How to migrate WordPress.com into WordPress.org (Step By Step Instructions)
Are you looking to switch away from WordPress.com and move to WordPress.org (AKA self-hosted WordPress)? Usually, this means you're now ready to take your blog or business to the next level! Self-hosted hosting opens up a whole new world of possibilities for customizing your website and possibilities for your website.
You'll need to utilize the WordPress.org self-hosted solution to use its hosting.
What You Need to Get Moving
Beyond hosting for your new WordPress.org site, you'll also require a domain.
If you bought a custom domain through WordPress.com (e.g. yoursite.com instead of yoursite.wordpress.com), you'll also need to point that domain to .
To do that, you can either edit your DNS information at WordPress.com and connect it to :
- This article will show you how to edit DNS information at WordPress.com
You can also choose for change your domain to another registry and then point the domain to .
Moving Steps WordPress.com to WordPress.org
In order to give you a sense of what it takes for transferring WordPress.com to WordPress.org, here's a high-level look at the steps that you'll need to take:
- Create a fresh WordPress install at and perform the basics of cleaning
- Upload your content to WordPress.com
- Upload your blog posts to WordPress.org using the WordPress Importer tool
- If using
yoursite.wordpress.comURL, redirect visitors to your new domain (optional)
Step 1: Create an entirely new WordPress website at
In order to begin, you'll need to create your own fresh WordPress.org install.
At , you can do it by going to the sites tab in the dashboard of your My Dashboard after which you click to add a site: button to add a site: button.
Follow the instructions in the popup to install your site.
Once you've created your fresh WordPress.org installation, you'll want to conduct a bit of housekeeping prior to importing the content from your WordPress.com content.
Set Permalinks
For smooth transitions it is important to make sure that your new self-hosted WordPress.org installation has the exact permalink structure as your WordPress.com site.
As a standard, WordPress.com websites make use of the Day as well as name URL structure.
Then, choose the option for Day and name and save your edits:
Install Your WordPress Theme
There's currently no method to transfer your WordPress.com theme straight to your WordPress.org site.
However, many (though some, but not all) among the WordPress themes are available on WordPress.com are also available to self-hosted WordPress sites.
As an example for example, the AltoFocus theme is offered through as well WordPress.com and WordPress.org.
To accomplish this, go to the Appearance tab within your WordPress.org site. Then, click Add New:
There, you'll be able to find your theme's name and install it:
Step 2: Export Content from WordPress.com
For exporting your site's contents, go to the WordPress.com website's dashboard. Choose the Options option located in the sidebar. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and locate an export option. It is located under Site Tools:
Next on the next screen, select next to the export all button to the Export button.:
Then, you should get a download link via your email. You can also select the Download link in the interface:
It will then download an archive of ZIP files to your desktop. When the download has finished, you need to extract the zip file. If you're running Windows it is possible to do it by right-clicking, and then choosing Extract All.
Once you've extracted your ZIP file's contents then you'll be able to open the folder which contains an .xml file. Make sure to keep this file in your files because you'll need it for the next stage.
Step 3. Import Content onto The New WordPress.org Website
Next, go to the WordPress admin dashboard for the WordPress.org site that you built at Step 1.
Then, go to Tools and Import. Find your WordPress program and then click to install now.:
After a few minutes, you should see a new link to run Importer. Click that link to continue the procedure:
In the next screen, you'll be invited to upload the .xml file that you downloaded from WordPress.com in the previous step:
After you've chosen the .xml file, simply click to upload the file and click upload.
If you have a lot of material, you may require a little period of time. You'll then see two possibilities to
- Assign Authors
- Import Attachments
For the author assignments Section, we would recommend selecting this option in order to assign the posts to an existing user by selecting the username from the drop-down.
After that, you must check the box for upload and download file attachments. This will make sure that your WordPress.org website imports all the images that you have uploaded to your WordPress.com site.
Then, click Submit.
When the process has finished the process, you will receive the following message as a confirmation:
Go to your web page and explore. If everything is working, your content should look and function just like it did at WordPress.com.
If there's something that's not right, such as broken URLs or missing images This is how to solve it:
Fixing Broken URLs After WordPress.com Migration
If you changed URLs as part of your migration (like moving from yoursite.wordpress.com to yoursite.com), you might end up with "broken" URLs in your content.
For example, if you wrote a blog post that included a link to a different blog post on your site, that link might still take people to yoursite.wordpress.com/example when really it should go to that same blog post on your WordPress.org site - yoursite.com/example.
Type in your old WordPress.com URL in the Search box. Then, enter the new WordPress.org URL into the Replace box. In this case, we're using your temporary URL. If you already have a domain, you will want to make use of the domain instead. Make sure to leave the Dry Run option unchecked and then press to substitute:
There should be a brief summary of the number of possible replacements the tool found. Ideally, this should have a positive value:
After you have confirmed that you've entered the details, you can uncheck your Dry Run box and click Replace once more:
Restoring Images Missing After WordPress.com Migration
If all went smoothly, you should be able to view all your photos immediately. However...sometimes things can go wrong and you're missing some images.
If that's the case then you'll be able to use the Free Auto Upload Images plugin to transfer the missing pictures for you.
After you have installed and activated the plugin, navigate to The Posts area of the WordPress dashboard. Select the checkbox for the posts you have created before selecting the Edit option from the drop-down menu. Then, click Apply:
It will then open a brand new interface. The only thing you have to do is click on the button to update. button, and the software will import the images that are missing:
Step 4: Redirect WordPress.com Site to WordPress.org (Or Make Private)
At this point it is recommended that you be able to set up a functioning self-hosted WordPress.org website with all the content you have on WordPress.com.
However, there's still one important issue to consider - what does happen to your WordPress.com website now that you've moved everything over?
Two scenarios are possible here, depending upon the URL of your WordPress.com website.
The same URL is used for WordPress.com And WordPress.org
If you're using a custom URL for WordPress.com ( yoursite.com) and are making use of the exact same custom URL on your WordPress.org website ( yoursite.com) All you have to do is turn off your old WordPress.com website secure.
For that, head to your Settings area in your WordPress.com Dashboard and click the private option in the privacysettings:
Different URLs For WordPress.com and WordPress.org
If you've changed your website's URL in the process of moving to WordPress.com to WordPress.org (e.g. yoursite.wordpress.com to yoursite.com), then things are a little trickier.
See, there will technically be two duplicate versions of your site - one at yoursite.wordpress.com and another at yoursite.com.
This is a problem because:
- Visitors might click on your old backlinks and go to
yoursite.wordpress.com, when really you want them to be atyoursite.com
To fix this issue, you can set up redirection. With a redirect, anyone who tries to visit yoursite.wordpress.com will be taken straight to yoursite.com instead.
WordPress.com lets you do this, however they'll cost you $13 annually for the privilege of doing it.
While paying money is never fun, this small fee is worth it if you have an existing client base and you don't wish to let them go when you make the switch.
For creating a redirection, go here and choose the website you've transferred to:
Then, enter your new domain in the box and Click Go:
After that, you'll have to enter your payment information for the payment process to be completed.
If you are not willing to pay the $13 per year cost to WordPress.com, you can also just make your old website private using instructions in the preceding section. However, you will have to remove all the website traffic and the links to your previous WordPress.com website This isn't ideal.
Make use of Jetpack to gain access to WordPress.com Features
You're almost finished!
Before we wrap our course, we'll leave with this one additional tip:
Jetpack was developed by Automattic which is the company behind WordPress.com - so it's able to seamlessly add many WordPress.com options to your brand new WordPress.org website.
Summary
Moving from WordPress.com to WordPress.org can be an exciting time. It usually means you're now ready to move on and get full control over your website. The possibilities of your options are limitless!
Do you have any additional issues or concerns in our guide to migration previously mentioned? Let us know below in the remarks.
Brian Jackson
Brian has a great love for WordPress and has been using for more than 10 years, and even develops a couple of premium plugins. Brian is a fan of movies, blogging, and hiking. Connect with Brian on Twitter.