Title: Revisions
Author: Akira Tachibana
Published: February 24, 2019
Last modified: May 1, 2026

---

# Revisions

## In this article

 * [View revisions](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/revisions/?output_format=md#view-revisions)
 * [Revisions screen](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/revisions/?output_format=md#revisions-screen)
    - [Top slider](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/revisions/?output_format=md#top-slider)
    - [Color indicators](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/revisions/?output_format=md#color-indicators)
    - [Show changes](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/revisions/?output_format=md#show-changes)
 * [Restore a revision](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/revisions/?output_format=md#restore-a-revision)
 * [Classic Revisions](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/revisions/?output_format=md#classic-revisions)
 * [Autosaves](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/revisions/?output_format=md#autosaves)
 * [Revision Options](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/revisions/?output_format=md#revision-options)
 * [Revision Storage Method](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/revisions/?output_format=md#revision-storage-method)
 * [Revision Management](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/revisions/?output_format=md#revision-management)
 * [Displaying Rendered Revisions](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/revisions/?output_format=md#displaying-rendered-revisions)
 * [Changelog](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/revisions/?output_format=md#changelog)

[ Back to top](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/revisions/?output_format=md#wp--skip-link--target)

The WordPress revisions system stores a record of each saved draft or published 
update. The revision system allows you to see what changes were made in each revision
by dragging a slider. The display indicates what has changed in each revision – 
what was added, what remained unchanged, and what was removed. Lines added or removed
are highlighted, and individual character changes get additional highlighting. Click
the ‘Restore This Revision’ button to restore a revision.

## 󠀁[View revisions](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/revisions/?output_format=md#view-revisions)󠁿

To view revisions:

 1. Open the Settings sidebar.
 2. Select the Page or Post tab.
 3. Click the number next to Revisions.

Since WordPress 7.0, clicking the revision opens a new revisions screen. If you 
are using WordPress 6.9 or earlier, see Classic Revisions below.

![Revisions screen with highlighted texts.](https://wordpress.org/documentation/
files/2019/02/revisions-1-7.0-1024x569.jpg)

## 󠀁[Revisions screen](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/revisions/?output_format=md#revisions-screen)󠁿

### 󠀁[Top slider](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/revisions/?output_format=md#top-slider)󠁿

The revisions screen lets you see what changed in each revision by dragging the 
top slider.

### 󠀁[Color indicators](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/revisions/?output_format=md#color-indicators)󠁿

Next to the scrollbar, you will see colored markers that indicate where changes 
were made and how large they are. Click a marker to jump to that location.
Color
meanings:

 * Green: inserted content
 * Red: deleted content
 * Yellow: changed content

### 󠀁[Show changes](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/revisions/?output_format=md#show-changes)󠁿

The Show changes icon on the left side of the slider toggles the colored highlights
on and off.

![Show changes icon](https://wordpress.org/documentation/files/2019/02/revisions-
3-7.0-1024x376.jpg)

## 󠀁[Restore a revision](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/revisions/?output_format=md#restore-a-revision)󠁿

To restore a revision:

 1. Use the top slider to find the revision you want to restore.
 2. Click Restore.

## 󠀁[Classic Revisions](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/revisions/?output_format=md#classic-revisions)󠁿

In WordPress 6.9 and earlier, clicking the revisions number in the sidebar opens
the classic revisions screen. In WordPress 7.0, you can also open this screen by
clicking Open classic revisions screen in the sidebar.
The classic revisions screen
shows a side-by-side comparison of the HTML version of the content.

![Classic revisions screen](https://wordpress.org/documentation/files/2019/02/revisions-
2-7.0-1024x577.jpg)

Like the new revisions screen, you can see what changed in each revision by dragging
the slider or using the Next and Previous buttons.

The revisions page also includes a Compare any two revisions mode that lets you 
compare any two revisions. In this mode, the slider has two handles: one for the
revision you are comparing from and one for the revision you are comparing to. Drag
the handles to see the changes between any two specific revisions.

## 󠀁[Autosaves](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/revisions/?output_format=md#autosaves)󠁿

There is only ever a maximum of one [autosave ](https://wordpress.org/support/article/glossary?output_format=md#autosave)
per user for any given post. New autosaves overwrite old autosaves. This means that
no, your tables do not grow by one row every 60 seconds. In multi-user settings,
one autosave is stored for each user.

Autosaves are enabled for all posts and pages but do not overwrite published content.
Autosaves are stored as a special type of revision; they do not overwrite the actual
post. In fact, whether your power goes out, your browser crashes, or you lose your
internet connection, when you go back to edit that post, WP will toss up a warning
telling you that it has a backup of your post and a link to restore the backup. 
When reviewing revisions, autosaves are clearly marked.

## 󠀁[Revision Options](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/revisions/?output_format=md#revision-options)󠁿

Limit the number of posts revisions that WordPress stores in the database.

The [wp_revisions_to_keep](https://codex.wordpress.org/Plugin_API/Filter_Reference/wp_revisions_to_keep)
filter allows developers to easily alter how many revisions are kept for a given
post.

Alternately, the limit can be set in wp-config.php:

    ```wp-block-preformatted
    define( 'WP_POST_REVISIONS', 3 );
    ```

WP_POST_REVISIONS:

 * true (default), -1: store every revision
 * false, 0: do not store any revisions (except the one autosave per post)
 * (int) > 0: store that many revisions (+1 autosave per user) per post. Old revisions
   are automatically deleted when the post is updated again.

## 󠀁[Revision Storage Method](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/revisions/?output_format=md#revision-storage-method)󠁿

Revisions are stored in the posts table.

Revisions are stored as children of their associated post (the same thing we do 
for attachments). They are given a post_status of ‘inherit’, a post_type of ‘revision’,
and a post_name of {parent ID}- revision(-#) for regular revisions and {parent ID}-
autosave for autosaves.

By default, WP keeps track of the changes to title, author, content, excerpt.

## 󠀁[Revision Management](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/revisions/?output_format=md#revision-management)󠁿

Deleting: There is an API function to delete revisions, but there is no UI. That
can certainly change.

## 󠀁[Displaying Rendered Revisions](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/revisions/?output_format=md#displaying-rendered-revisions)󠁿

Currently revision comparison “diffs” are rendered in Text (or HTML) view; proposed
filters would allow plugin developers to customize diff encoding/rendering. (see
Trac ticket [#24908](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/24908))

## 󠀁[Changelog](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/revisions/?output_format=md#changelog)󠁿

 * Updated 2026-05-01
    - New revisions screen for WordPress 7.0

## Was this article helpful? How could it be improved? 󠀁[Cancel reply](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/revisions/?output_format=md#respond)󠁿

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First published

February 24, 2019

Last updated

May 1, 2026