PG_RESTORE(1)

💅 pg_restore — PG_RESTORE(1) 💅

okay bestie, this is the PG_RESTORE(1) page straight outta the PostgreSQL 17.11 Documentation, and we are gonna walk through the whole thing together, no skimming, no skipping, we're getting every last flag ✨

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🌸 NAME 🌸

pg_restore — restore a PostgreSQL database from an archive file created by pg_dump

like, that's the whole vibe: dump made it, restore brings it back 🫶

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

pg_restore [connection-option...] [option...] [filename]

look at her. so simple. so powerful. 💅

🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

okay so pg_restore is the utility for restoring a PostgreSQL database from an archive that pg_dump(1) created in one of the non-plain-text formats. it goes and issues every command needed to reconstruct the database to exactly the state it was in at the moment it got saved. and the archive files are also lowkey iconic because they let pg_restore be selective about what gets restored — or even reorder the items before restoring them. and the archives are designed to be portable across architectures, so they travel well ✈️

pg_restore can operate in two modes, and this matters:

• if you specify a database name, pg_restore connects to that database and restores archive contents directly into the database.
• otherwise, a script is created containing the SQL commands needed to rebuild the database, and it's written to a file or to standard output. That script output is equivalent to the plain text output format of pg_dump. Some of the options controlling the output are therefore analogous to pg_dump options.

obviously (and this is the part people get mad about, sorry bestie) pg_restore cannot restore information that is not present in the archive file. For instance, if the archive was made using the “dump data as INSERT commands” option, pg_restore will not be able to load the data using COPY statements. the data's just not in there in that shape. it's giving "can't pour from an empty cup" 😭

⚠️ Warning ⚠️ Restoring a dump causes the destination to execute arbitrary code of the source superusers' choice. Partial dumps and partial restores do not limit that. If the source superusers are not trusted, the dumped SQL statements must be inspected before restoring. Non-plain-text dumps can be inspected by using pg_restore's --file option. Note that the client running the dump and restore need not trust the source or destination superusers.

fr fr, read your dumps before you restore them from a source you don't trust. that's not a vibe, that's just safety 💀

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✨ OPTIONS ✨

pg_restore accepts the following command line arguments. buckle up, there's a lot, and yes we're doing all of them 🍓

• filename — Specifies the location of the archive file (or directory, for a directory-format archive) to be restored. If not specified, the standard input is used.
• -a, --data-only — Restore only the data, not the schema (data definitions). Table data, large objects, and sequence values are restored, if present in the archive. This option is similar to, but for historical reasons not identical to, specifying --section=data.
• -c, --clean — Before restoring database objects, issue commands to DROP all the objects that will be restored. This option is useful for overwriting an existing database. If any of the objects do not exist in the destination database, ignorable error messages will be reported, unless --if-exists is also specified.
• -C, --create — Create the database before restoring into it. If --clean is also specified, drop and recreate the target database before connecting to it. With --create, pg_restore also restores the database's comment if any, and any configuration variable settings that are specific to this database — that is, any ALTER DATABASE ... SET ... and ALTER ROLE ... IN DATABASE ... SET ... commands that mention this database. Access privileges for the database itself are also restored, unless --no-acl is specified. When this option is used, the database named with -d is used only to issue the initial DROP DATABASE and CREATE DATABASE commands. All data is restored into the database name that appears in the archive. 👑
• -d dbname, --dbname=dbname — Connect to database dbname and restore directly into the database. The dbname can be a connection string. If so, connection string parameters will override any conflicting command line options.
• -e, --exit-on-error — Exit if an error is encountered while sending SQL commands to the database. The default is to continue and to display a count of errors at the end of the restoration. (default is "keep going and tell me how bad it got" 💀)
• -f filename, --file=filename — Specify output file for generated script, or for the listing when used with -l. Use - for stdout.
• --filter=filename — Specify a filename from which to read patterns for objects excluded or included from restore. The patterns are interpreted according to the same rules as -n/--schema for including objects in schemas, -N/--exclude-schema for excluding objects in schemas, -P/--function for restoring named functions, -I/--index for restoring named indexes, -t/--table for restoring named tables or -T/--trigger for restoring triggers. To read from STDIN, use - as the filename. The --filter option can be specified in conjunction with the above listed options for including or excluding objects, and can also be specified more than once for multiple filter files. The file lists one database pattern per row, with the following format:

{ include | exclude } { function | index | schema | table | trigger } PATTERN

The first keyword specifies whether the objects matched by the pattern are to be included or excluded. The second keyword specifies the type of object to be filtered using the pattern:

• function: functions, works like the -P/--function option. This keyword can only be used with the include keyword.
• index: indexes, works like the -I/--indexes option. This keyword can only be used with the include keyword.
• schema: schemas, works like the -n/--schema and -N/--exclude-schema options.
• table: tables, works like the -t/--table option. This keyword can only be used with the include keyword.
• trigger: triggers, works like the -T/--trigger option. This keyword can only be used with the include keyword.

Lines starting with # are considered comments and ignored. Comments can be placed after an object pattern row as well. Blank lines are also ignored. See Patterns for how to perform quoting in patterns.

• -F format, --format=format — Specify format of the archive. It is not necessary to specify the format, since pg_restore will determine the format automatically. If specified, it can be one of the following:
  • c
  • custom
    • The archive is in the custom format of pg_dump.
  • d
  • directory
    • The archive is a directory archive.
  • t
  • tar
    • The archive is a tar archive.
• -I index, --index=index — Restore definition of named index only. Multiple indexes may be specified with multiple -I switches.
• -j number-of-jobs, --jobs=number-of-jobs — Run the most time-consuming steps of pg_restore — those that load data, create indexes, or create constraints — concurrently, using up to number-of-jobs concurrent sessions. This option can dramatically reduce the time to restore a large database to a server running on a multiprocessor machine. This option is ignored when emitting a script rather than connecting directly to a database server. Each job is one process or one thread, depending on the operating system, and uses a separate connection to the server. The optimal value for this option depends on the hardware setup of the server, of the client, and of the network. Factors include the number of CPU cores and the disk setup. A good place to start is the number of CPU cores on the server, but values larger than that can also lead to faster restore times in many cases. Of course, values that are too high will lead to decreased performance because of thrashing. 🔥 Only the custom and directory archive formats are supported with this option. The input must be a regular file or directory (not, for example, a pipe or standard input). Also, multiple jobs cannot be used together with the option --single-transaction.
• -l, --list — List the table of contents of the archive. The output of this operation can be used as input to the -L option. Note that if filtering switches such as -n or -t are used with -l, they will restrict the items listed.
• -L list-file, --use-list=list-file — Restore only those archive elements that are listed in list-file, and restore them in the order they appear in the file. Note that if filtering switches such as -n or -t are used with -L, they will further restrict the items restored. list-file is normally created by editing the output of a previous -l operation. Lines can be moved or removed, and can also be commented out by placing a semicolon (;) at the start of the line. See below for examples.
• -n schema, --schema=schema — Restore only objects that are in the named schema. Multiple schemas may be specified with multiple -n switches. This can be combined with the -t option to restore just a specific table.
• -N schema, --exclude-schema=schema — Do not restore objects that are in the named schema. Multiple schemas to be excluded may be specified with multiple -N switches. When both -n and -N are given for the same schema name, the -N switch wins and the schema is excluded. (she said what she said 💅)
• -O, --no-owner — Do not output commands to set ownership of objects to match the original database. By default, pg_restore issues ALTER OWNER or SET SESSION AUTHORIZATION statements to set ownership of created schema elements. These statements will fail unless the initial connection to the database is made by a superuser (or the same user that owns all of the objects in the script). With -O, any user name can be used for the initial connection, and this user will own all the created objects.
• -P function-name(argtype [, ...]), --function=function-name(argtype [, ...]) — Restore the named function only. Be careful to spell the function name and arguments exactly as they appear in the dump file's table of contents. Multiple functions may be specified with multiple -P switches.
• -R, --no-reconnect — This option is obsolete but still accepted for backwards compatibility.
• -s, --schema-only — Restore only the schema (data definitions), not data, to the extent that schema entries are present in the archive. This option is the inverse of --data-only. It is similar to, but for historical reasons not identical to, specifying --section=pre-data --section=post-data. (Do not confuse this with the --schema option, which uses the word “schema” in a different meaning.) 🫶

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okay that's the energy so far, and we're literally not even done — there's more where that came from, keep going bestie 💖

• -S username, --superuser=username — Tells pg_restore which superuser name to use when it disables triggers. This only matters if you’re using --disable-triggers, bestie.
• -t table, --table=table — Restores the definition and/or data of only the named table. For this purpose, “table” includes views, materialized views, sequences, and foreign tables. You can pick multiple tables by writing multiple -t switches. This option can be combined with the -n option to specify table(s) in a particular schema.
  • Note: When -t is specified, pg_restore makes no attempt to restore any other database objects that the selected table(s) might depend upon. So there’s no guarantee that a specific-table restore into a clean database will actually succeed 😭.
  • Note: This flag does not behave identically to the -t flag of pg_dump. There is not currently any provision for wild-card matching in pg_restore, nor can you include a schema name within its -t. And, while pg_dump's -t flag will also dump subsidiary objects (such as indexes) of the selected table(s), pg_restore's -t flag does not include such subsidiary objects. Big difference, iykyk.
  • Note: In versions prior to PostgreSQL 9.6, this flag matched only tables, not any other type of relation.
• -T trigger, --trigger=trigger — Restores only the named trigger. Multiple triggers? Multiple -T switches, easy.
• -v, --verbose — Turns on verbose mode. This makes pg_restore output detailed object comments and start/stop times to the output file, plus progress messages to standard error. Repeating the option causes additional debug-level messages to appear on standard error. Chatty icon behavior 💅.
• -V, --version — Prints the pg_restore version and exits. Iconic, short, done.
• -x, --no-privileges, --no-acl — Prevents restoration of access privileges (grant/revoke commands). No privilege drama.
• -1, --single-transaction — Executes the restore as a single transaction (that is, wraps the emitted commands in BEGIN/COMMIT). This ensures that either all the commands complete successfully, or no changes are applied. This option implies --exit-on-error. All or nothing, periodt.
• --disable-triggers — This one is relevant only when performing a data-only restore. It tells pg_restore to execute commands that temporarily disable triggers on the target tables while the data is restored. Use this if you have referential integrity checks or other triggers on the tables that you do not want to invoke during data restore.
  • Presently, the commands emitted for --disable-triggers must be done as superuser. So you should also specify a superuser name with -S or, preferably, run pg_restore as a PostgreSQL superuser. Respect the superuser lane 🫶.
• --enable-row-security — This option is relevant only when restoring the contents of a table which has row security. By default, pg_restore will set row_security to off, to ensure that all data is restored into the table. If the user does not have sufficient privileges to bypass row security, then an error is thrown. This parameter instructs pg_restore to set row_security to on instead, allowing the user to attempt to restore the contents of the table with row security enabled. This might still fail if the user does not have the right to insert the rows from the dump into the table.
  • Note that this option currently also requires the dump be in INSERT format, as COPY FROM does not support row security.
• --if-exists — Uses DROP ... IF EXISTS commands to drop objects in --clean mode. This suppresses “does not exist” errors that might otherwise be reported. This option is not valid unless --clean is also specified. Don’t try to make it a solo main character.
• --no-comments — Does not output commands to restore comments, even if the archive contains them.
• --no-data-for-failed-tables — By default, table data is restored even if the creation command for the table failed (e.g., because it already exists). With this option, data for such a table is skipped. This behavior is useful if the target database already contains the desired table contents. For example, auxiliary tables for PostgreSQL extensions such as PostGIS might already be loaded in the target database; specifying this option prevents duplicate or obsolete data from being loaded into them.
  • This option is effective only when restoring directly into a database, not when producing SQL script output.
• --no-publications — Does not output commands to restore publications, even if the archive contains them.
• --no-security-labels — Does not output commands to restore security labels, even if the archive contains them.
• --no-subscriptions — Does not output commands to restore subscriptions, even if the archive contains them.
• --no-table-access-method — Does not output commands to select table access methods. With this option, all objects will be created with whichever table access method is the default during restore.
• --no-tablespaces — Does not output commands to select tablespaces. With this option, all objects will be created in whichever tablespace is the default during restore.
• --restrict-key=restrict_key — Uses the provided string as the psql \restrict key in the dump output. This can only be specified for SQL script output, i.e., when the --file option is used. If no restrict key is specified, pg_restore will generate a random one as needed. Keys may contain only alphanumeric characters.
  • This option is primarily intended for testing purposes and other scenarios that require repeatable output (e.g., comparing dump files). It is not recommended for general use, as a malicious server with advance knowledge of the key may be able to inject arbitrary code that will be executed on the machine that runs psql with the dump output. That is a real warning, bestie — do not ignore it 💀.
• --section=sectionname — Restores only the named section. The section name can be pre-data, data, or post-data. This option can be specified more than once to select multiple sections. The default is to restore all sections.
  • The data section contains actual table data as well as large-object definitions. Post-data items consist of definitions of indexes, triggers, rules and constraints other than validated check constraints. Pre-data items consist of all other data definition items.
• --strict-names — Requires that each schema (-n/--schema) and table (-t/--table) qualifier match at least one schema/table in the backup file. No fake matches allowed.
• --transaction-size=N — Executes the restore as a series of transactions, each processing up to N database objects. This option implies --exit-on-error.
  • --transaction-size offers an intermediate choice between the default behavior (one transaction per SQL command) and -1/--single-transaction (one transaction for all restored objects). While --single-transaction has the least overhead, it may be impractical for large databases because the transaction will take a lock on each restored object, possibly exhausting the server's lock table space. Using --transaction-size with a size of a few thousand objects offers nearly the same performance benefits while capping the amount of lock table space needed. Balance, queen.
• --use-set-session-authorization — Outputs SQL-standard SET SESSION AUTHORIZATION commands instead of ALTER OWNER commands to determine object ownership. This makes the dump more standards-compatible, but depending on the history of the objects in the dump, might not restore properly. Standards-compatible does not automatically mean “will slay on this restore,” okay?
• -?, --help — Shows help about pg_restore command line arguments, and exits.

Also, pg_restore accepts the following command line arguments for connection parameters:

• -h host, --host=host — Specifies the host name of the machine on which the server is running. If the value begins with a slash, it is used as the directory for the Unix domain socket. The default is taken from the PGHOST environment variable, if set, else a Unix domain socket connection is attempted.
• -p port, --port=port — Specifies the TCP port or local Unix domain socket file extension on which the server is listening for connections. Defaults to the PGPORT environment variable, if set, or a compiled-in default.
• -U username, --username=username — User name to connect as.
• -w, --no-password — Never issue a password prompt. If the server requires password authentication and a password is not available by other means such as a .pgpass file, the connection attempt will fail. This option can be useful in batch jobs and scripts where no user is present to enter a password.
• -W, --password — Forces pg_restore to prompt for a password before connecting to a database.
  • This option is never essential, since pg_restore will automatically prompt for a password if the server demands password authentication. However, pg_restore will waste a connection attempt finding out that the server wants a password. In some cases it is worth typing -W to avoid the extra connection attempt.
• --role=rolename — Specifies a role name to be used to perform the restore. This option causes pg_restore to issue a SET ROLE rolename command after connecting to the database. It is useful when the authenticated user (specified by -U) lacks privileges needed by pg_restore, but can switch to a role with the required rights. Some installations have a policy against logging in directly as a superuser, and use of this option allows restores to be performed without violating the policy 🎀.

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🌿 ENVIRONMENT 🌿

• PGHOST, PGOPTIONS, PGPORT, PGUSER — Default connection parameters.
• PG_COLOR — Specifies whether to use color in diagnostic messages. Possible values are always, auto and never.

This utility, like most other PostgreSQL utilities, also uses the environment variables supported by libpq (see Section 32.15). However, it does not read PGDATABASE when a database name is not supplied. Noted and respected, bestie.

🩺 DIAGNOSTICS 🩺

When a direct database connection is specified using the -d option, pg_restore internally executes SQL statements. If you have problems running pg_restore, make sure you are able to select information from the database using, for example, psql(1). Also, any default connection settings and environment variables used by the libpq front-end library will apply.

📝 NOTES 📝

Okay bestie, real talk: if your installation has any local additions to the template1 database, be careful when loading the output of pg_restore into a truly empty database — otherwise you’re likely to get errors because of duplicate definitions of the added objects. To make an empty database without any local additions, copy from template0 not template1, for example:

CREATE DATABASE foo WITH TEMPLATE template0;

The limitations of pg_restore are detailed below, and yes, some of them are giving ⚠️ caution-tape energy:

• When restoring data to a pre-existing table and the option --disable-triggers is used, pg_restore emits commands to disable triggers on user tables before inserting the data, then emits commands to re-enable them after the data has been inserted. If the restore is stopped in the middle, the system catalogs might be left in the wrong state. Big yikes — don’t interrupt it mid-restore.
• pg_restore cannot restore large objects selectively; for instance, only those for a specific table. If an archive contains large objects, then all large objects will be restored, or none of them if they are excluded via -L, -t, or other options.

See also the pg_dump(1) documentation for details on limitations of pg_dump.

Once restored, it is wise to run ANALYZE on each restored table so the optimizer has useful statistics; see Section 24.1.3 and Section 24.1.6 for more information. Do it — your query planner will thank you. 💅

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✨ EXAMPLES ✨

Assume we have dumped a database called mydb into a custom-format dump file:

$ pg_dump -Fc mydb > db.dump

To drop the database and recreate it from the dump:

$ dropdb mydb
$ pg_restore -C -d postgres db.dump

The database named in the -d switch can be any database existing in the cluster; pg_restore only uses it to issue the CREATE DATABASE command for mydb. With -C, data is always restored into the database name that appears in the dump file. Iconic behavior, tbh.

To restore the dump into a new database called newdb:

$ createdb -T template0 newdb
$ pg_restore -d newdb db.dump

Notice we don’t use -C, and instead connect directly to the database to be restored into. Also note that we clone the new database from template0 not template1, to ensure it is initially empty. That template0 detail is lowkey the whole plot.

To reorder database items, it is first necessary to dump the table of contents of the archive:

$ pg_restore -l db.dump > db.list

The listing file consists of a header and one line for each item, e.g.:

;
; Archive created at Mon Sep 14 13:55:39 2009
;     dbname: DBDEMOS
;     TOC Entries: 81
;     Compression: 9
;     Dump Version: 1.10-0
;     Format: CUSTOM
;     Integer: 4 bytes
;     Offset: 8 bytes
;     Dumped from database version: 8.3.5
;     Dumped by pg_dump version: 8.3.8
;
;
; Selected TOC Entries:
;
3; 2615 2200 SCHEMA - public pasha
1861; 0 0 COMMENT - SCHEMA public pasha
1862; 0 0 ACL - public pasha
317; 1247 17715 TYPE public composite pasha
319; 1247 25899 DOMAIN public domain0 pasha

Semicolons start a comment, and the numbers at the start of lines refer to the internal archive ID assigned to each item.

Lines in the file can be commented out, deleted, and reordered. For example:

10; 145433 TABLE map_resolutions postgres
;2; 145344 TABLE species postgres
;4; 145359 TABLE nt_header postgres
6; 145402 TABLE species_records postgres
;8; 145416 TABLE ss_old postgres

could be used as input to pg_restore and would only restore items 10 and 6, in that order:

$ pg_restore -L db.list db.dump

Slay — selective restore via editing the list? Kinda genius. 🌈

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🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

Go say hi to pg_dump(1), pg_dumpall(1), and psql(1) — your Unix besties are right there. 🫶

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💖 That’s a wrap, bestie: this glow-up is from PostgreSQL 17.11, dated 2026, and it’s the PG_RESTORE(1) page. Bye! 🎀