Undo mistakes with revisions
Learn how to use WordPress revisions to view the history of a page or post and restore an earlier saved version, so most editing mistakes can be undone.
- Time
- 2–5 minutes
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- You’ll need
- Permission to edit the page or post
Made a mistake on a page? Accidentally deleted a section? Don't worry. WordPress keeps a copy of your page or post each time you save it, so you can go back and restore an earlier version. This feature is called revisions.
Quick summary
Revisions are saved copies of your content. To see them, open the page or post for editing, open the settings panel on the right, and click the number next to Revisions. Use the slider to find the version you want and click Restore. (On WordPress 6.9 and earlier, the button is Restore This Revision.) Restoring saves the page straight away.
What you'll need
- The page or post you want to restore, open for editing. You need permission to edit it: Editors and Administrators can edit any page or post, and Authors can edit their own posts.
How revisions work
Each time you click Save draft, Save (called Update before WordPress 6.6) or Publish, WordPress stores a revision. A revision is a saved copy of the page's title, content and excerpt at that moment.
WordPress stores revisions for pages and posts. You can move through the history, see what changed, and restore the version you want. Restoring a revision doesn't erase the version you replaced: it stays in the history, so you can switch back.
View and restore a revision
Open the page or post for editing. Go to Pages or Posts in the WordPress dashboard, hover over the item, and click Edit.
Open the right-hand panel. If the panel isn't visible, click the settings icon (a square with two columns) in the top-right corner.
Click the Post tab (or Page tab) in the right-hand panel. Find Revisions and click the number next to it. It only appears once there are at least two saved versions.
The revisions screen opens. In WordPress 7.0 and later, it opens inside the editor and shows the selected version with the changes highlighted. On WordPress 6.9 and earlier, a separate screen opens with a side-by-side comparison: the left column shows the previous version, the right column shows the version you selected.
Use the slider at the top to move through the revision history. Drag left for older versions, right for newer ones. The date of each revision is shown.
Find the version you want to restore. Look for content that was there before the mistake.
Click Restore. (On WordPress 6.9 and earlier, or on the classic revisions screen, click Restore This Revision.) WordPress saves that version straight away and takes you back to the editor with it loaded.
Check the page. There's nothing more to save. If the page or post is published, the restored version is already live.
Your content is safe
Restoring a revision brings back that version of the content. The version you replaced stays in the revision history, so if you restore the wrong one, you can go back to the revisions screen and pick again.
Compare two specific versions
The revisions screen highlights changes in color:
| Color | What it means |
|---|---|
| Green | Content that was added |
| Red | Content that was deleted |
| Yellow | Content that was changed (WordPress 7.0 and later) |
In WordPress 7.0 and later, colored markers next to the scrollbar show where the changes are and how big they are. Click a marker to jump to that spot. The Show changes button next to the slider turns the highlights on and off.
To compare any two versions side by side, use the classic screen. In WordPress 7.0 and later, click Open classic revisions screen in the sidebar. Then turn on Compare any two revisions and drag the slider's two handles. Use this to pinpoint exactly where something changed. This is especially helpful if you're trying to find a specific paragraph that was accidentally deleted.
The classic screen compares code, not layout
The classic revisions screen shows a side-by-side comparison of the page's HTML, not a visual preview. You may see block markup alongside your text. If this looks confusing, focus on the colored sections to find the change you're looking for.
How many revisions are kept?
By default, WordPress keeps every revision. Your site's setup or your host can set a limit, and WordPress then deletes the oldest revisions when you save again. If you need to recover a version that was saved a long time ago and it's not in the revisions list, contact us — we may be able to restore it from a site backup instead. See how WordPress backups work.
The difference between revisions and autosaves
WordPress also creates autosaves: automatic backups saved every 60 seconds (by default) while you edit. WordPress keeps one autosave per person for each page or post, and each new autosave replaces the last one. Autosaves are marked "Autosave" in the revision history. They are especially useful if your browser crashes before you clicked Save: when you reopen the page, WordPress tells you it has a backup and offers to restore it.
| Type | When it's created | How long it's kept |
|---|---|---|
| Revision | Every time you save or publish | Every revision is kept by default, unless your site sets a limit |
| Autosave | Every 60 seconds while editing (by default) | Replaced by the next autosave |
Common questions
I can't find the Revisions section — where is it?
Make sure the right-hand panel is open (click the settings icon in the top-right). Click the Post tab (not the Block tab), then look for Revisions. It only appears once there are at least two saved versions, so a post that was just created and saved once won't show it yet.
Can I restore just part of a previous version?
Not directly. Restoring a revision replaces the page's whole title and content. A workaround: open the revisions screen, copy the text you need from the older version, then go back to the editor without restoring and paste the recovered text in.
I restored the wrong revision — can I undo that?
Yes. Go back to the revisions screen. The version you had before the restore is still in the history. Find the version you actually want and restore it.
Revisions are not showing the correct author — why?
Revisions show the account that was logged in when the save was made. If multiple people use the same login, the author shown may not reflect who made the change. This is one reason to give each team member their own WordPress account — see how to add a new user.
Is there a limit to how far back I can go?
It depends on your site's settings and hosting configuration. WordPress keeps every revision by default, but some sites limit how many are kept. For older versions, a full site backup is the only option — contact us.
Related guides
- How to edit a page
- Drafts, previews, and publishing
- How WordPress backups work
- Deleting & restoring pages and posts
- How to add a new user
- My changes aren't showing up
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