How to Restart a WordPress Site – Reset WordPress (The Fast Way)

We recently saved a client from a website disaster after a single plugin update went wrong. Instead of spending hours on tedious fixes, we used our go-to method to reset their WordPress site and had it running perfectly in minutes.

Whether you’re struggling with a broken site, testing new themes, or just want a clean slate, the idea of a reset can feel overwhelming. But it’s often the fastest way to solve complex problems and get a fresh start.

In this guide, we’ll show you exactly how to restart your WordPress site the right way. These are the same safe and simple methods we use to help our users get back on track quickly.

Why Restart a WordPress Site?

Restarting or resetting a WordPress site is like restoring your phone to its default ‘factory settings’. It wipes out all changes, letting you start fresh with a clean slate.

This process removes your content, settings, and customizations, giving you a blank canvas to rebuild your site. It’s often the fastest solution to complex problems.

However, a full reset is a big step, so it’s usually overkill for minor issues like a single plugin conflict.

Based on our decade-plus experience managing WordPress sites, here are the most common situations where restarting or resetting a WordPress site can be helpful:

1. Development and Testing Environment: When working on a localhost setup, we regularly reset our test sites after moving the site to a live server. This keeps our development environment clean and prevents conflicts between projects.
2. Fresh Start After Failed Changes: Sometimes, a website redesign doesn’t go as planned. Instead of manually undoing dozens of changes, a reset can save hours of troubleshooting time. We’ve used this approach countless times when helping our users recover from complicated customization issues.
3. Client Website Overhauls: For major client redesigns, starting with a clean slate often leads to better results. We typically use this method on staging sites, allowing us to build new designs without affecting the live site.
4. Learning and Skill Development: Whether you’re exploring starter themes or developing custom plugins, having a fresh WordPress installation provides the perfect training ground. Our team regularly uses this approach when testing new features.

A full reset is not always the right first move. Here are some situations where a simpler fix will do:

• Single plugin conflict: Deactivate the problem plugin from the Plugins » Installed Plugins page instead of resetting your entire site.
• Slow site performance: Try a caching plugin or contact your host before considering a reset.
• One broken page: Restore from a recent backup rather than wiping everything.

What Does a WordPress Reset Actually Do?

Before we dive in, let’s quickly clarify what resetting your site does. When you use a reset plugin, it’s like a factory reset for your content, but not for your core files.

What a Reset WILL Delete:

• All of your posts, pages, and comments.
• All users (except your current admin account).
• All WordPress database tables with the default prefix.
• All your site’s settings and customizations stored in the database.

What a Reset will NOT Delete:

• Your media files (images, videos, etc. in your Uploads folder).
• Your installed themes and plugins (though they will all be deactivated).
• The core WordPress software files.

In short, a reset gives you a clean slate for your website’s content and settings without forcing you to reinstall WordPress or re-upload your files. Now that you know exactly what to expect, let’s walk through the steps to reset your site safely.

How to Restart and Reset a WordPress Site

Restarting your WordPress site might sound difficult, but it’s really not.

We’ll show you three methods to restart your WordPress site. You can use the links below to jump straight to the method you prefer.

Method 1: Restart Your WordPress Site With WP Reset (Recommended)

The easiest way to restart your WordPress site is with WP Reset. This free plugin has over 300,000 active installs and lets you quickly wipe your WordPress database back to its default state.

To get started, install and activate the WP Reset plugin. For help, see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Once activated, go to Tools » WP Reset in your WordPress dashboard. Scroll down to find the Site Reset section.

Type “reset” into the confirmation field, then click the “Reset Site” button.

This removes all posts, pages, custom post types, comments, and users except for your current admin account. Your media uploads and WordPress core files will not be affected.

Your Media Library will appear empty after the reset. Your actual image files are still on the server and have not been deleted.

WP Reset will confirm the reset is complete and redirect you to the WordPress dashboard. You will still be logged in as the admin.

Your themes and plugins will be deactivated but not deleted. To reactivate each plugin, go to the Plugins » Installed Plugins page and click the ‘Activate’ link under the plugin name.

To reactivate your theme, go to Appearance » Themes and click the ‘Activate’ button next to the theme name.

Method 2: Restart Your WordPress Site With Advanced WordPress Reset (More Custom Reset Options)

Another way to restart your WordPress site is with Advanced WordPress Reset.

First, you’ll need to install and activate the Advanced WordPress Reset plugin. For more details, see our instructions on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Once the plugin is activated, you need to go to Tools » Advanced WP Reset in your WordPress dashboard. Here, you can restart your WordPress website by simply typing ‘reset’ into the Reset database field.

Once you’ve entered the text, simply click the ‘Reset database’ button.

Advanced WordPress Reset will redirect you to a fresh WordPress dashboard once the reset is complete. You will remain logged in as admin, and all deactivated plugins will appear in your Plugins » Installed Plugins menu.

When you reset your website, your plugins and theme files are not deleted. However, all the plugins are deactivated except for Advanced WordPress Reset.

To manually reactivate your plugins, go to the Plugins » Installed Plugins page from your WordPress dashboard. Then, click the ‘Activate’ link under the plugin name.

Configuring Custom Reset Options in Advanced WordPress Reset

Aside from restarting your entire website, Advanced WordPress Reset also lets you reset specific items on your website, like comments, or clean the uploads folder.

To reset individual files, you can go to Tools » Advanced WP Reset from your WordPress admin panel and then open the ‘Custom reset’ tab.

Next, you can click the ‘Run reset now’ button to restart different items on your website.

For example, if you used multiple plugins or themes for testing and now want a clean start, you can delete them all. Similarly, you can clean the uploads folder and wp-content folder.

The plugin also gives you different options to reset comments on your site. Simply scroll down to the ‘Reset Comments’ section in the plugin settings.

Here, you can delete all the comments, pending comments, spam comments, trashed comments, pingbacks, and trackbacks with a single click.

If you are unsure about which settings to choose, we recommend leaving these settings as is and using the default reset options instead.

This helps save time from deleting individual comments, and you get a fresh start on your WordPress site.

Method 3: Reset WordPress Without a Plugin (Manual Method)

If you can’t install a plugin, you can reset your WordPress database to default settings manually through your hosting control panel. This takes a few more steps but gives you the same clean result.

You’ll need access to phpMyAdmin in your hosting control panel. If you’re on a managed host like WP Engine, contact their support team for the correct reset process, as these platforms use a different workflow.

Make sure you have a complete backup before starting. See the backup reminder at the top of this guide if you haven’t done that yet.

Step 1: Drop Your Database Tables

Log in to your hosting control panel and open phpMyAdmin. Select your WordPress database from the left panel.

If you’ve never accessed your database before, you can check out this beginner’s guide to WordPress database management with phpMyAdmin to help find your way around.

Important: Before continuing, double-check that you have selected the correct WordPress database from the left panel. On shared hosting, phpMyAdmin may list multiple databases, and dropping the wrong one can damage other sites on the same server.

Click ‘Check All’ to select every table, then choose ‘Drop’ from the ‘With selected’ dropdown. Confirm when prompted.

Once complete, the database will be empty and ready for a fresh WordPress install.

Step 2: Run the WordPress Setup Wizard

Open your site URL in a browser. Because the database is now empty, WordPress will automatically show the installation wizard instead of your old site.

Fill in your site title, admin username, password, and email address, then click ‘Install WordPress’. You’ll see a success screen confirming the fresh install is complete.

Step 3: Reactivate Your Themes and Plugins

Since we only cleared the database and did not delete any files, your media uploads, themes, and plugins are all still on the server.

Go to Plugins » Installed Plugins to activate each plugin. Then go to Appearance » Themes to activate your theme.

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Frequently Asked Questions About Restarting a WordPress Site

Having helped thousands of users, we’ve answered just about every question there is about resetting WordPress. Here are the answers to some of the most common ones.

1. What is the difference between resetting and reinstalling WordPress?

Resetting your site with a plugin wipes your database, which includes your posts, pages, and user data. However, it leaves your WordPress core files, plugins, and themes on the server.

Reinstalling is a more drastic step where you delete all files and upload a completely fresh version of WordPress. A reset is usually faster and sufficient for most cases.

2. Will resetting my site delete my themes and plugins?

No, the methods we’ve shown do not delete your theme and plugin files. They will be deactivated, but you can easily reactivate them from your dashboard after the reset is complete.

3. Does restarting a WordPress site affect SEO?

Yes, a full reset deletes all your content, which means search engines will no longer be able to find those pages. This is why a reset is best used on a staging site, a test environment, or when you plan to completely relaunch with new content.

4. Is it safe to reset my WordPress site?

It is very safe, but only if you create a complete backup first. A backup is your safety net, allowing you to restore your website instantly if you decide you want to undo the reset.

5. Does resetting WordPress delete my uploaded images?

No, the plugin methods in this guide only reset your database. Your image files stay on the server and are not deleted.

Your Media Library will appear empty after the reset. The files are still on the server and safe.

6. How do I reset just one part of my site, like comments or users?

Advanced WordPress Reset (Method 2) handles this with its Custom Reset tab. You can selectively delete comments, inactive plugins, or the uploads folder without resetting your full site.

Additional Resources

Now that you know how to reset your site, you might find these other guides helpful for setting things up again:

• The Ultimate Guide to Boost WordPress Speed & Performance – Once you have a fresh start, use these tips to make sure your site is as fast as possible.
• How to Customize the WordPress Admin Dashboard – Learn how to personalize the backend of your site for a better user experience.

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