Title: Old website not working
Last modified: July 8, 2026

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# Old website not working

 *  [asimafzal](https://wordpress.org/support/users/asimafzal/)
 * (@asimafzal)
 * [1 day, 11 hours ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/old-website-not-working/)
 * We had old website around 3 years before only domain was expired but data was
   stored on our other hosting now client need same website but we are not getting
   same files on our hosting. it was develop in wordpress

Viewing 1 replies (of 1 total)

 *  [rubrojas06](https://wordpress.org/support/users/rubrojas06/)
 * (@rubrojas06)
 * [13 hours, 44 minutes ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/old-website-not-working/#post-18960184)
 * How you doing [@asimafzal](https://wordpress.org/support/users/asimafzal/),
 * Thanks for the details. Just to make sure I understand your situation correctly:
   the domain name expired 3 years ago, but the website files are supposed to still
   exist on a separate/other hosting account that you still have access to and now,
   when you log into that hosting, you can’t find the same WordPress files there.
   Is that correct?
 * If so, here are the steps to check before assuming the data is lost:
    1. **Confirm you’re looking in the right hosting account.** If the site was hosted
       separately from where the domain was registered, log into the cPanel (or hosting
       control panel) for that specific hosting account not the domain registrar and
       check the File Manager under `public_html` or any subfolder/addon domain folder
       that might match the old domain name. Sites are sometimes stored in a subfolder
       named after the domain (e.g. `public_html/olddomain.com/`) rather than the main`
       public_html`.
    2. **Check if it was an addon or subdomain setup.** If the old domain was added
       as an “Addon Domain” on a hosting account that primarily serves a different 
       main domain, its files typically live in a separate folder that’s easy to overlook.
       Look in cPanel -> Domains -> Addon Domains (or equivalent) to see if there’s
       a record of it, even if the domain itself no longer resolves.
    3. **Check with your hosting provider directly.** Ask them specifically: “Do you
       have any backups or files under [olddomain.com] from around 3 years ago, even
       in an inactive or archived account?” Many hosts keep backups longer than you’d
       expect, especially “catastrophic” backups, and it’s worth asking even if their
       standard retention policy says otherwise.
    4. **Look for a separate database.** WordPress files (`wp-content`, themes, plugins)
       are only half of a website you also need the MySQL database. Check phpMyAdmin
       on that hosting account for any database matching the old site, since without
       it the files alone won’t restore a working site.
    5. **If nothing turns up on that hosting account**, check the** **Wayback Machine****(
       [https://web.archive.org](https://web.archive.org)) by entering the old domain
       name. It can’t recover the actual WordPress files or database, but it can let
       you manually recover text content and some images from old snapshots to help
       rebuild the site.
 * **What I’d need to know to help further:**
    - Do you (or the client) still have login/cPanel access to that “other hosting,”
      or is access also lost?
    - Was this a shared hosting account, or was the site possibly hosted under a
      reseller/addon domain setup?
    - Do you have a database export (.sql file) anywhere, separate from the file
      backups?
 * **Reference:** [https://wordpress.org/support/topic/domain-name-expired-need-to-recover-website/](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/domain-name-expired-need-to-recover-website/)
   has a similar case with a step-by-step breakdown of what’s needed (hosting access
   + database + wp-content folder) to restore a site like this.
 * Let me know how it goes and if these instructions helped! See ya!

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 * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
 * 1 reply
 * 4 participants
 * Last reply from: [rubrojas06](https://wordpress.org/support/users/rubrojas06/)
 * Last activity: [13 hours, 44 minutes ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/old-website-not-working/#post-18960184)
 * Status: not resolved

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