Divi Theme Options hold all the global settings that control how the entire website looks. Customizing these options takes time because every single setting needs careful attention.
But sometimes all that work disappears when the options suddenly reset to factory defaults. The website loses custom fonts, colors, layouts, and every other carefully chosen setting. This terrifying experience usually happens after migrating a site to a new hosting provider. Database optimization plugins can also cause this problem by cleaning options they should not touch.
WordPress stores Divi Theme Options in the wp_options table under a specific option name. If that database entry gets corrupted or deleted, Divi has no choice but to recreate default values. The default values then overwrite every custom setting that was previously saved by the designer.
Here are the most common causes of Divi Theme Options resetting to default values.
- Database optimization plugins that clean “orphaned options” remove Divi’s settings entries
- Migration plugins that do not properly serialize data corrupt the Divi options during transfer
- Manual database edits that accidentally delete or modify the wrong wp_options entries
- Plugin conflicts that write garbage data into the Divi options field in the database
- Server issues that interrupt the saving process and leave the options field empty
Here is a comparison of database operations that affect Divi Theme Options.
| Database operation | Safe for Divi options | Risk level |
|---|---|---|
| Exporting database for backup | Yes (always safe) | None |
| Importing database from backup | Yes (with full backup) | Low (if backup is complete) |
| Cleaning orphaned options | No (dangerous) | High (may delete Divi settings) |
| Optimizing wp_options table | Yes (safe operation) | Low |
| Manual SQL queries | No (unless expert) | High (can break everything) |
For more information about safe database maintenance for Divi websites, visit the WP Optimize page on wpwizzy.com.
Here is how to restore Divi Theme Options from a backup after they reset to defaults.
- Restore the entire WordPress database from a backup created before the options reset occurred.
- Most hosting providers offer daily backups that can be restored with a single click.
- Contact the hosting support team if accessing the backup system proves too difficult to handle.
- After restoring the database, export the Divi Theme Options using the built-in import export feature.
- Go to Divi Theme Options and look for the import export tab near the top of the page.
- Click the export button and save the JSON file to a safe location on the local computer.
- This exported file can be imported again if the options ever reset to defaults in the future.
- Keep multiple backups of this export file in different locations for complete peace of mind.
Here is how to prevent Divi Theme Options from resetting ever again in the future.
- Avoid database optimization plugins that offer “clean orphaned options” or “clean transients” features.
- If using such a plugin, exclude the Divi options from being cleaned during any optimization process.
- Always take a full database backup before running any optimization or cleanup operation.
- Use a child theme for custom Divi modifications instead of modifying the parent theme files directly.
- Keep Divi and all plugins updated to the latest versions to avoid known bugs and compatibility issues.
- Document all custom Divi Theme Options settings so they can be recreated quickly if needed.