A WooCommerce store is your orders, customers, products, and payment configuration — almost all of it lives in WordPress files and the database. Hosting snapshots help, but you also want backups you control, stored somewhere separate from the server. Google Drive is a practical choice: familiar, cheap storage at scale, and easy to share with your agency.

UpdraftPlus is one of the most used backup plugins for WordPress. With remote storage enabled, it can push full or partial backups (database, uploads, themes, plugins, "others") straight to Google Drive on a schedule or on demand.

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Google Drive in UpdraftPlusNative Google Drive integration is typically available with UpdraftPlus Premium (or the relevant add-on, depending on your package). The free edition still creates excellent local backups; if you do not see Google Drive under remote storage, check your UpdraftPlus edition or use another supported destination until you upgrade.

Why off-site backups matter for WooCommerce

  • Hosting failure or account issues — your copy on Drive is independent of the host.
  • Ransomware or bad deploys — restore from a known-good point in time.
  • Human error — bulk product deletes or bad migrations happen; backups are the undo button.
  • Compliance and peace of mind — you can prove you can recover customer and order data.

What you need before you start

01

A Google account with enough Drive space

WooCommerce sites grow quickly (especially wp-content/uploads). Plan for several gigabytes, or buy Google One storage if your free quota is tight.

02

UpdraftPlus installed and activated

In WordPress go to Plugins → Add New, search for UpdraftPlus, install and activate. Premium users: ensure your licence is valid so remote destinations unlock.

03

Admin access and a maintenance window (first run)

The first full backup can be large and CPU-heavy. Run it outside peak traffic if possible, or after enabling incremental options if your plan supports them.

Connect Google Drive to UpdraftPlus

01

Open UpdraftPlus settings

In the WordPress dashboard: Settings → UpdraftPlus Backups (or the UpdraftPlus entry in the admin menu, depending on version).

02

Choose Google Drive as remote storage

On the Settings tab, find the remote storage options and select Google Drive. Save settings if prompted.

03

Authenticate with Google

Click the link or button to sign in to Google. Choose or confirm the Google account, review permissions, and complete OAuth. You should return to WordPress with Drive connected.

04

Optional: folder name in Drive

Many installs create a dedicated folder (for example named after your site or "UpdraftPlus"). Use a clear name so you do not confuse production backups with staging or other projects.

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OAuth and “blocked” sign-insIf Google reports the app as unverified or your Workspace admin blocks third-party access, you may need to use an allowed Google account or ask your IT team to permit UpdraftPlus OAuth for your organisation.

Schedule backups and set retention

On the same Settings screen, configure Files backup schedule and Database backup schedule. For active WooCommerce stores, a common pattern is:

  • Database — daily (orders and stock change often).
  • Files — weekly or daily if you change themes/plugins often; weekly is typical for stable stores.

Set how many backups to retain in remote storage. More copies mean more safety and more Drive usage. A practical default is 3–7 daily database sets plus weekly files, adjusted for disk space and how painful a longer rollback would be.

Run your first backup to Google Drive

Go to the Backup / Restore tab (or the main UpdraftPlus screen), choose the components to include (usually database + plugins + themes + uploads + any "others" you need), and click Backup now. Leave remote storage enabled so chunks upload to Drive after the backup is built.

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Confirm in Google DriveOpen Drive in the browser, locate the backup folder, and verify new zip (or archive) parts appear with today's date. If nothing uploads, check UpdraftPlus logs, PHP timeouts, and Drive free space.

How to restore (and why you should test)

A backup you have never restored is a hope, not a plan. On staging or a clone, practice restoring from a Drive backup: use UpdraftPlus's restore flow and point it at the archived set on Google Drive.

  • Restore database — brings back products, orders, settings (coordinate with any caching/CDN).
  • Restore uploads — product images and downloadable files live here for many stores.
  • Restore plugins/themes — use when code was corrupted or deleted; be careful mixing old code with a new database.

WooCommerce-specific tips

  • WooCommerce HPOS — orders may live in custom tables; UpdraftPlus includes the database as a whole, which covers these tables in normal setups.
  • Large uploads folders — if backups time out, split schedules, exclude heavy non-essential paths only if you know what you are doing, or upgrade hosting/PHP limits.
  • Security — your Drive folder holds a full copy of the site. Restrict sharing, use 2FA on the Google account, and consider a dedicated Google user for backups only.
  • Do not rely on backups alone — staging, updates in a safe order, and monitoring still matter.

Backups configured but something still feels risky?

We help WooCommerce stores with backup strategy, staging restores, and recovery after updates or migrations — same-day response when it matters.

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Summary

Connect Google Drive in UpdraftPlus, set sensible schedules and retention, run a full backup to confirm uploads, and test a restore on staging. For WooCommerce, treating the database as daily-critical and keeping copies off-site on Drive turns a bad day into a recoverable one.

WordPressWooCommerceBackupsUpdraftPlusGoogle Drive