Publishing & updating your page in Elementor
Learn how to save and publish your Elementor edits, the difference between Save Draft and Publish, and how to preview before going live.
- Difficulty
- Beginner
Making edits in Elementor does not automatically update the live website. You need to explicitly save and publish your changes. This guide explains exactly how to do that — and how to preview before anyone else sees your work.
Quick summary
When you finish editing, click the "Publish" or "Update" button in the top-right corner of the Elementor top bar. Your changes should appear on the live site straight away. Use the Preview button in the top bar first if you want to check how it looks before publishing.
Publish vs. Update
The button label depends on whether the page is already published or not:
| Page status | Button label | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Already published (live) | Update | Saves and makes changes live immediately |
| Draft (not yet live) | Publish | Makes the page live for the first time |
| Draft or published | Save Draft (in the arrow menu next to the button) | Saves your work without changing the live page |
If your page is already live (which is the case for most content edits), you will see an Update button.
How to publish or update a page
Finish making your edits in Elementor.
Look for the button in the top-right corner of the editor's top bar. It will say "Update" or "Publish."
Click the button.
When saving finishes, your changes are live.
Changes are live immediately
There is no staging step between clicking Update and the change going live on your website. Visitors can see your changes as soon as the page finishes saving. Preview your work first if you are unsure.
How to preview before publishing
Elementor lets you preview your changes in the browser without publishing them:
Click the Preview icon in the editor's top bar.
Elementor shows the page as visitors would see it, including your current edits. The preview has its own link, separate from the page's real address. Previewing doesn't publish anything, so visitors still see the published page.
Check the page on this preview — check desktop and mobile. Make any further adjustments back in the editor.
Return to the editor and click Update when satisfied.
Saving a draft
If you are in the middle of editing and not ready to publish yet, you can save your progress as a draft:
Click the small arrow next to the Update/Publish button.
Click "Save Draft." This works on pages that are already live, too.
On a page that is already published, Elementor says saving a draft won't affect the published page: visitors keep seeing the live version until you click Update. If you need a staging environment, contact us.
Exiting the editor without publishing
If you make changes but want to discard them:
Do not click Update or Publish.
Close the browser tab or navigate away. Your browser may ask if you want to leave without saving.
Confirm that you want to leave to discard changes.
Elementor may auto-save changes
Elementor may keep an autosave of your work even if you did not click Update. Don't rely on it either way: closing the tab isn't a guaranteed way to throw changes away, and an autosave isn't a guaranteed way to keep them. Click Update only when you want your changes live.
What happens when you publish
- Elementor saves the page and adds a new entry to the page's revision history
- Visitors loading the page now see the updated version
Most of the time, this is seamless. Sometimes a cache (in the browser, a caching plugin, your host or a CDN) keeps showing the old version until it is cleared.
Common questions
I clicked Update but my changes aren't showing — what's wrong?
Try a hard refresh on the live page. In Chrome or Edge, press Ctrl+Shift+R (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+R (Mac); other browsers may use a different shortcut. This reloads the page without your browser's saved copy. You can also check the page in a private (incognito) window or another browser. If the old content still shows, the server cache may need clearing — contact us.
Can I schedule a page to publish at a specific time?
For a page that isn't live yet, yes. WordPress can schedule it: save your Elementor work as a draft, then set a future publish date in the WordPress page editor (not Elementor). Elementor's own help center doesn't describe a way to schedule changes, and if you click Update, the change goes live immediately. To time changes to a page that's already live, contact us.
I published by mistake — how do I revert?
Use the revision history to restore an earlier version and publish that. See Undoing changes with revision history.
Where is the Update button? I can't find it.
Look in the top-right corner of the Elementor top bar. The small arrow right next to it holds the Save Draft and Save as Template options.
Related guides
- Undoing changes with revision history
- Previewing tablet & mobile views
- Common Elementor mistakes to avoid
- A tour of the Elementor interface
- My changes aren't showing up
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