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You’ve mistakenly deleted something in your WordPress editor and are worried about losing your content. Never panic; I will show you how to undo WordPress changes and recover your content to its previous version.
Whether using the classic or Gutenberg block editor, this process works for both.
And for the Gutenberg editor, there is even an easier way to quickly roll back to an earlier version of your content with a single click.
There are three ways to undo changes in WordPress, and I will show all three in this article. However, there are two core features – revision and autosave. The third is the undo button.
The undo button in the Gutenberg editor is a faster way to revert to an earlier version of your content. But first, let’s see what WordPress autosave and revisions are.
What are Revision and Autosaves in WordPress?
Revision and autosave are WordPress features that save different versions of your content and make it easy to roll back to a previous version.
They take a time snap of your content as you write and make it possible to undo changes in the case of mistakes.
If unwanted changes are made to the content, custom blocks, posts, pages, or custom post types, you can correct your mistakes without losing your content.
Depending on the severity of unwanted changes, especially if they affect blog server performance and SEO, it could negatively affect organic traffic.
So, you must fix any site error timely to prevent unforeseen site performance issues, traffic drops, or conversions.
How Does WordPress Revision Work?
WordPress automatically saves a version of your content whenever you click on the save draft, publish, or update button.
These versions are permanently saved in the WordPress database and can bloat the size of your database if not checked.
By default, WordPress stored unlimited post revisions in its database.
This is not a good optimization practice since you don’t need more than two or three versions of your content.
You can adjust the setting to reduce how many post revisions WordPress stores in its database.
Using a plugin is the safest and easiest way to set how many post revisions WordPress keeps in its database.
You can download the WP Revisions Control plugin. This plugin helps you control how many revisions are saved.
But if you prefer a manual approach, this post on the Kinsta blog can help you learn the process.
How Does WordPress Auto-Saves Work?
WordPress autosave feature works differently, but the purpose is the same with post revision. Both help save a previous version of your content from rolling back if something unexpected happens.
In the classic editor, WordPress autosaves content every 60 seconds, but in the Gutenberg block editor, it saves every 10 seconds as you write.
You don’t need to click the save button; it automatically autosaves your content.
WordPress autosave doesn’t keep every version. It automatically saves. Instead, it replaces the previous one with each current autosave.
You can only have one autosave version to revert to, but it will always be the most current version of your content before the incident happens.
Let’s say your web browser accidentally crashed, or your computer suddenly lost power; you can use the WordPress autosave feature to restore your content from its latest backup draft.
How to undo Changes in WordPress
Here are the steps to undo changes in the WordPress blog.
Auto Saves
WordPress will notify you if an autosave is more recent than the version you’re about to work on. You will see the notification at the top of your editor.
This notification is not always available for every post; it only works when an unexpected browser or system is closed.
Maybe you go offline or navigate to another tab too long; WordPress will automatically save the post to your browser’s local storage.
When you return to the post, WordPress will show you a more recent version you might want to consider.
You don’t need to do anything if you prefer the current version. Just continue with your work or click the ( X ) close button.
But if you want to restore the autosave, click the “View the Autosave” link.
On the autosave page, the content in green color indicates what was added before the sudden incident happened, while the content in red refers to what was deleted.
If you want to restore the autosave, you only need to click on the “restore this autosave” button.
Once you click on the restore this autosave button, it will automatically replace the content in your editor.
Unless you’ve manually saved any version of your content, there is only one version now.
Post Revision
First, open the post you want to view its WordPress revision. To do this, click to edit the post from the published or draft posts list.
To access WordPress post revision in the Gutenberg editor, switch to “post” on the sidebar.
If you’re working on a block, you won’t have access to manage post-revision.
So first thing, switch to post, as shown in the image below.
Now that you’re on the revision page, you can review each post revision accordingly to determine which version you want to restore.
You can move the slider to see different versions of your content. Also, check the box to compare two different versions side by side.
This feature lets you go back in time and see all the saved versions of your WordPress post.
Once done with the selection, you need to click on the “Restore this version” button.
The version you selected will replace the WordPress post in your editor automatically.
Now, you can continue with your work.
Undo Button
The undo/redo button is my favorite method of going back in time to restore content to its previous version. It is the quickest means of reverting to the earlier version of WordPress posts.
Look for the undo/redo button on your WordPress Gutenberg editors toolbar.
Whatever (text, block, images, etc.) you accidentally deleted in your Gutenberg editor while writing, you can quickly restore it with a single click.
Watch the gif image below to see how it works.
How simple is that? Awesome!
FAQ – How to Undo Changes in WordPress
Is there an undo and redo button on WordPress?
Yes, WordPress has an undo and redo button, and it is located at the top left of your editing screen. See the image in this post to find where it is.
How do I revert to a previous version of a page in WordPress?
The above content is a step-by-step guide to revert to a previous post or page in WordPress. Choose the option that best fits your situation from the three abovementioned options.
How do I Undo Text in WordPress?
You can undo text using your WordPress editor’s undo and redo feature. The function is on the left side of the top bar in the Gutenberg WordPress editor.
How do I View Edit History in WordPress?
You can view edit history or post revisions by opening the post you want to view its history. Open the post from the list on the right sidebar of the editor screen, click on posts, scroll down to revision, and click on it.
You will see all the available post history you can revert to. If this is not clear enough, read this section for a more step guide on how to revert to a post-revision.
Conclusion…
One of the advantages of WordPress is that it provides several backup tools and features to protect you from losing your blog content.
Autosave, post revision, and the undo/redo button are helpful features to back up your post and pages.
However, if you’re worried about post revision hurting your blog performance, there are a few ways to manage the number of revisions in your database.
You can use the WordPress WP-Sweep plugin.
This plugin can help you manage and optimize your WordPress blog database.
It cleans up auto drafts, revisions, deleted comments, spam comments, duplicate post meta, orphaned post meta, unapproved comments, etc.
