How to Restore the Previous Version of a Modified File

Some modifications that are made to files can cause them to not function correctly. When this occurs, you may think that you will have to restore a backup of the file from another location or reinstall the program that installed the file in the first place. In many cases it is possible to restore a previous version of a modified file without the need for a backup, however. The restoration only takes a few moments, and, depending on the number of modifications that have been made to the file, you may be able to choose one of several previous versions to restore to.

Instructions

1. Right-click on the file that you wish to restore in order to open the right-click context menu.

2. Select the "Properties" option from the menu and click it to open the Properties dialog box for that file.

3. Click the "Previous Versions" tab in the Properties dialog box to view a listing of the previous versions of the modified file that are available to you for restoring the file.

4. Choose the version of the file that you would like to restore it to and click the "Restore" button. A warning box will open, informing you that you will be unable to reverse the change if you restore a previous version of the file.

5. Click "Yes" to continue with the restoration. Windows will replace the existing version of the file with the previous version, restoring it to the version that you chose.

References

• Microsoft TechNet: Restore a Previous Version of a File
• VisualWin.com: Restoring Previous Versions (Part 3 of 3)

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish