Import using Move to WordPress.com

Interested in migrating your site to WordPress.com?

For a short time, we’re offering migrations from your existing WordPress site to WordPress.com for free! Sign up for a new Creator or Entrepreneur plan and our expert Happiness Engineers will handle the migration for you.

Request a Free Migration

Use the Move to WordPress.com plugin to migrate a self-hosted WordPress site to WordPress.com. Follow the steps in this guide to import your site (including your content, media, plugins, and theme) directly from your wp-admin dashboard.

In this guide

1. Prerequisites
   1. Install the Move to WordPress.com Plugin
2. Migrate from Self-Hosted WordPress
3. After the Import

Prerequisites

To follow the steps in this guide, you will need:

• Your source site: a WordPress site with any other hosting provider (referred to as a self-hosted or WordPress.org site.)
• The Move to WordPress.com plugin installed on your source site. Step-by-step instructions.
• All incompatible plugins deactivated on the self-hosted site.

There is no need to create a site on WordPress.com before you get started. The site will be created for you during the migration process.

Install the Move to WordPress.com Plugin

The Move to WordPress.com plugin must be installed on your self-hosted site:

1. Log into /wp-admin/ on your self-hosted site.
2. Navigate to Plugins → Add New in your dashboard.
3. Search for “Move to WordPress.com”:

4. Click Install Now.
5. Once the plugin is installed, click Activate.

Migrate from Self-Hosted WordPress

With the Move to WordPress.com plugin installed, follow these steps to start the import process:

1. Log into /wp-admin/ on your self-hosted WordPress.org site.
2. Click Move to WordPress.com in your WordPress dashboard on the left:

3. Click “Get started“:

4. Next, you’ll pick your destination. If you have an existing WordPress.com site, you will find it listed on the screen. Or click “create a new one” to create a new destination site.
   • Selecting an existing WordPress.com site will replace any content on the destination site with the migrated content.
5. If the destination site does not already have a WordPress.com Creator plan or higher, you will be prompted to choose one of these options:
   • Upgrade and migrate: Purchase a WordPress.com plan and start the migration.
   • Try it for free: Sign up for a seven-day free trial with the following restrictions that are removed automatically once you upgrade the site to a Creator plan or higher:
     • Max 100 subscribers.
     • No custom domains.
     • The site cannot be launched publicly.

6. The final step will be to click the “Start migration” button.
   • If you know your original site’s SSH/SFTP credentials, you can use the option to “Provide the server credentials” for a faster migration. Learn more about adding server credentials to your self-hosted site’s Jetpack Plugin.

The migration from this point forward will be automated. The importer will automatically take the following steps:

1. Takes a backup of your self-hosted site.
2. Imports the backup to your new WordPress.com site.
3. Completes the migration.

You will receive an email to your WordPress.com account email address to notify you when the import has finished.

After the Import

When the import completes:

• Review your pages, posts, media, plugins, and other content on your new WordPress.com site to ensure everything you need has imported successfully.
• Deactivate any incompatible plugins on the imported site.
• Add a domain to your site. We provide you with a WordPress.com subdomain like yourgroovysite.wpcomstaging.com. You can register a new domain or connect/transfer a domain you already own.
• Launch your WordPress.com site to the public at General → Settings in your WordPress.com dashboard.
• Get familiar with the features included in your WordPress.com plan.
• Move stats and subscribers by contacting us with the URLs of both sites.