When form entries need exporting for your own records, or when entries appear to be missing or lost, this covers both a straightforward export of existing data and an investigation into whether genuinely missing entries can be recovered from wherever a partial trace of them might still exist.
Check the plugin’s own entries screen for a total count before assuming data is lost
Look at the actual count and date range of entries visible in your form plugin’s own admin screen. Sometimes what looks like missing data is actually a filtered or paginated view rather than genuinely lost entries, which is worth ruling out before assuming real data loss.
Form entry export & data recovery
Entries exported, or genuinely investigated when they look missing — recovered where a trace exists.
- Full backup taken before we start
- If we can’t fix it, you get your money back
- We never ask for your own password
This or something else?
| You want existing form entries exported, or need to investigate and recover entries that seem to be missing | This fix covers it |
| Entries have stopped saving going forward, an ongoing problem rather than a historical one | Form submission not saving to database, the underlying, ongoing issue |
| You want to migrate entries to a new form plugin entirely, not just export them | Form migration between plugins |
| You’re confident no entries are actually missing, just need a straightforward export | Still covered by this fix, as the more straightforward version of the same task |
What you are seeing
- A need to export existing entries for reporting, backup, or migration purposes
- An apparent gap in entries for a period when submissions should have occurred
- Entries visible in one view but not another within the same plugin
- Uncertainty about whether missing entries are genuinely lost or just not displaying correctly
Common causes
- A genuine, separate technical fault having prevented entries from saving during a specific window
- Entries actually present but hidden by a filter, pagination, or a display bug in the admin screen
- Entries deleted accidentally by a user with access to the entries management screen
- A database issue affecting a specific date range or subset of entries rather than all of them
- An export limit built into the plugin itself silently truncating the file before every entry is actually included
What we do
- Confirm the actual scope of the export or recovery needed
- Investigate any apparent gap to determine if entries are genuinely missing or just not displaying correctly
- Export existing entries in your preferred format
- Attempt recovery of genuinely missing entries from any available backup, log, or partial record
- Verify the exported or recovered data for completeness and accuracy
- Provide a written summary of what was found and delivered
What is included
- Existing entries exported in your preferred format
- An investigation into any apparent gap, distinguishing genuine loss from a display issue
- Recovery attempted from any available backup or partial record for genuinely missing entries
- A written summary of findings and what was recovered
Not included
- Guaranteeing recovery of data with no trace in any backup, log, or partial record — genuinely and completely lost data can’t be recreated
- Fixing an underlying, ongoing cause of entries failing to save — a separate, related fix if that’s also needed
- Migrating entries to a different form plugin, a separate, related fix
- Ongoing, scheduled exports as a standing service
Questions about this fix
Can you definitely recover entries that seem to be missing?
We investigate thoroughly and recover what's genuinely recoverable from any backup, log, or partial trace, but data with truly no trace anywhere can't be recreated from nothing — we'd tell you plainly what's actually possible for your specific situation.
What formats can entries be exported in?
Common formats like CSV or Excel are typically supported by most form plugins, and we'd export in whatever format is most useful for your actual purpose.
What if the 'missing' entries turn out to just be hidden by a filter?
That's a genuinely common outcome, and a much better one than actual data loss — we check this specifically before assuming the worst, since it's a much simpler situation to resolve.
Should I also get the underlying cause fixed if entries were genuinely lost due to a fault?
Yes, definitely worth addressing separately, since this fix focuses on exporting and recovering what exists — fixing whatever caused entries to be lost in the first place prevents it from happening again.
How far back can entries typically be recovered from if genuinely lost?
This depends entirely on what backups or logs exist covering that period — we'd check what's actually available for your specific timeframe rather than assuming a fixed, universal recovery window.
Related fixes
If this is the second time this year
A bad update breaking the site is a symptom of updates not being tested first. Care plans run every update on a staging clone before it reaches your live site, which is the actual fix for this happening again.
Your access, your rules
Create a separate admin account for us and delete it when we are done. For anything else, we get in touch and agree a method — never a form field on this site, never by reply to an email.
We back up first, always
Before anything is touched we take a full backup and keep it for 30 days. If a fix goes wrong, we put the site back exactly as it was.
If it is not what you bought
If the problem turns out smaller than what you ordered, we refund the difference. If it is bigger, we stop and send a quote before doing any extra work.
If we cannot fix it
You get back what we received. Diagnosis is on us — you only pay when the problem is actually solved. The payment processor takes its fee before the money reaches us, so we never hold it and it is not ours to return. That is true here as everywhere else.
If it comes back
Reply within seven days of delivery and we put it back on the bench at no cost. The fix is not finished until it holds.
What we are responsible for
If something goes wrong with a fix, our responsibility is limited to what you paid for it. We take a full backup first so mistakes can be undone, and we tell you before doing anything outside what you bought.