Can I Just Restore My WordPress Site From a Backup?

The short version

Restoring a backup puts your site back to how it was at the moment the backup was taken. If the site broke today and you have a complete backup from yesterday, that's often the fastest fix. The catch is in the word "complete", and in everything that has happened since yesterday.

When a restore is the right move

• The site is down and you know roughly when it broke. A backup from before that point gets you back online while the cause is worked out.
• An update or a change you made broke things, and nothing important has been added to the site since.
• You have a backup that includes both halves of the site: the files (theme, plugins, images) and the database (pages, posts, settings, orders, form entries). A backup of one without the other restores half a site.

When a restore makes things worse

• The site was hacked and you don't know when. A backup made after the attacker got in brings the infection straight back, and even a clean backup still has the outdated plugin or weak password that let them in. Here's what to do about a hacked site.
• Orders, bookings or form entries have come in since the backup. A restore wipes them. On a shop, restoring last week's backup means last week's orders are the only ones that exist.
• The backup has never been tested. Plenty of backup plugins report success while quietly skipping large files or failing to finish. The first time you find out is the day you need it.
• The backup is stored only on the same hosting account. If the account is the thing that failed, the backup went with it.
• You're not sure which backup is from before the problem. Restoring the wrong one costs you content and leaves the problem in place.

How to do it safely

If you decide to restore, do it in this order. Take a fresh backup of the broken site first, even though it's broken, so nothing is lost for good. Note the date and time of the backup you're restoring, and what's been added to the site since, so you can put it back by hand afterwards. If your host offers it, restore to a staging copy first and check it, then restore the live site. And remember that a restore only turns the clock back; the plugin that broke things is still there, waiting to update again. For the plan behind all of this, see what WordPress disaster recovery is.

When to get help instead

If any of the warning signs above apply, or the restore itself fails partway, it's usually quicker and safer to have the actual cause fixed than to keep rolling back. Our site recovery service finds what broke and fixes it, at a flat rate you approve first. If you'd rather never think about backups again, every care plan includes daily backups kept for 30 days, nightly off-site copies, and restores done for you.