Understanding WordPress Autosave: How It Works And Why It’s Essential

You’re revising your WordPress site with updated content when suddenly you see that your site has crashed. Upon reloading the page, you realize all your unsaved edits have vanished.

This situation is not just frustrating—it’s a considerable waste of time and effort. Important updates are gone, and you’ll have to redo everything. This disrupts your workflow and hits your productivity hard.

Thankfully, there’s a solution: WordPress’s autosave feature. It automatically saves your content at regular intervals. This, along with drafting your work in a separate word processor, can be a smart move to minimize the risk of losing your progress. 

In this article, we will discuss how the WordPress autosave feature operates and how you can use it to ensure your work stays safe and your workflow remains uninterrupted.

TL;DR: WordPress autosave allows easy recovery and prevents data loss by automatically saving drafts at regular intervals. However, it is not completely foolproof. To ensure your work is fully safe, you can use a different word processor to edit and store a backup copy of your content. This way, you minimize the risk of losing important work.

What is WordPress autosave?

WordPress autosave is a built-in feature that automatically saves your content drafts. This is done at regular intervals while you are editing. By default, WordPress autosave is set to save your work every 60 seconds. 

Note: This 60-second interval can be changed by manually editing your wp-config.php file.

This WordPress feature consistently saves the content you’re working on, like posts or page drafts. Different from WordPress revision option, each autosave creates a temporary revision of your post or page, capturing your latest changes and saving it within wp_posts in your database. 

This allows you to easily restore your most recent edits if needed, minimizing disruptions caused by unexpected events like browser crashes or internet issues.

Why is autosave important?

WordPress autosave is important because it automatically saves your work. This means if something goes wrong, like your browser crashing, you will have a better chance of not losing your content. You can easily get back your most recent changes, which keeps your work safe.

Also, autosave helps you feel less worried. Knowing your work is always being saved makes it easier to focus and do a good job.

How the WordPress autosave feature works

As you work on a post or page, WordPress creates a temporary copy of your content within your database. This does not require any manual intervention, unlike revisions. Frequent autosaving captures your ongoing changes every minute, reducing the risk of losing significant amounts of work.

These autosaves are separate from your manually saved revisions and published versions. You can access and restore these autosave versions directly from the WordPress post or page editor.

How to recover content from WordPress autosave

Recovering content from autosave in WordPress is a straightforward process. Follow these steps to restore your most recent changes:

1. Open the post or page editor: Login to your wp-admin dashboard and open the post or page you were working on in Edit mode. 

2. Check for the autosave notification: Look for the autosave notification at the top of the editor. It will usually display a message that says, “The backup of this post in your browser is different from the version below.” You will also see a Restore this backup button.

3. Recover your post: Click on the Restore this backup link or button. This will load the autosaved version of your content, allowing you to review and restore the changes you were working on.

How to adjust WordPress autosave timing

You can adjust the autosave timing in WordPress by editing the wp-config.php file.

Note: wp-config.php is a core system file. We do not recommend editing any of the WordPress core files without first backing up your site. Why? Because a simple error on your end can crash your entire site.

Here’s how to change the frequency at which your content is autosaved:

1. Connect to your server using FTP: Obtain the FTP credentials to your server from your hosting provider. Next, use an FTP client like Cyberduck to connect to your server and access your WordPress site’s files.

2. Locate the wp-config.php file: Search through the directories to find the wp-config.php file. It is usually located in the root folder (often named public_html or www) of your WordPress installation.

3. Edit the file in a text editor: Open the wp-config.php file in a text editor like Visual Studio Code. Insert the following line of code right above the line that says, that’s all, stop editing! Happy publishing:

define('AUTOSAVE_INTERVAL', X);

Replace ‘X’ with your required time frame. Ensure that you enter the value in seconds.

Note: Setting a very short interval can increase server load, bloat your database, and potentially slow down the editing experience, especially on less powerful servers.

5. Save and upload the file: Save the changes you made to the wp-config.php file. Upload it back to your server using your FTP client and replace the old version.

6. Verify the changes: Check your WordPress site by editing a page to ensure the new autosave interval is working as expected.

How to disable WordPress autosave

While WordPress autosave is a helpful feature, there are certain scenarios where you might want to disable it. Some users might want to disable WordPress autosave to improve performance on slower servers or to have full control over when changes are saved. Here’s how to go about it.

You can disable autosave in WordPress by editing the wp-config.php file.

1. Connect to your server using FTP: Connect to your server using an FTP client like Cyberduck to gain access to your WordPress files. Check with your hosting provider for FTP credentials.

2. Locate the wp-config.php file: Search through the root directory (usually public_html or www) of your WordPress installation and find the wp-config.php file.

3. Edit the file in a text editor: Open the wp-config.php file in a text editor such as Visual Studio Code. Insert the following line of code into the file:

define('AUTOSAVE_INTERVAL', false);

4. Save and upload the file: Save the changes you made to the wp-config.php file. Then, Upload the edited file back to your server via FTP, replacing the previous version.

To re-enable autosave, simply replace “false” with “true” in the code.

Difference between autosave and revisions

Autosave

Autosave automatically saves a draft of your content at regular intervals while you are editing. This feature creates a temporary revision in the WordPress database, which is overwritten by the next autosave. 

It is designed to prevent data loss in case of unexpected interruptions like browser crashes or power outages. Autosave operates automatically without any action required from the user and occurs every 60 seconds by default, though this interval can be customized.

Revisions

WordPress revisions are manually saved versions of your content. They are created whenever you click the Save Draft, Update, or Publish button. These revisions are stored as separate entries in the WordPress database, allowing you to keep a history of changes. 

Revisions enable you to track and manage changes over time, providing a way to revert to a previous version if needed. Unlike autosave, revisions are created manually by the user when clicking save-related buttons. All saved revisions can be accessed from the post or page editor, where you can browse, compare, and restore any previous version.

Best practices to use revisions and autosave together

To ensure effective data protection, you can use both revisions and autosave together.

Note: Make sure that your revisions are enabled. You can verify whether they are enabled or not by checking the wp-config.php file. 

2. Manual saves: While autosave works automatically, it’s a good practice to manually save drafts periodically. This ensures you have explicit save points that coincide with key stages in your writing process.

3. Post-editing review: After making significant edits, use the revisions feature to review all saved versions. This helps ensure no important content is lost during the editing process.

4. Using revisions: Regularly reviewing your revisions can help you catch and correct accidental deletions or changes. While autosave does run in the background, it is not completely foolproof as it might not save your edits if your internet connection is shaky. So using revisions while autosave runs in the background makes sure that your work is protected.

5. Restoring previous versions: If you notice any missing content, use the revisions feature to restore a previous version of your post. Simply click on the date and version you want to restore, then hit Restore This Revision.

Tips to use WordPress autosave

Taking full advantage of WordPress autosave can help you safeguard your content and streamline your editing process. Here are some practical tips to ensure you get the most out of this feature:

1. Customize the autosave interval: Adjust the autosave interval to better match your workflow needs. For instance, if you frequently make changes, you might set a shorter interval for more frequent saves. This helps capture your edits promptly.

2. Monitor autosave notifications: Keep an eye on the autosave notifications in the editor. This will help you stay aware of any unsaved changes and assure you that autosave is functioning correctly.

3. Be mindful of plugins: Be aware that some plugins—particularly those that modify the post editor or optimize website performance—can interfere with autosave functionality. If you notice any issues, try disabling plugins one by one to identify any conflicts. This troubleshooting can help ensure that autosave works without requiring you to edit your core files.

4. Manually save frequently: Even though autosave is a helpful feature, it’s good practice to regularly save your work manually. This ensures that your most recent changes are securely stored and reduces the risk of losing any updates.

Bonus Tip: Deleting unnecessary WordPress revisions keeps your database clean and optimized.

Parting thoughts

WordPress autosave automatically saves your work at regular intervals, thus preventing data loss. Its benefits also extend into convenience and peace of mind.

To make the most of this feature, monitor autosave notifications. Customize the autosave interval to suit your workflow and troubleshoot any issues promptly to ensure optimal performance.

FAQs

How to enable autosave in WordPress?

Autosave is enabled by default in WordPress, so you don’t need to take any extra steps to activate it. It kicks in automatically, saving your content every 60 seconds. However, if you want to check if it is disabled, you can use a plugin like Companion Revisions Manager or edit your wp-config.php file.

How to find autosave in WordPress?

To find an autosave, open the post or page you were editing. Look for a notification at the top that says something like “There is an autosave of this post that is more recent than the version below.” Click on the Restore this backup button to restore the autosaved content.

How do I manually save in WordPress?

To manually save in WordPress, simply click the Save Draft button on the top right-hand side of the editor. This will create a revision that you can refer back to later if needed.

How do I automatically back up my WordPress site?To automatically back up your WordPress site, you can use a reliable backup plugin like BlogVault. This tool offers scheduled backups and various advanced features, ensuring your entire site is regularly saved and can be restored if needed.