My Website Is Broken — How to Restore a Previous Version

My Website Is Broken — How to Restore a Previous Version

If your website is showing errors, has been hacked, or something has gone wrong after an update, restoring from a backup is usually the fastest way to get back online. This guide walks you through the options.

Step 1 — Identify When It Last Worked

Before restoring, think about when the problem started:

• Did it break after a WordPress update? Restore to the day before the update
• Did it break after installing a plugin? Restore to before the plugin was installed
• Has it been hacked? Restore to the last known clean backup — usually more than a few days ago

Hostking keeps daily backups for 7 days, so you can restore to any point within that window.

Step 2 — Try Fixing It Without a Restore First

If the issue started after a WordPress update or plugin change, try these quick fixes before doing a full restore:

Plugin conflict: Go to wp-admin → Plugins and deactivate all plugins. If the site comes back, reactivate them one by one to find the culprit.

Theme issue: Go to Appearance → Themes and switch to a default WordPress theme (e.g. Twenty Twenty-Four). If the site comes back, the issue is with your theme.

WordPress memory limit: See our article: How to Increase PHP Memory Limit in DirectAdmin

If none of these fix it, proceed to Step 3.

Step 3 — Restore from JetBackup

See our full step-by-step guide: How to Restore Your Website from a Backup in DirectAdmin (JetBackup)

In summary:

1. Log into DirectAdmin
2. Open JetBackup
3. Select Home Directory Backups
4. Choose a date when the site was working
5. Click Restore

Step 4 — After Restoring, Check for the Root Cause

If your site was hacked, restoring alone is not enough — the vulnerability that allowed the hack may still exist. After restoring:

• Update WordPress core, all plugins and your theme immediately
• Change your WordPress admin password
• Change your hosting account password
• Install a security plugin like Wordfence and run a scan
• See our article: My WordPress Site Was Hacked — How to Clean and Recover It

Can't Access wp-admin?

If you can't log into WordPress at all:

• Try accessing your site via DirectAdmin File Manager to check files are present
• Check the JetBackup restore is complete
• Open a support ticket at my.hostking.host — our team can restore from backup on your behalf and investigate the cause

Need Help?

Our support team is available every day from 7am to 10pm via live chat at hostking.host or by opening a ticket at my.hostking.host.