I use Google Drive (and other cloud-based file storage systems) to access materials from a variety of locations, to share content easily with local and remote collaborators, and to have the reassurance of there being an off-site backup of what I’m working on. As an added bonus, I’ve recently discovered that if you realise you’ve messed up and over-edited a file, and would be better off starting over with a version from earlier in the day, or a few days ago, or a few weeks ago, you can access a list of the available versions of a particular file and reopen an earlier one to work with!
When you save a document on Google Drive, you’re actually saving a new “version” of the file, not just overwriting the same copy repeatedly: the previous version of the file you save is archived invisibly for you. The number of versions of a file Google hangs on to is dependent on current policy and space available (check the official Google page on this topic for more info on how long file versions are kept, and any other changes to the procedures for accessing different versions since this blog post was written).
How you access earlier versions of a file is handled is slightly different depending on whether you’re working with a file in a Google format (for example, a Google Docs doc or Google Sheets spreadsheet), or a file in a non-Google format (for example, a Word or Pages doc, or an Excel spreadsheet).
To go back to an earlier version of a Google format file:
- View your Google Drive in a web browser (https://drive.google.com).
- Navigate to the file of interest, and double-click to open it.
- Click File > See Revision History.
A Revision History showing all available versions of the file appears on one side of the screen. Each entry shows who edited the file version, and when it was saved. - In the Revision History, select a version.
The main view area updates to show that version of the file. - Once you’ve identified the version of the file you want, click Restore this revision beside the appropriate entry in the Revision History.
The restored version becomes the “latest” version in the file’s revision history.
Note: When I was experimenting with this, the restored version of the file was added to the top of the Revision History, and the “latest” version of the file before the restore moved to second place. All the other file versions stayed in the history too, so I could change my mind about wanting the archived version and switch back to the one with the latest edits, or pick any other version of the file from the history to work with instead. Rather than rely on this working every time, though, I’d recommend making a backup of your “latest” file version before you start exploring your revision history: I guess there’s a risk that if you hit your storage limit right at the moment you’re hopping between versions, you could wind up unable to roll back.
To retrieve an earlier version of a non-Google format file:
- View your Google Drive in a web browser (https://drive.google.com).
- Right-click the file for which you want to access an earlier version, and select Manage versions from the menu that appears.
A list of saved versions of the file appears. - Click the More actions icon (
) to the right of the entry for the version you want, and select Download.
The selected version of the file is downloaded to your computer.
) to the right of the entry for the version you want, and select Download.