Google’s services are used by millions of people around the world and you can rest assured that the features they offer can help you things that you haven’t even imagined are possible with Google’s rich array of services. One of the most popular applications is Google Drive – a cloud service that can be used to store and share files and documents of all types. However, did you know that thanks to Google Drive you can also perform manual or automatic backups of your blog? Settings up these backups is incredibly easy and it takes no longer than 10-15 minutes, so keep on reading because we are going to teach you to backup WordPress site to Google Drive.

1. Install the Google Drive for WordPress Plugin

Google Drive for WordPress is a free plugin that you can instantly download from the official WordPress plugin repository. After you’ve downloaded and installed the plugin you need to activate it in order to proceed to the configuration chapter.

1. Go to the administrator dashboard and navigate to Plugins -> Add New

2. Type Google Drive for WordPress in the search box and click on Search Plugins

3. Click the Install Now button beneath Google Drive for WordPress

4. Wait for the installation to finish and click on Activate Now to activate the plugin

Now that the plugin is installed and activated you can continue with the configuration process that will help you backup WordPress blog to Google Drive.

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2. Configure your Google Account & Plugin

If you’ve done everything right, then you should be seeing a new menu item labeled Configure Google. Go there and you will see the following menu:

From this area you’ll have to click on the Google API Console link in order to create a unique ID for your WordPress blog. Click on the link and follow the next steps.

1. Select the API Access link from the side menu:

2. Click on Create Another Client ID

3. From the next menu choose Web Application, enter the URL of your website and click on More Options.

4. After you click on More Options you’ll see that two new input fields will appear. Make sure to copy the Authorization Redirecting URL found in the Configure Google menu in WordPress and then paste it in the Authorized Redirect URLs field in the Google API Console.

Keep in mind that the Authorized JavaScript Origins must be your website’s URL (for example: http://localhost). Click on Create the Client ID and you’ll see your new Client ID and Client Secret. Copy both codes and enter them into your WordPress’s Configure Google page. Hit Allow Access and then click Accept. If you’ve done everything right you will be redirected to your WordPress dashboard and you’ll see the following message:

3. Modifying Backup WordPress Site to Google Drive Settings

You’ve now authorized the service to automatically backup your WordPress site to Google Drive, so it’s time to tell the plugin what files it should save in the backup. Go to Configure Google -> Backup Settings and set the folder name for each backup as well as configure if you’d like to receive an email notification when a backup is performed. You can also configure backup WordPress automatically to Google Drive by using the BackUp Schedule section.

By using this plugin you won’t backup only your files – you can also backup WordPress database to Google Drive. Go to Manage Database and choose which tables you’d like to exclude from the backup:

You can also select which files or directories to exclude from the backup by going to Manage Files and checking the boxes against the name of the entries that you’d like to be excluded:

After you’ve configured the backup options you can click Save and test if you can backup WordPress site to Google Drive going to Configure Google -> On Time Backup. Click Backup on the new screen and go to Google Drive in order to see if the backup was successful. If you see this

Then congratulations! You are now using Google Drive for WordPress files backup and you’ll be able to quickly restore your website to a previous state in case something goes wrong. As you can see, this 10-minute job can be a life saver, especially if your website becomes the victim of a malicious attack. This is we advise both beginner & experienced bloggers to automatically backup WordPress site to Google Drive in order to have their piece of mind, knowing that their websites are safe & sound.