Restore a site from a backup
Restore everything, or only the files, or only the database — and what to check first.
A restore replaces what is live now. Before you start, be clear about what you are trying to recover, because that decides which kind of restore you want.
A full restore rolls the database back, which removes orders placed since the backup was taken. On a live store, restore files only unless the database itself is the problem.
Restore
- Open Backups on the site
Each entry shows when it was taken and its size.
- Choose the scope
Everything, files only, or database only.
- Choose the destination
Restoring onto staging first lets you confirm the backup contains what you expect before touching live.
- Confirm
A restore point of the current state is taken automatically, so the restore itself can be undone.
- Check the site
Home page, an inner page, wp-admin, and the newest content you expect to be present.
How long it takes
Most sites restore in two to ten minutes. Large uploads folders take longer. The site stays online during a file restore and is briefly read-only during a database restore.
Recovering a single file
Use Browse backup to open the file tree, find the file and download it, instead of restoring the whole site. This is the usual way to recover one deleted image or one edited template.