WordPress saves unlimited revisions and iterations of a page or post. This means you can always look into the past to see changes that were made to a page all the way back from when the entry was first created. (And, you can see which user made the change.) In this article, we’re going to show you how you can restore a previous version of that page or post in your WordPress site.
A note about revisions…
Revisions are saved in the database, which means if you have a lot of posts that go through multiple revisions, your database will fill up quickly.
It is also worth noting that revisions can be disabled for custom post types. Be sure to check with your site administrators before relying completely on revisions.
It would be unwise to rely completely on revisions as a method for securing content. You are best advised to keep regular backups of your site files and database.
Our WordPress Hosting plans come with a free Jetpack plugin premium account, which comes with automatic backups.
How to View Revisions for a Post
It’s easy to take a look at the post revisions and see what was changed.
- Log into the WordPress Dashboard
- Select a page or post to edit
- Look for Revisions in the Publish metabox (either on the right side or below the editor depending on your window size)
- Click Browse under Revisions
Now, you will be able to scan back and forth across the recorded history of this page or post.
How to Restore a Previous Version
In most cases, you will just want to view changes. But, should you decide to restore a previous version of a page, there’s an easy button for it.
Just make sure that you have reviewed all changes in the previous version. There might be something in the current version you would like to keep. Remember that the whole post is going to be replaced with its older version. Once you’ve made your decision, click the Restore This Revision button.
