Restoring your site from a backup
What happens when we need to restore your website from a backup — the process, the timeline, and what to expect.
- Difficulty
- Beginner
If something goes wrong with your website — a bad update, accidental deletion, or a security incident — we may need to restore it from a backup. This guide walks you through what that means and what to expect.
Quick summary
Restoring from a backup replaces your current site with a saved copy from an earlier point in time. We handle the whole process. It typically takes between 30 minutes and a few hours depending on your site's size, and longer for a large store or a complex setup. Any changes made after the backup was taken will need to be re-added.
When we restore from a backup
A full site restore is not always the first response to a problem. We'll often try a more targeted fix first. But a restore is the right call when:
- A software update has broken the site and can't be quickly undone
- Content or data has been accidentally deleted at scale
- The site has been compromised by malware or a hacker
- Something has gone seriously wrong and a targeted fix isn't working
For smaller problems — like a single deleted page or a broken plugin — we may be able to fix just that piece without a full restore.
What gets restored
A full restore replaces your entire site with the backup copy. That includes:
- All pages, posts, and content
- All images and uploaded files
- All settings and configuration
- All plugin and theme files
Important: changes after the backup are lost
Any changes you or your team made after the backup was taken will not be in the restored site. For example, if you published a blog post yesterday and we restore from a backup taken two days ago, that post will be gone from the restored version. We'll let you know what the cutoff point is before we restore.
A restore puts back the whole backup copy, so anything that happened after it goes with it — the problem, which is the point, and your own work in between, which is the cost. That is why we often try a more targeted fix first, and why we tell you the cutoff date before we restore.
Read this as text
The diagram draws out the example in the callout above. A backup is taken two days ago. Yesterday you publish a blog post. Today something goes wrong with the site.
A full restore is not always the first response to that. We often try a more targeted fix first — for smaller problems, like a single deleted page or a broken plugin, that may be all it takes. A restore is the right call when a problem is serious enough to warrant it: an update that broke the site and cannot quickly be undone, content deleted at scale, or a hack.
A restore returns your site to the backup copy, so everything after the backup was taken is undone: today’s problem, which is the reason a restore fixes anything, and yesterday’s blog post, which is what it costs. That post is what you re-add afterwards, and we tell you the cutoff date before we start so you know what there is to re-add.
The restore process
We identify the right backup. We look at your backup history and choose the most recent clean backup — one from before whatever went wrong. For security incidents, we check carefully to make sure the backup itself is clean.
We confirm with you. Before we restore, we'll tell you which backup we're restoring from and what the cutoff date is. You'll know what changes will be lost.
We restore to a staging site first (where possible). If time allows, we restore to a staging copy and verify it's working before touching the live site.
We restore the live site. We push the backup to your live site. During this step, your site may show a brief maintenance message or be temporarily unavailable.
We verify the restored site. We check key pages, forms, and functionality to confirm the restore was successful.
We let you know it's done. We confirm the restore is complete and explain what was lost and what to re-add if anything.
How long does a restore take?
It depends on the size of your site:
| Site size | Approximate restore time |
|---|---|
| Small site (a few pages, minimal media) | 30–60 minutes |
| Medium site (blog, standard business site) | 1–3 hours |
| Large site (store, lots of media, complex setup) | 3–6 hours or more |
During a restore, your site may be temporarily unavailable or show a maintenance message. We'll let you know before we start.
After the restore
Once the restore is complete:
- Review your site to confirm it looks correct
- Check for any content you need to re-add (posts published after the backup date, form changes, etc.)
- If the restore was triggered by a security incident, we'll walk you through the additional steps to secure the site before it goes live again
Common questions
Can you restore just one page or one piece of content?
In many cases, yes. We can sometimes pull a specific page or file from a backup without restoring the whole site. This is more complex but can preserve more of your recent work. Ask us what's possible for your specific situation.
What if the backup is also infected?
For security incidents, we check each backup before restoring. If several backups are compromised, we go further back in time until we find a clean one. We'll be transparent with you about how far back we need to go.
Will my site go down during a restore?
There may be a brief period of downtime or a maintenance page while we apply the restore. We'll warn you before we start and aim to minimize any disruption.
How do I request a restore?
Contact us at support@chykalophia.com or through ClickUp. Describe what happened and when, and we'll take it from there. For urgent situations, see When & how to request emergency support.
Related guides
- How backups work
- When & how to request emergency support
- Security monitoring explained
- Software updates explained
- What to expect during planned maintenance
- What to do if your site is hacked
- Recovering from a hacked website
- Your website disaster recovery plan
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