I created a workflow for automating instagram posts and I was trying to send all the information to my email for testing, when all of the sudden my entire workflow set up got deleted.
Does anyone know if I can fix it or I have to start from scratch?
Im using the last version of n8n. 1.90.2
Officially, n8n does not offer a built-in way to recover deleted workflows in the same way that a traditional application might have a “recycle bin” or “undo” function. Once you delete a workflow, especially if you confirm the deletion, it’s considered gone.
However, there are a few potential avenues to explore, depending on your hosting setup:
1. Backups (Most Reliable):
n8n Cloud: If you’re using n8n Cloud, contact their support team immediately. They might have backups and be able to assist, but there are no guarantees.
Self-Hosting: If you’re self-hosting, regular backups are crucial. This is the most reliable recovery method. How you restore depends on your backup method (e.g., file system backups, database backups, Docker volume backups).
2. Version Control (If Used):
If you’re using a version control system (like Git) and you’ve been committing your workflows (which is highly recommended, especially for self-hosting), you can revert to a previous commit containing the deleted workflow. This is the best approach if available. n8n doesn’t have integrated version control, so this relies on you manually saving your workflows in a format compatible with your VCS.
3. Editor History (Unreliable, Short-Term):
Desktop app/Local Development: The n8n editor might keep a short-term history of changes within the current editing session. Check if you can undo or access a local history. This is highly unreliable and not guaranteed to work, especially for deletions that happened some time ago.
n8n Cloud/Browser: Similar to local development, your browser might have some cached data or editing history. However, this is very unlikely to help with a deleted workflow unless you deleted it extremely recently.
4. External Tools (Highly Unlikely):
In extremely rare cases, if you’re self-hosting and using a database, and the database hasn’t overwritten the deleted data yet, a database recovery specialist might be able to help. This is a long shot and not a practical solution in most scenarios.
Key Takeaways:
Prevention is the best cure: Implement regular backups for self-hosted instances. Consider a version control system for saving workflow changes.
Act quickly: If you accidentally delete a workflow, especially on n8n Cloud, contact support immediately.
n8n Cloud reliance: For cloud users, recovery is entirely dependent on n8n’s backup procedures.
The lack of a built-in recovery mechanism highlights the importance of backups and version control, especially when working with critical workflows.
Welcome to the community @Alec_Bernal
Ensure to copy your n8n workflow and paste it in the code block, that is in between the pairs of triple backticks, which also could be achieved by clicking </> (preformatted text) in the editor and pasting in your workflow.
```
<your workflow>
```
That implies to any JSON output you would like to share with us.
Make sure that you have removed any sensitive information from your workflow and include dummy or pinned data with it!
If you are on n8n Cloud and your workflow was saved at some point and our backup job picked it up (it runs daily), we could recovery it for you. Please, contact Support if you got your workflow deleted on n8n Cloud indicating the name (could be partial) or workflow ID (if known).
Welcome to the community @khalid_Naseem
Ensure to copy your n8n workflow and paste it in the code block, that is in between the pairs of triple backticks, which also could be achieved by clicking </> (preformatted text) in the editor and pasting in your workflow.
```
<your workflow>
```
That implies to any JSON output you would like to share with us.
Make sure that you have removed any sensitive information from your workflow and include dummy or pinned data with it!
Good summary. Note that n8n will introduce the Trash bin some time this year.
Thank you so much
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