How to Restore a File to a Previous Version

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By Alexis Lawrence
eHow Contributing Writer

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If you have made edits to a file and change your mind about those edits after the file has been saved, it may be possible to restore an earlier version of the file. Windows systems have a built-in restoration feature that can replace the most recent file with any of the previously saved versions.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Step 1

Browse to the folder on your computer that contains the file that you would like to restore. Right-click on the name of the file and choose "Copy" from the menu that comes up.
Step 2

Paste the file into a different folder or onto your desktop. Right-click anywhere in the folder or on the desktop and choose "Paste" to store a copy of the file into the folder or on the desktop.
Step 3

Return to the folder that contains the original file and right-click on the name of the file again. Choose "Properties" from the menu and the "Properties" dialog box will appear on the screen.
Step 4

Go to the "Previous Versions" tab and there will be a list of all of the previous versions of the file. Click on the previous version of the file that you would like to restore and click the "Restore" button.
Step 5

Click "Yes" on the warning message regarding the files restoration. This will continue restoring the earlier version of the file.

Tips & Warnings

If there is no "Previous Versions" tab in the "Properties" window on your system, you may not have all of the necessary components to create shadow files, which are copies of each file saved on your system. Without these copies, it is impossible to restore earlier versions of a file. You can add this feature to Windows systems by downloading the appropriate service pack for your version of Windows.
If there are no previous versions of the file listed on the "Previous Versions" tab, there are no previous versions of the file on the system.
Restoring the previous version of a file will replace the current version of the file. Any changes that have been made since the restored version will not be saved and the more recent version of the file will no longer be available.