Skip to content

Reverting a file to a previous version, on a Mac

New Course Coming Soon:

Get Really Good at Git

I was working on a Pages document this morning when I decided to save and immediately quit the application.

The moment I did it, I realized I did a mistake: the previous evening I did some edits to the cover of the document, removing the background image, and I forgot to revert.

I tried reopening it and of course cmd-Z didn’t work to revert the change - it could only work before quitting Pages.

Then I thought about using the backup which I usually do.

But then, I also found out a feature which I never used in many years of owning a Mac.

Some applications, including Pages, Numbers, and many other non-Apple apps that use documents, like MindNode, have a File -> Revert To menu.

You can immediately revert to the latest saved version, but you can click “Browse All Versions…” to enter into the Time Machine view of that file:

From here you can go back to any previous saved version.

Are you intimidated by Git? Can’t figure out merge vs rebase? Are you afraid of screwing up something any time you have to do something in Git? Do you rely on ChatGPT or random people’s answer on StackOverflow to fix your problems? Your coworkers are tired of explaining Git to you all the time? Git is something we all need to use, but few of us really master it. I created this course to improve your Git (and GitHub) knowledge at a radical level. A course that helps you feel less frustrated with Git. Launching Summer 2024. Join the waiting list!

Here is how can I help you: