XML or WXR file.
How do I export a site's XML data in the dashboard?
- Log in to your WordPress site.
- Navigate to the Tools > Export page on the left menu.
- Select the radio button titled All Content.
- Click the Export button.
An XML file is downloaded to your computer.
How do I export a WXR file using WP-CLI?
You can export all site data using the WP CLI wp export command. See this page for a full list of options you can use with this command.
- Log into your website via SSH.
- Navigate into your website's directory.
[server]$ cd ~/example.com
- Get the full file path to your current directory by running pwd.
[server]$ pwd /home/username/example.com
- Add your file path to the command below to export the XML file. Make sure to change username to your Shell user and example.com to your website.
[server]$ wp export --dir=/home/username/example.com Success: All done with export.
Your site data is downloaded into a file named something like sitename.wordpress.date.time.xml.