If you have lost access to your WordPress website and need a copy of the website then You can make a copy or clone a WordPress Website without access to Cpanel or WordPress Admin side credentials in two ways.
While working as a Freelance Web Developer for a while, I have encountered this issue many many times. Clients either forget about their WordPress credentials or just don’t have them in the first place from a previous web developer.
I manage to help these users by following my 3-way approach to copying a WordPress Site without access.
This solution will work if you have lost either Cpanel or WordPress user credentials or both but you still have access to the web hosting provider company’s client side.
You may have either one of these 3 accesses if you have created or owned the website:
- WP Username/Password
- Cpanel Account Access
- Hosting Account Access
Any single access from the above list can do the trick.
Table of Contents
Method 1: Using WordPress Access
if you have lost access to your Cpanel or hosting account and still have admin side credentials of your WordPress website, you can easily make a clone of your website.
- Install cloning of the All-In-One Migration plugin.
- Go to Export.
- Select Export as File.
- Download the file to your PC/Laptop.
- Go to a new location where you want to make a clone, and install & activate the All-In-One Migration plugin.
- Go to Import, and select the backup file that you downloaded earlier.
Import will take a while and you will have your cloned WordPress website copy ready on the new server.
Methods To Recover WordPress Credentials
If you do not have access to WordPress user credentials, here are some popular methods to recover WordPress credentials:
1. Use the “Forgot Password” feature on the WordPress login page.
2. Reset the password via phpMyAdmin or a similar database management tool.
3. Edit the password directly in the WordPress database.
4. Contact your WordPress host and ask them to reset the password for you.
5. If you have access to the WordPress files, you can reset the password by editing the user.php file.
Method 2: Using Cpanel To Copy WordPress Website
To do so, you will need to use the cPanel Backup feature to create a full backup of your website. Once the backup is created, you can then use the cPanel Restore feature to restore the backup to your desired location.
1. Log into your cPanel account.
2. In the Files section, click on the Backup Wizard icon.
3. On the next screen, select Full Backup and click on the Backup button.
4. On the next screen, you will see a confirmation message telling you that your backup is being generated. Click on the Go Back button.
5. Once the backup is generated, you will see it listed under the Backups Available for Download section.
6. Click on the link to download the backup file to your computer.
For more information on how to use the cPanel Backup and Restore features, please refer to the cPanel documentation.
Acess WordPress Dashboard Directly From Cpanel:
Many users do not know this, but you can directly access the WordPress dashboard without admin-side credentials if you just have access to Cpanel.
- Go to the Cpanel dashboard
2. Scroll Down to Softaculous WordPress Installer. Click it.
3. You will see all the active WordPress website installations on your server currently.
4. Click on Login and it will take you to the default admin side WP dashboard.
5. You can also reset passwords for different account users from here directly without knowing the previous passwords.
How to Clone WordPress Website Using Cpanel On New URL
1. Log in to your cPanel account.
2. Scroll down to the “Domains” section and click on the “Clone Website” tool.
3. Enter the URL of the website you want to clone in the “Source URL” field.
4. Enter the desired name for your cloned website in the “New Website” field.
5. Click on the “Clone Website” button.
Your cloned website will be created and will be accessible at the URL you specified in the “New Website” field.
NOTE: The cloning process may take a few minutes to complete, depending on the size of the website you are cloning.
Method 3: Using Hosting Account To Access Cpanel
if you do not have access to the WordPress dashboard or to Cpanel make a copy of the WordPress website using client-side access of your hosting provider.
Every hosting company provides direct access to the Cpanel of your server. and If you are logged in from client-side access you can access it directly without the need of entering the Cpanel user id and password.
Let me show you how.
For This example, I am using Namecheap. The process is the same for other popular web hosting providers.
1. Login into your hosting provider’s client-side by Clicking on My Account/Sign-in/Log In Options.
2. Go to my services/Hosting options. Here you will see details regarding your hosting package and Cpanel.
3. Click on Go To CPANEL and it will take you directly to the Cpanel.
Now, you have access to Cpanel, you can either create a file backup from Cpanel using the instructions in step two or you can access the WordPress dashboard and make a copy using a third-party plugin as taught in step one.
Wrapping Up
Using the above steps you can not only recover your access to your WordPress website but also make copies and download a backup. I’m sure one of these methods will help you out as they have helped me recover numerous websites for businesses.
I highly recommend you check my other value-creating posts related to WordPress:
