How to restore deleted workflows in n8n?

The short, direct answer is: n8n cannot restore a deleted workflow from inside the UI. Once you delete a workflow, it is gone unless you have an external backup — for example: database snapshots, filesystem backups (for file-based DB), or Git versioning if you exported workflows manually. Restoring means you must restore the underlying database or re-import an exported workflow JSON file.

 

What this means in practice

 

In n8n, all workflows are stored in its internal database. Depending on how your instance was installed, this database is usually:

• SQLite (local file, typically .n8n/database.sqlite)
• PostgreSQL (common in production installs)
• MySQL (less common but supported)

When you press “Delete” on a workflow in the UI, n8n removes that workflow record from its database. There is no recycle bin, no undo button, and no built‑in version history. So the only real way to restore it is to restore the DB state from before deletion.

 

How to restore if you have backups

 

If you already have some form of backup, you can recover the deleted workflow. Here are the valid real‑world options:

• Database snapshot — Restore the whole DB (or only the workflow\_entity table) from a snapshot taken before deletion.
• SQLite file backup — Replace your current database.sqlite file with a backup version.
• Manual JSON export — If the workflow was previously exported using the “Download” button, simply re‑import the JSON.
• Git or filesystem backups — Some teams manually commit workflow exports to Git. If so, pull the last version and re‑import.

 

Example: Restoring a workflow from a PostgreSQL backup

 

If your n8n uses PostgreSQL, you might have a nightly dump. You can extract just the workflow you need instead of restoring the whole DB. This is a real, working command example:

// list contents of your backup file
pg_restore -l backup.dump

// extract only the workflow_entity table into a SQL file
pg_restore -t workflow_entity -f workflow.sql backup.dump

// apply the restored table (careful: this overwrites!)
psql -d n8n -f workflow.sql

After this, restart n8n and your deleted workflow should reappear.

 

If you have no backups

 

Then the workflow is truly gone. n8n does not store versions, does not keep deleted items, and cannot recover anything without a database copy. This is a limitation of current n8n architecture.

The only exception: if you deleted it in a browser tab but hadn’t refreshed, sometimes the old JSON is still in your browser’s devtools “Network” logs. That’s a rare lucky case, but it’s not a reliable method.

 

Production recommendation to avoid this in the future

 

• Enable regular DB backups — at least daily snapshots.
• Export important workflows to JSON before major edits.
• Consider keeping workflows in Git by exporting them and committing changes.
• Avoid giving delete permissions to all users in multi‑user setups.

In real production setups, backup automation is non‑negotiable. Without backups, n8n cannot recover deleted workflows.