Have you ever created an amazing blog post only to lose track of it in WordPress? You’re not alone—this is a common issue that many users face, and it can be quite frustrating.
As WordPress bloggers ourselves, we understand this challenge well. Fortunately, we’ve discovered effective strategies to locate drafts that seem to have disappeared.
In this comprehensive guide, we will teach you how to find your saved drafts in WordPress, covering everything from the simplest techniques to more advanced methods.
Why Are Your Saved Drafts Missing in WordPress?
When you’re new to managing your WordPress site, navigating the admin area can be a learning curve. You might save a draft and then switch to another task, only to find it difficult to locate that post when you’re ready to continue working on it.
Your draft could be hidden in an unexpected location, or it might have been unintentionally deleted. This is particularly possible if you share your blog with multiple authors who have access to your drafts.
If you’re unable to find any posts marked as drafts, don’t worry. Even if a draft has been deleted, there are still methods to recover it.
In this detailed guide, we will explore five different techniques to help you find your saved drafts in WordPress. If you’d like to skip ahead to a specific method, feel free to use the links provided below:
- Method 1: Look in the Quick Draft Box for Missing Drafts
- Method 2: Locate Missing Drafts in the WordPress Pages and Posts Menus
- Method 3: Access All Your WordPress Post Drafts via Direct Link
- Method 4: Explore Your WordPress Trash to Retrieve Missing Drafts
- Method 5: Utilize Your WordPress Database to Recover Lost Drafts (Advanced)
Method 1: Look in the Quick Draft Box for Missing Drafts
If you have used the Quick Draft feature in the dashboard, your drafts might disappear after clicking the ‘Save Draft’ button.
If you created the draft recently, you should still be able to locate it in your WordPress dashboard.
Simply click on ‘Dashboard’ in the left sidebar and find the Quick Draft box, where you can see all your latest drafts.
To continue editing any of these WordPress drafts, just click on its blue title.
If the Quick Draft section is not visible, you can restore it by clicking on the Screen Options tab at the top right of the page.
Ensure that the ‘Quick Draft’ checkbox is checked, and it will reappear.
Method 2: Locate Missing Drafts in the WordPress Pages and Posts Menus
Another straightforward way to find your saved drafts on your WordPress blog or site is to navigate to Posts » All Posts to view your draft posts, or Pages » All Pagesfor draft pages.
After completing that step, you should see a ‘Drafts’ tab.
By clicking on the Drafts tab, you will see your saved draft posts.
You can now edit, delete, or preview any of these posts by hovering your mouse over the draft.
Method 3: Accessing Your WordPress Drafts via Direct Link
Alternatively, you can go directly to the ‘Drafts’ screen using a specific link.
First, ensure you are logged into your WordPress dashboard. For further details, refer to our guide on locating your WordPress login URL.
Next, you will need to append specific text to the end of your WordPress website’s URL. This text varies based on whether you want to view your drafted posts or pages.
To access all your drafted posts, add the following to the end of your website’s URL:
/wp-admin/edit.php?post_status=draft&post_type=post
For instance, if your website’s URL is ‘www.example.com’, you would enter the following in your browser’s address bar:
www.example.com/wp-admin/edit.php?post_status=draft&post_type=post
Simply press the ‘Enter’ key on your keyboard. You will be taken to a page displaying all your saved WordPress drafts.
To view all of your drafted pages, append the following to the end of your website’s URL and hit ‘Enter’:
/wp-admin/edit.php?post_status=draft&post_type=page
After doing this, WordPress will present a screen that lists all of your drafted pages.
Method 4: Check the WordPress Trash for Any Missing Drafts
Have you looked in the ‘Drafts’ tab but still cannot locate your drafted page or post?
If a draft is missing, it might have been accidentally deleted. If you have added other users or authors to your WordPress site, it’s possible that someone else deleted your draft.
Alternatively, you may have set up an automation that regularly empties your WordPress trash.
Fortunately, WordPress allows you to easily restore deleted posts and pages.
Similar to your computer, WordPress places deleted items into a ‘Trash’ folder. These posts and pages will no longer appear in your ‘Drafts’ tab, but they are not permanently deleted immediately.
By default, WordPress retains items in the trash for 30 days. If you wish to modify the frequency of trash emptying, please refer to our guide on how to limit or disable automatic trash emptying in WordPress.
To access your trash folder, navigate to Pages » All Pages, or Posts » All Posts. After that, simply click on the ‘Trash’ tab.
Here, you will find all your deleted posts or pages. If you locate your missing draft, hover your mouse over it.
Then, click on the ‘Restore’ link.
Now, you can find this restored page or post in your ‘Drafts’ tab by following the same steps mentioned earlier.
Method 5: Recover Lost Drafts by Checking Your WordPress Database (Advanced)
Unable to find the missing draft in your WordPress ‘Trash’ folder?
Another option is to examine your WordPress database. While you cannot recover the deleted draft using this method, you can retrieve its content. Once you have it, you can copy and paste it into a new draft in your WordPress admin area.
This method is more advanced and is not recommended for complete beginners.
If you choose to proceed with this method, it’s wise to create a backup. Backups enable you to quickly restore your WordPress site in case of any issues.
Additionally, creating backups is simple with a WordPress plugin. Check out our expert recommendations for the best WordPress backup plugins to get started.
To access your WordPress database, you first need to log in to your web hosting account, which is typically provided by your WordPress hosting service.
For instance, if you’re a Bluehost customer, just log in to your Bluehost dashboard.
After logging in, go to the ‘Websites’ tab and select the ‘Settings’ button for the website where you want to locate drafts.
Next, scroll down until you reach the ‘Quick Links’ section.
Then, click on ‘phpMyAdmin.’
You can then select the ‘Databases’ tab.
In the left-hand menu, locate the name of your WordPress database.
Note:If you’re unsure of your database name, you can find this information in your wp-config.php file.
In the left-hand menu, look for an option that includes ‘posts’ in its name.
Click on this option to view all of your WordPress posts and pages.
First, locate the draft you wish to recover.
Next, click on the ‘Edit’ button associated with that draft.
After this, phpMyAdmin will display the draft in HTML format.
To restore the draft, copy all content from the ‘post_content’ section.
Now, return to your WordPress admin dashboard, where you can start a new post or page.
In the top-right corner, click on the icon that resembles a series of dots.
Then, select ‘Code editor’ from the options.
This will open the page or post in the WordPress code editor.
Now, paste the HTML code you copied earlier. Once done, click on ‘Exit code editor’.
You will now see all the content you retrieved from your WordPress database. To preview how this draft will appear to visitors, click on the ‘Preview’ button.
You can now edit this draft using the WordPress editor.
User-Friendly Guides for Managing Your WordPress Site
Now that you know how to find your drafts, let’s delve into other vital WordPress management skills. These guides will assist you in optimizing your site management:
- How to Delete Multiple WordPress Posts at OnceLearn effective methods to delete multiple posts simultaneously, saving you both time and effort.
- How to Add or Update Your Full Name in WordPressDiscover the correct way to update your profile information in WordPress.
- How to Adjust Date and Time Format in WordPressCustomize the display of dates and times on your site to suit your preferences or local standards.
- Understanding Trackbacks and Pingbacks in WordPress: What They Are and How to Use ThemLearn about these communication tools between WordPress sites and how to utilize them effectively.
- How to Upload PDF Files to Your WordPress WebsiteMaster the steps to add PDF documents to your posts and pages for easy sharing.
- How to Test Your WordPress Theme for Compatibility with the Latest StandardsEnsure your theme is current and compatible with the latest version of WordPress and web standards.
We hope this article has helped you learn how to locate your saved drafts in WordPress. You may also want to check our guide on finding post, category, tag, comment, or user IDs in WordPress, along with our expert recommendations for the best alternatives to Zapier for automating your website.
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