WordPress auto-save interval
WordPress auto-save interval: when 60 seconds is too long
WordPress saves drafts every 60 seconds by default—here’s when to change it, how to override the interval, and what happens when two tabs fight.
The cursor blinks in your draft, you type three paragraphs, and then the browser crashes. When you reopen the tab, the last two paragraphs are gone—because WordPress only auto-saves every 60 seconds, and you hit publish 47 seconds after the last checkpoint.
Most newsletter operators assume auto-save is instant. It’s not. The default interval is hardcoded, the mechanism doesn’t deduplicate when you have multiple tabs open, and if you’re editing in a low-bandwidth environment the race condition gets worse. Here’s how the timing works, when to shorten the interval, and what breaks when you do.
In today's email:
- WordPress auto-save runs every 60 seconds—here’s the code
- Two tabs editing the same draft create save conflicts
- How to override the auto-save interval
- When a shorter interval slows your editor down