How to Restore a WordPress Database in One Click (Jetpack VaultPress Backup and Alternatives)

A broken update, a hacked site or a deleted page can wipe out years of work in seconds. A one-click WordPress database restore gets you back online without downloading files, opening phpMyAdmin or importing SQL by hand. VaultPress was one of the first services to offer it back in 2011, and today it lives on as Jetpack VaultPress Backup. This guide shows how one-click restores work now, with the main options and the steps to follow.

Quick answer: With Jetpack VaultPress Backup, open cloud.jetpack.com, pick your site, find the restore point in the Activity Log or backup list, choose Restore to this point, untick anything you want to keep as it is, and click Restore now. Free alternatives such as UpdraftPlus also restore from inside wp-admin. Whatever you use, keep at least one backup copy away from your web server.

What a one-click WordPress database restore does

Your WordPress database holds posts, pages, comments, users and settings. Themes, plugins and uploads live in files. A one-click restore puts the database (and usually the files too) back to a saved point in time, so a bad change is undone in minutes. Without it you would download a backup, upload it to the server and import the database yourself.

Option 1: Jetpack VaultPress Backup

Jetpack VaultPress Backup is the current version of VaultPress, run by Automattic. It saves changes in real time to the Jetpack Cloud, separate from your host, and keeps an activity log of who changed what. It is a paid service; check the Jetpack site for current plans.

How to restore with VaultPress Backup

1. Log in at cloud.jetpack.com and select your site.
2. Open the Activity Log and filter by date or activity to find the moment before things went wrong, or open the backup list.
3. Click Actions, then Restore to this point.
4. Untick any items you do not want restored, such as uploads.
5. Click Restore now and wait for the confirmation.

The official Jetpack restore guide notes that a normal restore needs a working WordPress install and Jetpack connection. If the site is completely down, reinstall WordPress, reconnect Jetpack and restore again; adding your server credentials in Jetpack settings can help if a restore fails.

Option 2: free plugin restores

• UpdraftPlus: schedules backups to cloud storage such as Google Drive, Dropbox or Amazon S3 and restores them from Settings > UpdraftPlus Backups with a Restore button. Choose which parts to restore (database, plugins, themes, uploads).
• Your host’s backups: many hosting control panels keep daily backups with a restore button for files and databases. Check how many days they keep and whether restores cost extra.

Option 3: manual restore

If no one-click option is available, you can still restore a database by hand with phpMyAdmin or the command line. Our step-by-step guide to back up and restore the WordPress database walks through it, and you can set up daily database backups so there is always a recent copy.

Before you click restore

• Take a fresh backup of the current state, even if it is broken. You may need something from it later.
• Pick the right point. Restoring to last week undoes every post, comment and order since then.
• On shops and membership sites, think about new orders or sign-ups that a restore would remove.
• After restoring, clear your cache, log in and check a few pages, then update or remove whatever caused the problem.

Our experience with VaultPress

We used VaultPress on QuickOnlineTips for years. When we first wrote this post in December 2011, VaultPress had just added one-click database restore; before that, you had to download the backup files and restore them yourself. Combined with server-level backups, it gave us peace of mind after our site was hacked in 2010.

What changed since 2011

VaultPress was folded into Jetpack and is now sold as Jetpack VaultPress Backup, managed from cloud.jetpack.com rather than the old vaultpress.com dashboard. The original plans and prices we quoted in 2011 no longer apply, and the Flash demo video from that time no longer plays, so we have removed it. One-click restores, once a premium feature, are now common in backup plugins and hosting panels. For a fuller look at the service today, read our Jetpack VaultPress Backup review, and compare WordPress backup services.

FAQ

Can I restore only the WordPress database and not the files?

Yes. Jetpack VaultPress Backup and UpdraftPlus both let you choose which parts to restore.

Does restoring a backup delete new posts?

Yes. Anything added after the restore point, including posts, comments and orders, is lost unless you exclude it or copy it out first.

Is VaultPress still available?

Yes, as Jetpack VaultPress Backup from Automattic. The standalone VaultPress name and dashboard have been replaced by Jetpack.

Can I restore a WordPress site that will not load at all?

Often yes, but you may need to reinstall WordPress first so the backup tool can connect, or restore from your host’s control panel.