Freshly

Get a brand new WordPress site back in seconds — without losing your login.

Testing a plugin, building a client demo, or just experimenting? Over time your site fills up with old plugins, unused themes, and clutter you no longer need. Starting over usually means deleting everything and setting up a new site from scratch — new database, new wp-config.php, new admin account, new login.

Freshly makes it effortless. One click and your site is a fresh WordPress install again — same domain, same database credentials, same table prefix, same admin account, same browser session. You stay logged in the whole time, with nothing new to set up.

Why people use Freshly

• Local and staging environments — reset between client demos or between experiments instead of spinning up a whole new site.
• Plugin and theme developers — test your install and activation flow against a genuinely clean WordPress, over and over, in seconds.
• Agencies — hand a clean starting point to the next person on the team without touching hosting, DNS, or database configuration.
• Anyone learning WordPress — break things freely, then undo everything at once.

Simple Reset

One click, one confirmation. Freshly:

1. Deletes every plugin (except itself) and every theme.
2. Permanently empties the media library and wp-content/uploads.
3. Drops every database table and reinstalls the WordPress database with wp_install() — the exact routine behind the famous 5-minute install.
4. Reinstalls WordPress core files from the official WordPress.org package.
5. Installs and activates one official default theme, so your front end never goes down.
6. Restores the admin account you were logged in as — same username, same password, same session.

When it finishes, you are looking at a brand new WordPress site, still logged in.

Advanced Reset

Need something narrower? Advanced Reset lets you pick each target independently:

• Plugins — deletes every plugin except Freshly itself. Optionally reinstalls Akismet and Hello Dolly, the two plugins bundled with every fresh WordPress download.
• Themes — deletes every installed theme and installs one official default theme you choose (Twenty Twenty-Five, Twenty Twenty-Four, Twenty Twenty-Three, and so on).
• Media / Uploads — permanently empties wp-content/uploads.
• WordPress (core + database) — reinstalls core files and drops and reinstalls the database. Pick a specific WordPress version from a dropdown sourced from the official wordpress.org release list — handy for reproducing a bug against an older release. Your admin account is preserved exactly as in Simple Reset.

Uncheck everything you want to keep. A themes-only reset leaves your database untouched; a media-only reset leaves your plugins alone.

Built on WordPress’s own machinery

Freshly does not download and unzip code by hand, and it does not ship a bundled copy of WordPress. Every install goes through the same upgrader classes WordPress uses for its own screens:

• Default themes are installed from the official wordpress.org Theme Directory through Theme_Upgrader — the same mechanism as Appearance → Themes → Add New.
• WordPress core is reinstalled through Core_Upgrader, the same mechanism behind Dashboard → Updates → «Re-install Now», sourced from the official wordpress.org update API.
• Akismet and Hello Dolly are installed from the official wordpress.org Plugin Directory through Plugin_Upgrader — the same mechanism as Plugins → Add New.

Important safety notes

• Freshly does not create a backup. Everything you select is permanently deleted. Take your own backup first if there is any chance you will want the current content back.
• Resetting WordPress (core + database) removes every other user account — only the admin account you are currently logged in as survives (row, password hash, and session are copied over to the fresh install’s admin).
• Running a reset requires the manage_options capability, a valid nonce, and typing your site’s domain name into the confirmation field. There is no way to trigger it by accident or from the front end.
• Freshly is built for development and staging. Think carefully before installing it on a production site.

Third-Party Services

This plugin connects to one external service during a reset:

• WordPress.org (api.wordpress.org, downloads.wordpress.org) — to check available WordPress versions, download core packages, and download default themes and plugins (Twenty* themes, Akismet, Hello Dolly). This uses the same APIs as WordPress itself (Dashboard → Updates, Plugins → Add New, Appearance → Themes → Add New). Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

No data about your site, your users, or your content is ever sent to any external service. Freshly has no analytics, no tracking, no telemetry, and no calls home.