Move Live Site to Local (Mac) using plugin (eg. BackWPup)

Anyone able to offer a working reliable step-by-step on what should be a straightforward process but is starting to break my heart and drive me mad!? ): I want to import a zip of db and content into local on my Mac.

After trying a dozen different things, and following a dozen different (part) tutorials, I’ve got blank pages, missing databases, etc etc. Now the (tantalising) closest I’ve gotten is when Local launches but sends me to the actual live site and not the Local version of it. And I have no idea what to edit and change to make it stop.

To get this far I’ve output my whole site using BackWPup, recompressed the output folder (individual files, as suggested elsewhere) so that it is now a .zip file containing both db and Wp-Content, and imported them both into Local. But when I launch the site, I end up back at the live site again.

It’s truly puzzling that there is no single introductory article to explain the steps to go from a live site to a Local site (using Mac).

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

For what it’s worth, to make the backup/clone of the original site I’ve used and failed with Duplicator (my host wouldn’t allow a large additional copy of the site online, I think); with Updraft Plus (not sure why). Now I’m using BackWPUp, but this necessitates resaving the output file .tar.gz as a .zip (by first opening it and then recompressing all the individual components – I wonder does this negatively affect the htaccess file because it appears to make it visible!). I have a headache even trying to remember all the various steps. But still it doesn;t work! And what makes it crazifying is that setting up a new, ‘blank’ site with Local takes only seconds.

I’ve followed numerous video tutorials etc, but am going around in circles!

Thanks to anyone who offers some help. I’m sure it’s just a small thing I’m doing wrong, or not doing at all, but I’m really really defeated by this now.