Fix All-in-One WP Migration: “Unable to import: Missing manifest.json”

Quick fixes

1. Update the plugin on the target site to the latest All-in-One WP Migration before importing. (Backwards compatibility is strong, but newer exports can include format changes.) Then retry the import. Tip: Export site doesn’t need to match exactly, but staying current avoids edge cases.
2. Restore from the backups folder (no browser upload): place the .wpress file into wp-content/ai1wm-backups/, then go to All-in-One WP Migration → Backups and click Restore. This bypasses HTTP upload, size limits, and partial/chunked uploads.
3. Verify the archive actually contains manifest.json: browse the .wpress contents locally. If manifest.json is missing or the archive won’t open, the backup is corrupt. Re-export and try again.

Why this error happens

• Corrupt or partial upload: large uploads can time out or be truncated, leaving the importer unable to find manifest.json.
• Damaged backup file: the original .wpress is incomplete (interrupted export, disk full, etc.).
• Version/format mismatch (rare): older importers may choke on a newer archive layout. Updating the importer typically resolves this.

Step-by-step fixes

1) Restore via the ai1wm-backups folder (recommended)

This avoids browser uploads and PHP timeouts.

1. Upload your backup to the server (SFTP/SSH/Panel) at:

   wp-content/ai1wm-backups/YourBackup.wpress

2. In wp-admin, open All-in-One WP Migration → Backups and click Restore for that file.
3. Follow prompts to complete the import.

If the Backups screen doesn’t show the file, double-check the path and ownership/permissions on ai1wm-backups.

2) Check that the .wpress includes manifest.json

Use ServMask’s WPress Extractor tools to browse or extract the archive locally. Confirm manifest.json is present at the archive root.

• If you can’t open the file, or manifest.json is missing/0 bytes, re-export the backup and retry.
• Keep the file extension as .wpress (don’t rename to .zip).

Optional integrity check: compare file sizes (source vs. downloaded). If the server copy is, say, 2.3 GB and your local upload is smaller, the upload was truncated.

3) Update/importer hygiene

• Update All-in-One WP Migration on the destination site to the latest version.
• If the export site used a much older/newer version, re-export with a current version and try again.

4) If you must use the browser uploader, raise PHP limits

For very large backups, increase server limits to prevent partial uploads/timeouts:

; php.ini or .user.ini
upload_max_filesize = 2048M
post_max_size = 2048M
memory_limit = 1024M
max_execution_time = 600
max_input_time = 600

# .htaccess (Apache + mod_php)
php_value upload_max_filesize 2048M
php_value post_max_size 2048M
php_value memory_limit 1024M
php_value max_execution_time 600
php_value max_input_time 600

Reload PHP/clear OPcache, then retry the import (or, better, use the ai1wm-backups method above).

5) Still stuck? Try these edge cases

• Disk space: make sure the destination has space for the archive and temporary files.
• Filename: keep ASCII characters and a .wpress extension (avoid spaces/commas/unicode).
• Security scanners: some hosts aggressively scan uploads. The backups-folder restore often bypasses this.

FAQ

Can I import a backup made with another plugin?
No,.wpress is a ServMask format. Convert/extract first, or re-create a fresh AIO-WM backup

Do I need the same plugin version to import?
Usually no, but updating the importer is recommended to avoid format issues.