Backups & Recovery
Safety snapshots, rollback, emergency repair, ZIP export.
Bulk rename and replace are destructive if done wrong. AIMT creates safety snapshots before risky work.
This complements — does not replace — full server/hosting backups.
What is backed up
Per attachment in an operation:
- Original image file on disk
_wp_attached_file, attachment metadata (sizes)- ALT, title, caption, description
- WooCommerce featured / gallery / variation relations (if enabled)
Stored under:
wp-content/uploads/ai-media-toolkit-backups/op_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS_xxxx/Directories are protected (index.php, deny rules). ZIP/CSV downloads use authenticated admin handlers.
When backups are created automatically
Before:
- SEO rename (single or bulk job)
- File replace
- Generate all + filename jobs
- Emergency repair operations
Enable/disable: Settings → Safety & backups.
Recovery panel
Dashboard → Safety snapshots
- List recent operations
- Rollback — restore files/metadata/Woo relations for that operation
- Create ZIP — download snapshot
- Delete — remove old snapshot
- Create manual recovery snapshot — before manual edits
Retention: configurable days in Settings.
Emergency repair
For WooCommerce sites where product images show as tiny thumbnails or broken after a bad rename:
Repair broken / too-small product images
- Scans attachments whose main file is missing, too small, or a generated size
- Tries to restore original from backup/history/deep folder search
- Runs in batches to avoid timeouts
Stop any running job before starting repair.
Change history (undo)
Separate from full snapshots:
Images → Details → Change history
- Lists metadata updates, renames, repairs
- Restore (Pro) reverts metadata or file path when safe
Requires Keep undo history enabled in Settings.
Broken sizes audit
Analyze duplicates & quality and filter Broken / missing sizes detect:
- Main file missing or is a thumbnail size
- Generated sizes missing on disk
- Main file below min dimensions
Regenerate thumbnails (selected) or Repair selected from Images table (Pro).
Best practices
- Never bulk rename on production without staging test.
- Keep retention ≥ 30 days during migration projects.
- Export CSV report before/after for client records.
- After rollback, run Scan again to refresh stats.
Next: Featured images · Reports