Menu Backup & Restore + Import/Export for WordPress Plugin Directory

Menu Backup & Restore protects every WordPress menu, both classic nav_menu menus and block-theme wp_navigation posts edited in the Site Editor, with automatic backups, one-click restoration, and powerful import/export capabilities. Transfer menus between sites seamlessly with intelligent per-item mapping that rewrites page, post, and category references for the target site.

Key Features

Automatic backup of menus when they are updated

Works with both classic menus (nav_menu) and block-theme menus (wp_navigation posts edited in the Site Editor)

Site Editor inspector panel — back up, restore, rename, or apply a backup from another menu without leaving the editor, with a Navigation block selected

In-place restore replaces the existing menu directly, no duplicate menus, theme locations stay assigned

Import and export menus as JSON files for portability or locally saved backups

Multi-menu export and import — select multiple menus or backups to export in a single file

Transfer menus between sites with intelligent object mapping, can be used to update menus from development to production sites without full site migration

Manual mapping interface to override automatic matches and map menu items to specific pages, posts, or taxonomies during import

Preserves complete menu structure: hierarchy, theme locations, CSS classes, and third-party plugin data (post_meta) icons etc…

Bulk actions — select multiple backups to export or delete at once

Rename backups inline with a click

Configurable maximum number of backups to keep

See who saved and created the backup

Tab-based interface for better organisation

Simple and intuitive user interface

No database modifications required

Lightweight and fast

How It Works

The plugin automatically creates a backup whenever you update a menu

Backups are stored in the WordPress options table with complete menu structure (hierarchy, locations, CSS classes, custom post_meta)

Manage backups from the legacy Menus page (classic themes), the Appearance > Menu Backups page (block themes), or inline from the Site Editor inspector when editing a Navigation block — rename, export, delete, restore, or bulk-select

Restore any previous version with a single click, the existing menu is updated in-place, keeping theme locations intact

Export one or multiple menus as a single JSON file for portability or import to other sites

Configure the maximum number of backups to keep in the settings

Requirements

WordPress 5.0 or higher

PHP 7.2 or higher

What Users Have to Say on Reddit “That’s a super useful idea! Menus are so easy to wipe out by accident, and restoring from a full backup always feels like overkill. Nice work!”

“Really appreciate it, This will come in handy alot!”

“Oh man, I’ve done this before too. Lost a big menu while trying to rearrange items and it was gone in a click. Ended up re-building from scratch.

This plugin sounds like a lifesaver — surprised WordPress hasn’t built something like this in by default.”

“Kind of an automatic backup vs having to schedule one.”

“that’s a killer quality of life plugin wp’s missing so many of those “one click undo” features for common mistakes”

“Great idea! I do this more often than I care to admit. This needs to be in Core!”

“Dude I literally do this all the time and actually did it less than an hour ago. I hate how the WordPress menu isn’t stored normally. Thanks for this!”