Autosave is a built-in feature of the WordPress editor that automatically saves a temporary version of your post or page while you are working on it. It ensures that your progress is backed up even if you forget to click the “Save Draft” button yourself.
How It Works
WordPress triggers an autosave once every 60 seconds normally. Unlike a manual save, the autosave does not overwrite your actual published post or your last saved draft. Instead, it stores a special “temporary” record in your database.
Key Benefits of Autosave
- Crash Recovery: If your computer dies or your internet cuts out, WordPress will detect the unsaved changes the next time you open that post and ask if you’d like to restore the autosaved version.
- No Duplicate Bloat: WordPress only keeps one autosave at a time for any given post. Each new autosave simply replaces the previous one, so it won’t clutter up your database.
- Local Backup: Modern versions of WordPress also save a version to your browser’s “session storage.” This means that even if the server fails, you can often recover your text directly from your own computer.
Autosave vs. Revisions
It’s easy to confuse these two, but they serve different purposes:
- Autosave: A single, temporary “snapshot” that happens every minute. It’s for emergencies.
- Revisions: These are permanent “checkpoints” created every time you manually click Save Draft, Update, or Publish. Revisions allow you to travel back in time to a version from three days ago; Autosave only cares about the last 60 seconds.
Pro Tip: Changing the Autosave Interval
If you find that your site feels sluggish while you type, or if you want it to save even more frequently, you can change the interval. This requires a quick edit to your wp-config.php file:
To save every 2 minutes (120 seconds), add this line:
define( 'AUTOSAVE_INTERVAL', 120 );
Common Troubleshooting
“I see a message saying ‘There is a more recent version of this post’.” This happens when the version stored in your browser or the Autosave file is newer than the one saved in your database. Always click “Restore the backup” if you know you were mid-sentence when the browser closed!