Backup & Restore
Keep restorable originals before optimization and use restore actions when needed.
Backup & Restore is the safety layer behind source-changing operations.
Backup behavior
When backups are enabled, Vacuum copies the original source before optimization and stores the backup path in attachment metadata. For normal JPEG and PNG derivative generation, originals are not modified, but backups still make review and restore workflows safer.
Restore behavior
Restore copies the stored backup over the source file, removes generated derivative files where safe, clears optimization metadata, and returns the attachment to a pending state.
Retention
Backup retention can be configured in days. A value of 0 keeps backups indefinitely. Scheduled cleanup uses the vacimg_cleanup_backups cron hook.
Best practice
Keep backups enabled for the first full bulk run and for any site where editors may need to compare or roll back image changes.