# Import or sync from Kinsta fails frequently **URL:** \ **Category:** Application Support\ **Created:** [March 4, 2025, 9:36pm UTC](https://community.kinsta.com/t/import-or-sync-from-kinsta-fails-frequently/4876 "2025-03-04T21:36:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ryanb](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.kinsta.com/ryanb/32/611_2.png) [@ryanb](https://community.kinsta.com/u/ryanb)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 9:36pm UTC](https://community.kinsta.com/t/import-or-sync-from-kinsta-fails-frequently/4876/1 "2025-03-04T21:36:45Z")
We frequently have problems trying to import or sync our site from Kinsta. I’ve reported the issue before in these topics. > [@Error downloading remote site when syncing](https://community.kinsta.com/t/error-downloading-remote-site-when-syncing/2030): > > I keep getting the same error while syncing my local site to mirror my live site. It happens at around 5GB out of ~6GB. I’ve tried 5 times and always get the same result. I found similar topics on here and they say to look in main.log but I don’t see any main.log in my logs directory. Can you help me find the log file and troubleshoot? > [@Creating site backup when syncing local site](https://community.kinsta.com/t/creating-site-backup-when-syncing-local-site/2029): > > I’m syncing my local site to mirror my live site. It’s the first time I’ve tried that after initially setting everything up. The first step was “Creating site backup” which took a long time. Is that step creating a backup of the local site that I’m trying to replace or remote site that I’m syncing from? If it’s backing up the local site, I wonder if there is a way to skip that step since it will get replaced anyway and it takes so long? Those are separate issues but both seem to be caused by the site being large. If I do a manual backup & download, the zip file is 5GB. If I unzip it, the resulting folder is 12.5GB. Is that larger than normal with DevKinsta? All developers working on our site experience similar problems. It fails more often than not. Sometimes we try over and over again and waste days just trying to import or sync from Kinsta. Do you think the size is causing the problem? If so, can anything be done to improve support for syncing large sites? Since I can download a manual backup reliably, it would be nice if we could restore locally from that manual backup and avoid the remote sync. ---
**Author:** ![Adrian\_L](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.kinsta.com/adrian_l/32/2810_2.png) [@Adrian\_L](https://community.kinsta.com/u/Adrian_L)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 4:23am UTC](https://community.kinsta.com/t/import-or-sync-from-kinsta-fails-frequently/4876/2 "2025-03-05T04:23:19Z")
Hi @ryanb Can you confirm which type of machine setup you’re using for DevKinsta? - Windows (HyperV) —not recommended - Windows (WSL) —don’t work well with the latest versions of Docker Desktop - Mac For large files that require faster sync, it is recommended to use either Mac or Windows on WSL. However, Windows (WSL) has current issues with the latest versions of Docker Desktop. Please refer to the details on this similar thread. > [@Nothing short of unsable on Windows](https://community.kinsta.com/t/nothing-short-of-unsable-on-windows/4691/12): > > Hi @etienne_clerc I am sorry to hear that you continue to face issues, specifically when performing Push/Pull actions through DevKinsta. I tested myself by pulling a 1GB (files and database) site at least twice on each of the following machines. All are connected under one ISP: Windows (HyperV) - 30 minutes average Windows (WSL) - approximately 7 minutes Mac - approximately 5 minutes Based on my test, there is indeed a significant delay when pulling a site when using Windows (HyperV), al… ---
**Author:** ![ryanb](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.kinsta.com/ryanb/32/611_2.png) [@ryanb](https://community.kinsta.com/u/ryanb)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 3:57pm UTC](https://community.kinsta.com/t/import-or-sync-from-kinsta-fails-frequently/4876/3 "2025-03-05T15:57:15Z")
We’ve had these issues recently with - Mac (Intel) - Mac (ARM) - Ubuntu (ia64) It doesn’t seem like the host is the problem. Why not add a feature where we can import a site from a manual backup that’s been downloaded to the host? That seems more reliable and efficient. - Once downloaded, importing the site would go much faster. I’ve never had trouble downloading a manual backup. - It would allow devs to scrap their dev site and re-import a clean one more frequently. - By re-using the same manual backup it would avoid creating a new backup on the server every time someone imports the site. ---
**Author:** ![Adrian\_L](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.kinsta.com/adrian_l/32/2810_2.png) [@Adrian\_L](https://community.kinsta.com/u/Adrian_L)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2025, 2:17am UTC](https://community.kinsta.com/t/import-or-sync-from-kinsta-fails-frequently/4876/4 "2025-03-06T02:17:40Z")
The DevKinsta app already has an option to import a site from a local backup. You can use the Downloadable backup generated from Kinsta to import the site through this option. However, the import option is only available when creating a new local site through DevKinsta. ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/kinsta/original/2X/2/24eea5b9caeed348e1770f30277be3c3042f19e8.png) ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/kinsta/original/2X/d/dad7b83da513e16255960c1974b43295354dc8f7.png) ---
**Author:** ![ryanb](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.kinsta.com/ryanb/32/611_2.png) [@ryanb](https://community.kinsta.com/u/ryanb)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2025, 3:13am UTC](https://community.kinsta.com/t/import-or-sync-from-kinsta-fails-frequently/4876/5 "2025-03-06T03:13:41Z")
Oh. Wow. I could have been doing that all these years. 😆 I never thought to click that button because “custom site” made me think it was just for creating a new site from scratch. I just tried it. It worked reliably the first time and was much faster. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![merineth](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.kinsta.com/merineth/32/3022_2.png) [@merineth](https://community.kinsta.com/u/merineth)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2025, 8:05am UTC](https://community.kinsta.com/t/import-or-sync-from-kinsta-fails-frequently/4876/6 "2025-03-06T08:05:23Z")
Hi @ryanb Glad it worked smoothly for you! 😊 If you have questions, please feel free to write back. Have a great day! ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/kinsta/original/2X/8/80f8c4e56fecc02327a0964e6bf63a716483529f.png) [@system](https://community.kinsta.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2025, 8:05pm UTC](https://community.kinsta.com/t/import-or-sync-from-kinsta-fails-frequently/4876/7 "2025-03-08T20:05:51Z")
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