How to Recover a WordPress Site from a Backup

The moment you actually need a backup — after a hack, a failed update, or an accidental deletion — is a stressful one, so it pays to know the restore process before then. Here’s how to bring a WordPress site back, whichever way you backed it up.

Understand the two parts

A full restore means putting back both the files (WordPress core, theme, plugins, uploads) and the database (all your content and settings). Restore only one and you’ll have a broken site — files without a database, or a database with no theme. Both must go back together.

Restoring with a backup plugin

If you used a backup plugin, it’s the easiest route. Reinstall WordPress and the plugin fresh if needed, then use the plugin’s restore feature to point at your backup archive. It unpacks both files and database and rebuilds the site. This is the smoothest option and why plugin backups are so popular.

Restoring a cPanel backup

If you have a cPanel full-account backup, we can restore it for you from the server side — that’s often the cleanest way to bring back an entire account. For a partial restore, cPanel’s Backup tool lets you restore the home directory and the MySQL database separately from their backup files.

Restoring manually

If you have the raw pieces — a folder of files and a .sql database dump — restore them by hand:

1. Upload the files to public_html via File Manager or FTP.
2. Create a fresh database in MySQL Databases, or empty the existing one.
3. Import the .sql file through phpMyAdmin.
4. Check that wp-config.php has the correct database name, user and password.

After restoring

Once the site is back, re-save permalinks (Settings → Permalinks → Save), clear all caches, and click through key pages to confirm everything works. If you restored to fix a hack, change every password afterwards so the attacker can’t walk back in.

Match the restore to the emergency

If you’re recovering from a hack, restore a backup from before the compromise, then update everything to patch whatever let them in. Restoring an infected backup just brings the problem back.

If a restore feels risky or the backup won’t import cleanly, don’t force it — open a ticket and we’ll handle the recovery for you.