---
search:
  tags:
    - administration
    - POST
seo:
  description: >-
    Restores the default product categories… Reference for the POST
    /administration/product-categories/restore-defaults endpoint in the Leadtime
    Public API API.
sidebar:
  badge: POST
  label: Restore default product categories
title: Restore default product categories
type: openapi-operation
---
Restores the default product categories provided by Leadtime. This resets categories to the original system defaults.

**What are default categories?**
Leadtime provides pre-configured categories such as:
- External Costs (Additional Services)
- Software (Our Software)
- Hardware (The Hardware products we sell)
- Consulting (Our general consulting services)

**How it works:**
1. System default categories are restored
2. Optionally keep custom categories you created (set keepCustom to true)
3. If keepCustom is false, all custom categories are removed
4. Default categories include multilingual translations (English and German)

**When to use:**
- You want to start fresh with default categories
- You made changes and want to revert to defaults
- You want a clean starting point for product organization

**Note:** This endpoint requires the manageSettings permission. Use keepCustom: true to preserve your custom categories while restoring defaults. This action cannot be undone, so consider the impact on existing products.

<Operation source="api-reference" id="productcategoriescontroller-restoreproductcategoriesdefaults" />