---
title: "Settings import and export"
description: "Export your WP Masquerade settings to a JSON file without license or secrets, then import them on another site after a preview and confirmation. Save time."
language: "en"
locale: "en-US"
type: "page"
canonical: "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/features/settings-import-export/"
published: "2026-10-27T23:16:51+00:00"
modified: "2026-11-06T13:42:52+00:00"
translations:
  en-US: "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/features/settings-import-export/index.md"
  fr-FR: "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/fr/fonctionnalites/import-export-reglages/index.md"
  es-ES: "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/es/funcionalidades/importar-exportar-ajustes/index.md"
  de-DE: "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/de/funktionen/einstellungen-import-export/index.md"
  it-IT: "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/it/funzionalita/importa-esporta-impostazioni/index.md"
  pt-BR: "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/pt/recursos/importar-exportar-configuracoes/index.md"
  nl-NL: "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/nl/functies/instellingen-importeren-exporteren/index.md"
---

# Settings import and export

Export all of WP Masquerade’s settings to a JSON file, without the license or secrets, then import them on another site after a preview of the changes and a confirmation.

## What import/export does

In the **Troubleshooting** tab, WP Masquerade Pro saves all of WP Masquerade’s settings to a `.json` file, which you can import later on the same site or on another one. This is useful to:

- **back up before a major change** (another mode, [file aliases](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/features/file-url-aliases/), a new [login address](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/features/custom-login-page/)) and roll back if something goes wrong;
- **replicate a configuration** between [staging](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/glossary/staging-environment/) and production, or across your clients’ sites;
- **keep a record** of a site’s configuration on a given date.

## What the file contains

The file contains WP Masquerade’s settings, free and Pro (imitated software, login page, aliases, traps, headers, alerts, and so on), plus the export date, the address of the source site and the WP Masquerade version numbers.

The current format also covers the [AI crawler](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/features/ai-crawler-control/) and hotlink protection settings. Files produced before this format are still accepted.

It **never contains the license, [two-factor authentication](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/glossary/two-factor-authentication/) secrets, keys or any other WordPress setting**. Any setting whose name suggests a secret (password, token, key, license, and so on) is excluded, on export as on import. However, it does contain the alert recipients and the list of allowed IP addresses if you filled them in: treat it as an internal document.

The active alias plan and the choice to share the site’s status with your member area are not exported either: each site decides for itself what it sends.

## An import checked before it is applied Pro

| Step | What happens |
| --- | --- |
| **1. File check** | `.json` extension, 200 KB at most, text file, WP Masquerade export format. An export made with a newer version of the format is rejected: update the plugins first. |
| **2. Sorting the settings** | Only settings this site knows are kept. Unknown or disallowed names and values that are too long are ignored and listed. |
| **3. Preview** | A table shows, for each setting that changes, the current value and the imported value, along with the site and date of the export. |
| **4. Confirmation** | Nothing is saved until you click **Confirm the import**. **Cancel** changes nothing, and the preview expires after 10 minutes. |
| **5. Saving** | Values go through the same checks as on the settings page. Settings missing from the file keep their current value. |

**No risk of locking yourself out**: a new login address or new folder names are saved but stay inactive until you test them, just as when you enter them by hand. Exports and imports are recorded in the [activity log](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/features/administrator-activity-log/).

![WP Masquerade Pro “Export or import the settings” card: Download the settings (.json) button, import preview with current and imported values, Confirm the import and Cancel buttons, file picker](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/media/2026/10/admin-import-export-1.webp)

*Previewing an import, in the Troubleshooting tab: nothing is saved until you confirm.*

## Settings profiles Pro

A profile is a named copy of your settings, to apply again on this site or on others. In the “Export or import the settings” card, name the **New profile from the current settings** and click **Save as a profile**; the site keeps up to 20. Then download the profile and import it in the same card on the other site.

Values that belong to the source site are left out unless you tick the option that includes them: login address, folder names, IP addresses, alert recipients and firewall ranges, plus any value that contains the site’s address. The destination site keeps its own. If you include them, the login address and folder names still go through their usual test on the new site.

Managing client sites? The [agency dashboard](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/features/agency-dashboard/) in your member area sends a profile to several sites at once, on those whose administrator has allowed it. The change then shows as pending on the site, with “Apply now” and “Refuse”.

## How to do it

### Export

Go to **WP Masquerade → Troubleshooting** (the mask icon in the admin menu), “Export or import the settings” card, then click **Download the settings (.json)**. The file is named after the site and the date, for example `cms-masquerade-settings-example.com-2026-10-28.json`.

### Import

1. On the destination site, with WP Masquerade and WP Masquerade Pro up to date, open the same card.
2. Choose the file in “Settings or profile file to import”, then click **Check the file**.
3. In the preview, grouped by section, tick the **Sections to import**: for example, you can take only the security headers.
4. Review the preview of the changes, then click **Confirm the import** or **Cancel**.
5. If the login address or folder names change, test them in the **Protection** and **File URLs** tabs, then purge the caches.

## Limits and precautions

- Only settings are transferred. The license is activated separately on each site, and account two-factor authentication, the activity log and trap counters remain specific to each site.
- The server rules for aliases (.htaccess, Nginx configuration, and so on) are not in the file: copy the ones the File URLs tab shows for the new site.
- A file exported by a newer version of WP Masquerade Pro is accepted, but settings your version doesn’t know are ignored: a warning in the preview tells you so.
- The file may contain email addresses and IP addresses: don’t publish it, and don’t attach it to a public ticket.

### Related reading

- [Documentation](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/docs/)
- [File URL aliases](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/features/file-url-aliases/)
- [Administrator activity log](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/features/administrator-activity-log/)

## Start free, upgrade to Pro when you’re ready

The free version already hides WordPress, moves the login page, blocks XML-RPC and counts bots. Pro locks down logins, renames file URLs and monitors your sites for you: known vulnerabilities, core integrity, activity log, email alerts and the update status of all your sites in your member area. From €59 per year excl. tax, far less than the cleanup offers whose prices we checked. [Compare the costs](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/pricing/#cout-piratage).

[See Pro pricing](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/pricing/)

[Download the free version](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/download/)