bitwarden/server · error · BadRequestException

You can only restore up to 500 items at a time.

Error message

You can only restore up to 500 items at a time.

What it means

Error "You can only restore up to 500 items at a time." thrown in bitwarden/server.

Source

Thrown at src/Api/Vault/Controllers/CiphersController.cs:1168

    {
        var userId = _userService.GetProperUserId(User).Value;
        var cipher = await GetByIdAsyncAdmin(id);
        if (cipher == null || !cipher.OrganizationId.HasValue ||
            !await CanDeleteOrRestoreCipherAsAdminAsync(cipher.OrganizationId.Value, new[] { cipher.Id }))
        {
            throw new NotFoundException();
        }

        await _cipherService.RestoreAsync(new CipherDetails(cipher), userId, true);
        return new CipherMiniResponseModel(cipher, _globalSettings, cipher.OrganizationUseTotp);
    }

    [HttpPut("restore")]
    public async Task<ListResponseModel<CipherMiniResponseModel>> PutRestoreMany([FromBody] CipherBulkRestoreRequestModel model)
    {
        if (!_globalSettings.SelfHosted && model.Ids.Count() > 500)
        {
            throw new BadRequestException("You can only restore up to 500 items at a time.");
        }

        var userId = _userService.GetProperUserId(User).Value;
        var cipherIdsToRestore = new HashSet<Guid>(model.Ids.Select(i => new Guid(i)));

        var restoredCiphers = await _cipherService.RestoreManyAsync(cipherIdsToRestore, userId);
        var responses = restoredCiphers.Select(c => new CipherMiniResponseModel(c, _globalSettings, c.OrganizationUseTotp));
        return new ListResponseModel<CipherMiniResponseModel>(responses);
    }

    [HttpPut("restore-admin")]
    public async Task<ListResponseModel<CipherMiniResponseModel>> PutRestoreManyAdmin([FromBody] CipherBulkRestoreRequestModel model)
    {
        if (!_globalSettings.SelfHosted && model.Ids.Count() > 500)
        {
            throw new BadRequestException("You can only restore up to 500 items at a time.");
        }

View on GitHub (pinned to e93b962371)

Solutions

1. Split the restore request into batches of 500 items or fewer.
2. Use the vault purge or bulk management UI options for very large restore operations.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown when a restore request includes more than 500 cipher IDs in a single bulk restore operation.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of bitwarden/server@e93b962371 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6a3b98942f602f1e. Report an issue: GitHub.