How to restore a deleted site

Deleting a site doesn't erase it straight away. It moves to Recently deleted for 30 days, then it's removed for good. Use this when a site was deleted by mistake.

How to delete a site

1. On Websites, click the red bin (Delete site) on the site's card.
2. The message reads "Delete this site? It moves to Recently deleted, where an owner or admin can restore it for 30 days. Its address and domains stop working right away." Click OK.
3. The site leaves the list, and you see "Site deleted. You can restore it from Recently deleted for 30 days."

Right away, the site's preview address and domains stop working and a published site goes offline. Its addresses are freed, so another site can use them. A deleted site no longer counts as a hosted site.

Deleting a client also moves all of that client's sites here. See What deleting a client does.

How to restore a site

1. On Websites, click Recently deleted in the header, or scroll to the bottom of the page. The button shows how many sites are waiting.
2. Each site shows its name, client, address, the date it was deleted and the days left (Removed today on the last day).
3. Click Restore. The button shows Restoring….
4. You see "Site name restored." (with the site's name), plus a note for anything that couldn't come back. The site is back in the list.

The site comes back with its pages and content. If it was published, its live version goes live again too, and it counts as a hosted site again.

Restoring a site whose client was deleted

The site's line still shows the client's name. Clicking Restore opens a small box: "This site's client was deleted. Which client should it belong to?"

1. Leave Client name (bring this client back) selected to bring the client back with its saved details (name, address, contact details, branding). Or pick another client from the list.
2. Click Restore. The message adds "The client … is back too, with its saved details — its reports, keywords and other client data were removed when it was deleted."
3. The client's other sites in Recently deleted go back to the same client when you restore them.

Click Cancel to close the box without restoring.

Things that may need a fix after restoring

The restore message tells you about each of these:

• "The address … is now used by another site — choose a new one in Settings → Domain." Another site took the preview address meanwhile. Pick a new one in the editor.
• "… is now connected to another site, so it wasn't reconnected." That domain moved to another site. Disconnect it there first if you want it back, then add it in Settings → Domain.
• "… couldn't be reconnected — add it again in Settings → Domain." Add the domain again.
• "The live version couldn't be restored — publish the site again." The site comes back as a draft. Publish it.

Examples

• Wrong card: you meant to delete "Smith Plumbing (copy)" but deleted the real site. An owner clicks Restore and the site and its domain are live again in seconds.
• Client came back: a client canceled, so you deleted their site. Two weeks later they're back. Restore it instead of rebuilding.
• Deleted the wrong client: all three of their sites are in Recently deleted. Restore the first with "(bring this client back)"; the client is back, and the other two go back to it when you restore them.
• Domain moved on: you restored a site whose domain is now on a newer site. The note tells you, and the newer site keeps the domain.

Limits and what it can't do

• Sites are kept for 30 days from the day they were deleted. After that, a daily clean-up erases them for good. This can't be undone.
• There's no button to erase a site sooner. It's removed when the 30 days run out.
• Restore brings back the whole site as it was when deleted. To go back to an earlier version of a site that still exists, use site backups.
• Have a ContentForge backup file of a site that's gone for good? Restore it from the backup file as a new site.

Who can use it

• Anyone with the Mount Olympus tool can delete a site they can see. A team member limited to some clients can only delete those clients' sites.
• Everyone with the Mount Olympus tool sees the list (a team member limited to some clients sees only those clients' sites). Only agency owners and admins can restore: other members see the note "Only agency owners and admins can restore a site — ask one of them to restore it." instead of the Restore buttons.
• A site deleted from the Create with Zeus cancel screen also lands here.

Troubleshooting

• Recently deleted is grayed out: no sites you can see were deleted in the last 30 days.
• No Restore button / "Only agency owners and admins can restore sites": you're not an owner or admin. Ask one of them to restore it.
• "This site isn't in Recently deleted": it was already restored, maybe by someone else. Reload the page.
• "Site not found": the 30 days ran out and the site was erased, or it belongs to another agency.
• "Could not delete the site": the delete didn't go through. Try again.
• My site isn't in Recently deleted: it was deleted more than 30 days ago, and it's gone.
• "This site's client was deleted. Choose which client it should belong to.": pick a client in the Restore box.
• "There's already a client called …": a client with that name was added since. Pick it from the list instead of bringing the old one back.
• "That client wasn't found — choose another.": the client you picked was deleted meanwhile. Reload and pick another.
• "Couldn't bring back the client …": pick an existing client for the site from the list.