When you finish creating a stellar post in WordPress, you’re probably thinking about how you can reuse its content, elements, metadata, settings and layout. That way, your future posts will be excellent as well.
You could make a template in another location, like a notebook, but that’s more time-consuming than simply cloning the content of one page to a new page directly in WordPress. That’s why it’s surprising to learn WordPress doesn’t have a smooth way to duplicate a page.
This guide will walk you through how to duplicate a page in WordPress, and then provide an alternative way to make duplicate WordPress pages with plugins.
What is page duplication in WordPress?
For WordPress websites, page duplication means using the dashboard to move all the content and formatting from an original page to a new page.
Using page duplication, you can create custom post types. It’s similar to using a template but even better in some instances. For example, it saves you from creating WordPress templates for a page setup that you’ll need only once or twice.
If you’re using a website hosted on WordPress.com, the support team has made a guide on how to copy a post or page. In contrast, this guide will discuss websites built using WordPress.org. If you don’t know which you use, here’s a refresher on the difference between the WordPress platforms.
Why bother making a duplicate WordPress page?
Creating a new post or page takes time and effort, especially when you go beyond basic page layouts. For this reason, page duplication can be useful to:
- Transfer content from an existing page to a new WordPress page in order to reuse it. This helps create a group of similarly worded pages — when making sales pages for a product line, for example.
- Apply recurring page elements, like headers and buttons, to a new WordPress page. When you duplicate all your page blocks, there’s no worrying about elements being left behind or configured differently.
- Experiment with options while keeping your original post intact. Having page backups is always a good idea, and page duplication is the easy solution. On your duplicated page, you can run wild with ideas since you’ll have a fallback page.
How to duplicate a page in WordPress
Long story short: You’ll have to access your dashboard, pick a post or page, go into edit mode and click Page on the right-hand sidebar. Click the three dots in the upper right-hand corner, then scroll down to select Copy all blocks. Now when you create a new page in WordPress, you can paste everything from your existing one.
Below is a detailed step-by-step walkthrough so you know precisely how to duplicate a page in WordPress.
1. First, open your WordPress dashboard.
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ALT: Open your WordPress dashboard.
2. Navigate to Posts or Pages — whichever includes the content you want to duplicate. For the sake of this example, we’ll duplicate a page. Regardless, the process is exactly parallel. In your left-hand sidebar, hover over Pages and click All Pages.
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ALT: This is how you see all your pages in WordPress.
3. Hover on the page you want to copy, then click Edit. This will take you to a workspace.
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ALT: Go into edit mode on a specific page.
4. On the right-hand sidebar, click Page. Don’t miss this step, or you’ll duplicate a single block.
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ALT: The Page tab is to the left of the Block tab.
5. Now click the three dots icon in the top right-hand corner of WordPress.
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ALT: In WordPress, the three vertical dots icon represents the options menu.
6. Scroll down to Tools and click Copy all blocks.
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ALT: This red arrow points to how you copy all blocks on a page or post.
7. Next, go back to your WordPress dashboard and click Pages. Select Add New in the drop-down menu.
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ALT: Once your blocks are copied, make a new page or post.
8. In your new page, paste the content by hitting Ctrl + V on Windows or Command + V on a Mac. Alternatively, you can right-click the new page and select Paste.
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ALT: Paste your blocks on an empty page or post.
That’s it — you’ve just learned how to copy pages manually in WordPress. While fairly straightforward, this method of duplicating pages in WordPress is somewhat tedious, especially if you have many things to clone.
Thankfully, the WordPress store has free plugins that clone posts in a single click. Some can even duplicate several posts simultaneously. In general, the best plugin to use is Yoast Duplicate Post.
Duplicating a page using the Yoast Duplicate Post plugin
If you implement search engine optimization (SEO) on your WordPress site, you’ve likely heard of Yoast’s SEO plugin, which has over five million active installations and over 25,000 five-star ratings. Well, that’s not the only plugin Yoast has.
You can also enjoy Yoast’s plugin for creating duplicate WordPress pages. It’s free — here’s how to install and use it.
1. Head to your WordPress dashboard. On the right-hand sidebar, hover over Plugins and select Add New.
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ALT: Add Yoast’s plugin to your WordPress to help with page duplication.
2. Search for “Yoast Duplicate Post” and click Install Now.
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ALT: Install Yoast Duplicate Post to simplify the page duplication process.
3. When the plugin has finished installing, click Activate.
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ALT: Click this button to activate the Yoast Duplicate Post plugin.
4. On the right-hand sidebar, go to Installed Plugins to confirm the plugin is active.
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ALT: Look for this banner after Yoast’s plugin is activated.
5. On the right-hand sidebar, hover over Pages and select All Pages. Hover over the page you want to duplicate. You’ll now have the option to Clone or Rewrite & Republish a page. Click Clone.
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ALT: Yoast gives you two options: Clone and Rewrite & Republish.
Easy as pie — a duplicate page will appear.
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ALT: It’s easy to make a duplicate page with Yoast Duplicate Post.
If you want to duplicate WordPress pages or posts in bulk, Yoast Duplicate Post has you covered. Simply go to Bulk actions and click Clone.
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ALT: These red arrows show you where the Clone tool is in the Bulk actions drop-down.
Checkmark the boxes beside the pages you want to duplicate. When you’re done, click Apply.
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ALT: Check off the posts you’d like to clone, then click Apply.
As you can see, Yoast nails page duplication in a very user-friendly manner.
Other plugins for creating duplicate pages
In most use cases, the Yoast plugin will satisfy all your duplication needs. But it would be remiss not to mention some top contender plugins, including:
Duplicate Page
This plugin has over three million active installations and over 300 five-star ratings. The free version lets you save duplicate posts as a draft, private, public or pending — this way, you don’t have to change its status afterward.
With the premium version, you can gate duplicate pages behind permissions and user roles to manage a team. If your WordPress dashboard is used by staff or other people, this plugin has useful features for you.
Also, premium users can change duplicate page links, and add a prefix or suffix that automatically applies to duplicate post names.
Duplicator
With over one million active installations and 4,000 five-star ratings, Duplicator is focused on migration and backup features. Hence, you’ll find it most useful when making bulk changes.
For example: Entire WordPress themes, plugins and sets of pages can be compressed into a zip file and migrated to another website.
Duplicate Post
This plugin has over 200,000 active installations and 800 five-star ratings. It’s best for those who want an easy entry into page duplication.
Duplicate Post has tutorials available, and beginners can try out the plugin on a free dummy website. It also features a handy naming tool to keep track of the latest versions of duplicate pages.
Duplicate Page and Post
With over 100,000 active installations, this plugin works in both WordPress’s Classic Editor and Gutenberg Editor, which will please die-hard Classic fans.
Final thoughts: How to duplicate a page in WordPress, step by step
Duplicate WordPress pages to save valuable time so you can focus on growing your website. It pays to be efficient.
Your web host should help you make the most of your time improving your website. Bluehost is a WordPress-recommended service with perks like WonderSuite, an intuitive WordPress page builder that makes visual design a breeze.
You’ll also gain free access to the WordPress Academy to bolster your grasp on SEO and digital marketing. World-class experts develop the courses.
Don’t settle for less than hosting tailored specifically for WordPress.
WordPress duplicate page FAQs
Does duplicating a page or post in WordPress create SEO issues?
Google has said that duplicate pages don’t hurt SEO unless the duplication is a scheme to artificially boost rankings.
That doesn’t mean you should populate your website with pages that are exact copies. Instead, use the original page as a template for a new page to ensure your pages are consistent.
How do I remove duplicate pages in WordPress?
There’s a simple fix, and no plugin is required. On your WordPress dashboard, go to Pages > Edit > Quick edit > Trash. Optionally, you can permanently delete the pages by going into the trash and removing them again.
What’s the difference between clone pages and duplicate pages in WordPress?
These terms are often used interchangeably, and for good reason; in many cases, they mean the same thing. But clone has a specific meaning over at Yoast HQ.
In the Yoast Duplicate Post plugin, Clone duplicates content, while New draft opens a duplicate page in a new draft immediately.
1 Comment
The tone of this article is just right—not too heavy, not too light. It strikes a nice balance. Thanks!