How to Restore a WordPress Site (One-Click Restore Guide)

A bad plugin update, the white screen of death, a hack or content deleted by mistake… the moment your WordPress site breaks is a moment of panic. The good news: if you have a proper backup, a WordPress restore takes minutes. This guide covers both the manual methods and the one-click automatic restore that needs no credentials at all.

1. Before You Restore: What Are You Recovering?

A WordPress site consists of two main parts, and a sound restore must cover both:

• Files: Themes, plugins, uploads (wp-content) and the core files.
• Database: Posts, pages, users, comments, WooCommerce orders — in other words the site's "brain".

Restoring only the files or only the database is enough in some scenarios (for example when only a theme broke). That's why a good tool should offer you a "Full / Files only / Database only" choice.

2. Manual Restore (FTP + phpMyAdmin)

A. Restoring files over FTP

1. Connect to your server with an FTP client such as FileZilla.
2. Replace the broken wp-content folder with the healthy version from your backup.
3. If necessary, re-upload the WordPress core files as well.

B. Restoring the database via phpMyAdmin

1. Open phpMyAdmin from your hosting panel and select the relevant database.
2. Drop the existing tables (or use a new, empty database).
3. "Import" the .sql file from your backup.
4. If necessary, update the connection details in wp-config.php .

3. One-Click Automatic Restore (Recommended)

With Yedekalma, restoring WordPress becomes a process that requires no panic:

1. Open your site's backup history in the panel and pick the date you want to go back to.
2. Choose what to restore: Full, Files only or Database only.
3. If you like, first use "Verify" (dry run) to see what would change, then start the restore.
4. The system puts the files and the database in place for you — you never touch FTP or SQL details.

With the PHP Backup Module: without entering any credentials

If you have installed the Yedekalma PHP Backup Module on your own server, you don't need to enter FTP or database credentials to restore. The module acts as a secure bridge; when you click "restore" in the panel, the files and the database are written straight to your site. Your data is never held on our servers — it is processed directly through your own.

4. Post-Restore Checklist

• Open the site's front end and the wp-admin dashboard and confirm they work.
• Re-save your permalinks (Settings → Permalinks → Save).
• If you use WooCommerce, check that the most recent orders are in place.
• If you rolled back after a hack, change every password and update your plugins.

Remember: a restore only works if your backup is sound. To be sure yours really works, do read our article on tested backups .

Frequently Asked Questions