You do not want to restore the whole backup, but only the database, only the plugins or only the uploads. In the Extended view, you choose which parts of the backup the restore replaces.
What can be chosen
A backup consists of roots. A root is a named part of the website: the database or a folder.
| Root | Content | Name on the command line |
|---|---|---|
| Database | The tables of the website. | db |
| wp-content (everything else) | Everything in wp-content that belongs to none of the four following roots: drop-ins, language files, folders of other plugins. |
wp-content |
| Plugins | The folder of the plugins. | wp-plugins |
| Themes | The folder of the themes. | wp-themes |
| Must-use plugins | The folder of the must-use plugins. | wp-mu-plugins |
| Uploads | The folder of the uploads. | wp-uploads |
| WordPress core | The folders wp-admin and wp-includes and the files that WordPress ships in the root folder. |
wp-core |
| Root folder files (.htaccess, robots.txt, …) | Everything else in the root folder of the website. | wp-root |
The smallest unit is the root
Individual folders, files or tables cannot be chosen. The restore always restores the database as a whole.
Step 1: Open the preparation in the Extended view
Open the Restore page and switch to Extended. The switch is at the bottom of the page, below the last tile. Then, in the row of the backup, open More …, then Restore.
- The roots that the backup contains. What is ticked is what the restore restores.
- wp-config.php is never restored.
- Do not restore WordPress core
- Do not restore drop-ins (object-cache.php, advanced-cache.php, db.php)
- Do not restore .htaccess, web.config, .user.ini
- Move uploads that are not in the backup to the previous state
- Leave out damaged entries (otherwise a damaged entry stops the restore)
Step 2: Choose the roots
When you open it, every root of the backup is ticked. Remove the tick from everything that should stay as it is. For a restore of only the database, leave only Database ticked; for plugins and themes, only Plugins and Themes.
No tick means: everything
If no root is ticked, the restore restores the whole backup. The same applies if you switch back to Compact. The confirmation dialog before the start names what is restored, in three groups: database, files, WordPress core. If it lists more than you chose, cancel and check the ticks.
Step 3: Check the switches
The switches always show what will happen: your choice or the default of the pre-check. Until the first pre-check has answered, a notice stands in their place. For the first three switches, a tick means: this is left out.
| Switch | Default | Ticked |
|---|---|---|
| Do not restore WordPress core | Backup of this website: not ticked. Backup of a different website or of unknown origin: ticked. | The core of this website stays as it is. If the backup contains no core, the switch is disabled. |
| Do not restore drop-ins (object-cache.php, advanced-cache.php, db.php) | As with the core. | The three files from the backup are left out. This website’s own drop-ins move to the previous state during the restore of wp-content (everything else), like other entries there that do not come from the backup. |
| Do not restore .htaccess, web.config, .user.ini | As with the core. | The three files of this website stay as they are. |
| Move uploads that are not in the backup to the previous state | Not ticked: such files stay where they are. | Such files move to the previous state. If you undo the restore, they come back. If you keep it, the plugin removes them. |
| Leave out damaged entries (otherwise a damaged entry stops the restore) | Not ticked: a damaged entry ends the restore before the switch-over. | The restore continues, without exactly these entries. It ends with warnings. |
Step 4: Read the pre-check
After every change to roots or switches, the pre-check runs again on its own. While it runs, Start restore is disabled. Run pre-check repeats it by hand.
- The duration of the pre-check and the target from which the plugin reads the backup.
- A point of the pre-check: coloured dot, name, state and finding.
- Not restored: names what the restore leaves out, and in brackets the reason.
- Start restore
The pre-check checks only what you have chosen. Without the Database root, the three points about the database count as fine. The reasons in the list Not restored:
| Reason | Meaning |
|---|---|
| never restored | Appears at wp-config.php and at this plugin. The restore never restores either. |
| WordPress core not chosen | The switch Do not restore WordPress core is ticked. |
| left out by your choice | You set the switch for a backup of this website. |
| left out on a different website by default | The backup comes from a different website or is of unknown origin. |
Step 5: Start the restore
Click Start restore and read the confirmation dialog. After that, the restore runs as with a whole backup: Restore the website from a backup. Without the database, the step Importing database is skipped. Without files, the second step is called Fetching parts.
Good to know
- A restore of parts also has a rollback: the previous state of the chosen roots is kept for 7 days.
- If you restore uploads or files in the root folder and there are executable files there that are not in the backup, for example PHP files, the restore ends with warnings. The log names their number.
- A table that you back up as structure only stays with its data during the restore of the database. If it does not exist on the website, the plugin creates it empty.
See also
- The restore precheck: every point explained
- Keep or undo a restore
- Define what gets backed up
- The “Restore” page
- Restore and import with WP-CLI
On the command line
WP-CLI not set up yet? How to install WP-CLI.
With WP-CLI you name the roots in the parameter --roots, separated by commas. Without the parameter, the command restores every root of the backup.
# Restore only the database wp cloneworx-backup restore run <Job> --roots=db # Restore only plugins and themes wp cloneworx-backup restore run <Job> --roots=wp-plugins,wp-themes # Only uploads; what is not in the backup goes to the previous state wp cloneworx-backup restore run <Job> --roots=wp-uploads --remove-extra-uploads # Skip damaged entries wp cloneworx-backup restore run <Job> --accept-damaged