{"id":1203,"date":"2020-09-22T07:53:10","date_gmt":"2020-09-22T07:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.hostinger.io\/support\/2020\/09\/22\/4469097-how-to-restore-the-wordpress-system-files-at-hostinger\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T13:02:42","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T13:02:42","slug":"4469097-how-to-restore-the-wordpress-system-files-at-hostinger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/4469097-how-to-restore-the-wordpress-system-files-at-hostinger\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Restore the WordPress System Files at Hostinger"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"no-margin\">If your WordPress system files are damaged, and you want to try keeping the most recent changes to your website, you <b>restore the WordPress system files only<\/b>. Here are two alternative methods: <\/p><ul>\n<li>\n<p class=\"no-margin\"><b><a href=\"#h_28cd47d290\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"intercom-content-link\">Using SSH<\/a> <\/b><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"no-margin\"><b><a href=\"#h_95b5081f86\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"intercom-content-link\">Using File Manager or FTP<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul><p class=\"no-margin\">Whichever option you choose, you do not need to make any changes to the database. The SSH option is the easiest, as you would only need to run one command, and it is available on all hosting plans except for Shared Single and WordPress Starter.<\/p><hr><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<\/p><h2 id=\"h_28cd47d290\">Option 1 &ndash; Restoring WordPress System Files via SSH<\/h2><h3 id=\"h_bfefb768e2\">Step 1 &ndash; Connect via SSH<\/h3><p class=\"no-margin\"><b><a href=\"\/support\/1583245-how-can-i-log-in-to-my-account-via-ssh\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"intercom-content-link\">Connect to your account via SSH<\/a><\/b> and open the directory where you installed WordPress. For most domains, it will be the <b>public_html<\/b> folder, so to reach the path use the following command:<\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<\/p><pre><code>cd domains\/domain.tld\/public_html<\/code><\/pre><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">Replacing <b>domain.tld<\/b> with your domain.<\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<\/p><h3 id=\"h_e859a4f193\">Step 2 &ndash; Restore files <\/h3><p class=\"no-margin\">Once there, run the following command: <\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<\/p><pre><code>wp core download --skip-content --force<\/code><\/pre><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">When the process is completed, check your website in incognito mode, and it should be working now.<\/p><hr><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<\/p><h2 id=\"h_95b5081f86\">Option 2 &ndash; Restoring WordPress System Files via FTP or File Manager<\/h2><h3 id=\"h_4c9c535672\">Step 1 &ndash; Preparation<\/h3><p class=\"no-margin\">First, create a fresh backup of your website. You can do that by using the <b><a href=\"\/support\/2298928-how-to-create-backups-at-hostinger\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"intercom-content-link\">backup tool on hPanel<\/a> <\/b>or by <b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/ftp\/filezilla-ftp-configuration\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"intercom-content-link\">connecting via FTP<\/a><\/b> and downloading all your website&rsquo;s files. <\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<\/p><h3 id=\"h_4f1374bef2\">Step 2 &ndash; Download the Official WordPress System Files<\/h3><p class=\"no-margin\">Go to <b><a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/download\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"intercom-content-link\" rel=\"noopener\">WordPress.org<\/a><\/b> and download the archive with the core files of WordPress, that is, a clean installation that does not include any plugins or themes. Make sure to download the same version from your current installation, be it the <b><a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/download\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"intercom-content-link\" rel=\"noopener\">latest version<\/a> <\/b>or an <b><a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/download\/releases\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"intercom-content-link\" rel=\"noopener\">older one<\/a><\/b>.<\/p><div class=\"intercom-interblocks-callout\" style=\"background-color: #e3e7fa80;border-color: #334bfa33\">\n<p class=\"no-margin\">Using previous WordPress versions may present <b>security risks<\/b> &ndash; try to keep the latest version possible, eg. by <b><a href=\"\/support\/6348502-how-to-manage-themes-and-plugins-via-wordpress-overview\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"intercom-content-link\">updating the core files<\/a><\/b> after the restoration.<\/p>\n<\/div><p class=\"no-margin\">Once done, extract the files on your device. The result will look like this:<\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<\/p><div class=\"intercom-container intercom-align-center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.hostinger.io\/pt\/support\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2022\/07\/6349e358-66e9-4553-9b25-fcf50e07c714.jpg\"><\/div><h3 id=\"h_d1c8112872\">Step 3 &ndash; Upload the WordPress Files to Your Hosting<\/h3><p class=\"no-margin\">Next, upload these<b> <\/b>files and folders to your hosting, with the following <b>exceptions:<\/b><\/p><ul>\n<li>\n<p class=\"no-margin\">The <b>wp-content <\/b>folder<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"no-margin\">The <b>wp-config.php<\/b> file<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul><p class=\"no-margin\">To do it via <b><a href=\"\/support\/4548688-basic-actions-in-the-file-manager\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"intercom-content-link\">File Manager<\/a><\/b>, open <b><a href=\"https:\/\/hpanel.hostinger.com\/websites\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"intercom-content-link\" rel=\"noopener\">Websites<\/a> &rarr; Manage<\/b>, search for <b>File Manager <\/b>on the sidebar and click on it:<\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<\/p><div class=\"intercom-container intercom-align-center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/support\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2020\/09\/86f5f972-5298-4451-b98b-dfae9b878666.jpg\" data-media-id=\"4711\" alt=\"Hostinger hPanel File section with File Manager highlighted\"><\/div><p class=\"no-margin\">Make sure you are in the directory where WordPress is installed and click <b>Upload<\/b>:<\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<\/p><div class=\"intercom-container intercom-align-center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/support\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2020\/09\/e5293e1f-c13c-46ed-b61d-16ed260fc2f2.jpg\" data-media-id=\"4712\" alt=\"Hostinger file manager upload button highlighted in the toolbar\"><\/div><p class=\"no-margin\">Select the WordPress files and folders on your device, excluding the wp-config folder. When asked to, click on <b>Replace<\/b>:<\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<\/p><div class=\"intercom-container intercom-align-center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/support\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2020\/09\/06ca3a33-c08f-494c-b963-77933ca7017e.jpg\" width=\"400\" data-media-id=\"4714\" alt=\"Hostinger dialog asking to replace a conflicting uploaded file, with the Replace button highlighted\"><\/div><p class=\"no-margin\">Alternatively, if you&rsquo;re using FileZilla (or another FTP client of your choice), <b><a href=\"\/support\/1869164-how-to-upload-backup-with-ftp\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"intercom-content-link\">upload the WordPress files<\/a><\/b>, <b>except the wp-content <\/b>folder and <b>wp-config.php file <\/b>and when asked, choose <b>Overwrite<\/b>: <\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<\/p><div class=\"intercom-container intercom-align-center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/support\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2020\/09\/b68f5b95-815b-4844-b81e-3d41503db0d3.jpg\" data-media-id=\"4715\" alt=\"Dialog with Resume option selected and OK button at bottom\"><\/div><p class=\"no-margin\">Once the uploading process is done, you can check your website using the incognito mode of your browser. It should be working, and your content will be saved!<\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<\/p><div class=\"intercom-interblocks-callout\" style=\"background-color: #e3e7fa80;border-color: #334bfa33\">\n<p class=\"no-margin\">If you still find your website not working after doing all the steps, you can <b><a href=\"\/support\/3989447-how-to-restore-wordpress-website-from-backups\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"intercom-content-link\">restore your website from a backup<\/a><\/b>. It will revert the files and database to their previous state.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What to do if WordPress system files are damaged<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":581,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"include_on_kodee":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wordpress-management"],"hreflangs":[{"locale":"en-US","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/4469097-how-to-restore-the-wordpress-system-files-at-hostinger\/","default":1},{"locale":"es-ES","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/es\/support\/4469097-como-restaurar-archivos-del-sistema-de-wordpress-en-hostinger\/","default":0},{"locale":"fr-FR","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/fr\/support\/4469097-comment-restaurer-les-fichiers-systeme-de-wordpress-chez-hostinger\/","default":0},{"locale":"id-ID","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/id\/support\/4469097-restore-file-sistem-wordpress-at-hostinger\/","default":0},{"locale":"pt-PT","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/br\/support\/4469097-como-restaurar-arquivos-do-sistema-do-wordpress-no-hostinger\/","default":0},{"locale":"uk-UA","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ua\/support\/4469097-----wordpress--hostinger\/","default":0}],"include_on_kodee":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/581"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1203"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4718,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1203\/revisions\/4718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}