How To Undo Changes In WordPress: Pages, Posts & Revisions

When Step-By-Step Guide: How To Build A Website From Scratch, it’s easy to make an error. You may delete the wrong paragraph, change a heading by accident, or save something you didn’t mean to. That’s why knowing how to undo changes in WordPress is so important. It helps you fix small errors without having to start over.

Thankfully, WordPress has built-in features that help with this. These include Revisions, which let you return to an earlier version of your content. Autosaves help when your browser crashes or you forget to save. And if something big goes wrong, Backups can restore your entire site.

This informative guide teaches you how each of these features works and how to use them to return changes when necessary.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• You can undo changes in WordPress using the built-in Revisions feature.
• WordPress saves a new revision every time you manually save it.
• Autosaves happen automatically while you’re editing to help you avoid losing work.
• You can view and compare older versions using the Revisions screen.
• Use the slider to browse changes and restore the version you want.
• Color highlights show what was added (green) and removed (red) in each version.
• Restore the full revision or copy just the section you need.
• Setting a limit on revisions helps keep your database clean and your site fast.
• Autosave settings can be adjusted using a plugin or in the wp-config.php file.
• Backups come in handy when revisions and autosaves can’t recover what you need.

How to Undo Changes in WordPress Using Revisions

In this section, we explain 3 methods to show you how to revert changes in WordPress. These methods are:

1. Using WordPress Revisions
2. Using Autosave
3. Using Website Backup.

In this section, you learn how to use the built-in Revisions feature in WordPress to undo changes and bring back an earlier version of a post or page.

We explain how to open the Revisions screen, compare older versions, and restore the one you want to keep. Whether you made a small error or wish to return major edits, these steps will help you fix things quickly and easily.

Step 1: Open Revisions Interface

To use WordPress Revisions, you first need to locate them. If you’re using the Exploring the Features of Gutenberg WordPress Editor, open the post or page you want to edit. On the right-hand side, look under Post. If revisions are available, you’ll see a section called Revisions followed by a number. Click to open the Revisions screen.

However, if you’re still using the Classic Editor, the process is similar. Open your post/page in the editor. Locate Revisions on the right and click Browse to open the Revisions screen.

Alternatively, if you scroll down the editing screen, you’ll see a Revisions box under the main content area. However, this box will only be available if you have enabled Revisions from the Screen Options.

Once you’re inside the Revisions screen, you’ll notice some helpful visual cues. WordPress highlights changes using colors. This makes it easier to spot what was added or removed between versions.

Step 2: Navigate & Compare Revisions

Inside the Revisions screen, you’ll see a slider at the top. Drag this left or right to move between different saved versions of your content. Each time you move the slider, WordPress shows you what changed in that version.

Red text shows what was deleted, while green text indicates what was added. This color coding makes it easy to understand how your post or page has changed over time.

If you wish to compare 2 different revisions side by side, check the box Compare any two revisions. This allows you to select any two points in time and view the exact differences between them. It’s a useful feature when you’re trying to find where an error occurred.

Step 3: Restoring A Previous Revision

If you find a version that looks better or fixes a problem, you can easily restore it. Click Restore This Revision at the top of the screen. WordPress will replace your current content with that version. Don’t worry about your latest version; it becomes a revision too, so you can always go back to it.

Sometimes, you may not wish to replace the whole post. In that case, you can manually copy sections of an older revision and paste them into your current draft. This gives you more control, especially if you’re only fixing one section.

Remember that restoring a revision will overwrite the current version of the content. But nothing is lost. You can use the Revisions feature at any time to go forward or backwards as required. It’s a safe way to undo changes in WordPress without risking any work.

Undo WordPress Changes Using Autosave

Autosaves in WordPress are temporary backups that the system creates while you’re working on a post or page. Their primary purpose is to protect your content in the event of issues, such as your browser crashing, your internet dying, or your computer freezing.

WordPress automatically creates an autosave depending on the editor you’re using. When you’re using the Classic Editor, it saves a draft every 60 seconds while you’re editing. In the latest Gutenberg Editor, autosaves occur more frequently, about every 10 seconds.

However, autosaves only occur when you’re WordPress Login URL How to Find, Protect and Change It and working within the Editor. If you stop typing or switch tabs, autosaves may pause until you return and resume working.

It’s easy to mix up Autosave and Revisions, but they aren’t the same. A Revision is saved when you manually click Save, Save Draft, or Publish. However, an Autosave happens automatically and replaces the previous Autosave. WordPress only keeps one Autosave per user at a time, so the most recent one always replaces the older one.

To check for an Autosave, go to Revisions in the post or page editor. If WordPress has an Autosave that’s newer than your last manual update, it will show a message saying Autosave by [username]. You can scroll down to view it and decide whether to restore it or keep your current content.

Alternatively, you can open your post or page and click View the autosave under the message, There is an autosave of this post that is more recent than the version below. Doing so will also take you to the same Revisions screen to view Autosave and restore if needed.

Use Backups to Undo Changes in WordPress

Sometimes, Revisions and Autosaves aren’t enough. Maybe the changes you want to undo happened days ago, or the post was deleted entirely. In these situations, the best option is to restore your site from a backup.

That’s why regular backups are so important. If you’re How to Host a Website with Hosted.com, you don’t have to worry about it because we How to Backup Your WordPress Site: A Comprehensive Guide for you; you can find these by navigating to cPanel → Files → Acronis Backup.

A good backup allows you to restore your entire website (or just parts of it) if something goes wrong. Whether it’s a broken page, missing content, or a plugin causing problems, having a backup means you won’t lose your hard work.

You can restore your WordPress site from a backup by following our tutorial on How to Restore WordPress from a Backup: Best Practices.

Before starting a full restore, take a few safety precautions:

• Check when the backup was created so you don’t lose newer content.
• If possible, How To Backup Your Website In cPanel – just in case.
• Also, review the restore options to ensure you’re only replacing what’s needed.

If you have any issues or queries, Open a Ticket. You can also submit a ticket from your Hosted.com account.

Manage Revisions for Optimal Performance

Revisions are one of WordPress’s most helpful features. They let you return and recover older versions of your posts or pages. But, while they’re useful, there’s a downside. WordPress saves every revision as a new entry in your database. Over time, this can slow down your site, especially if you’ve never cleaned up old content.

Some older websites end up with over 100,000 or more database rows just from revisions. That’s a huge load on the database and can affect performance. But don’t worry, you don’t need to turn off revisions completely. A better approach is to set a limit on the number of revisions WordPress keeps.

We recommend keeping only 3 to 4, or a maximum of 5, revisions per post or page. This allows you enough backup versions to recover from mistakes, without letting your database grow too large. Once the limit is reached, WordPress will automatically remove the oldest revisions.

To apply this, you can update your wp-config.php file or install a plugin that WordPress Revisions: Use, Manage & Optimize Effectively. These methods enable you to stay in control without requiring technical skills.

WordPress also autosaves your work. As we discussed, autosave occurs every 60 seconds in the Classic Editor and every 10 seconds in the Gutenberg Editor. Although only one autosave is stored at a time, you may still want to adjust how often these autosaves happen.

To do this, you can add the following statement before /* That’s all, stop editing! Happy publishing. */ line in your public_html/wp-config.php file:

define( 'AUTOSAVE_INTERVAL', 160 );

Alternatively, you can use Disable Gutenberg Autosave, which lets you customize the interval directly from the post or page editor.

By setting a simple limit on revisions and tweaking autosaves, you can keep your site running smoothly while still protecting your work.

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