History and versioning

Sometimes you need to travel back in time.

The History feature lets you label and manage different versions of your project. You can view, download and compare project versions, restore previously deleted files, and see content added by collaborators at a glance.

Using the full History feature

Full Project History is a premium feature. For users on our free plan, the History panel will show edits made in the last 24 hours as well as any labeled versions.

The project owner needs to be on a premium subscription in order for them and their collaborators to access the full history.

How to access a project’s history

Click on History, located above the preview panel, to access the History feature. You can then select:

• All history to view all available history versions.

• Labels to access the list of labels you have created.

How to return to editing mode

To exit the History mode and return to normal editing mode, just click on History again.

What happens to the history if you copy a project?

A copied project starts with a completely new, fresh history—the original project’s history is not copied to the new project.

Downloading an older version of your project

When you download a project using the Source option in the Overleaf menu, you are downloading the current version of the project. Sometimes you may wish to download an earlier version of the project.

To label or download a project version:

1. Switch to the All history view.

2. Select the three-dot menu

3. Choose Download this version.

4. A .zip file containing your project files is generated and downloaded to your device.

Labeling a project version

Version labels allow you to identify key milestones in a project and make it easier to find those versions to compare them with other versions, download them, or restore the project to that particular state.

Follow these steps to label a project version:

1. Switch to the All history view.

2. Select the three-dot menu on the version you wish to label.

3. Choose Label this version.

4. Type the desired label into the pop-up window and select Add label.

Image of the pop up window used to provide a label for Overleaf project versions

You can attach multiple labels to each project version.

How to label the current version of a project

The current version of a project is labeled Current state. Follow these steps to edit that label:

1. Select the Labels tab of the History pane.

2. Select the three-dot menu:

Labeling the current project state

1. Choose Label this version.

2. Type the desired label into the pop-up window and select Add label.

Comparing versions

To select a range of versions to compare, use the icons located on each project version. Noting that project versions are listed in chronological order, with the newest at the top and older versions lower down the list, these icons perform the following actions:

• : compare up to this version

• : compare from this version

• : this icon appears for versions in the middle of the current comparison range. It provides a drop-down menu offering

  • Compare up to this version

  • Compare from this version

How to restore a single file to a previous version

Follow these steps to restore a single file to a previous version. This process restores the file’s content, plus any comments and tracked changes, to the state it was in at the selected date and time.

1. Switch to the All history view.

2. Select the file version you wish to restore.

3. Select Restore this version to reinstate the file.

Steps to restore a file version

1. You are asked to confirm that you want to Restore this version of the chosen file. Select Restore to confirm.

Overleaf's pop-up modal checking if you want to restore a file

1. Overleaf restores the file and switches your project out of History mode and back to editing mode.

Recovering deleted files

Follow these steps to recover deleted files:

1. Switch to the All history view.

2. Select the project version in which the file was deleted.

3. Select the deleted file from the list of project files (it will be crossed out).

4. Select Restore this version to recover the file.

Image showing how to restore a deleted project file using the new History user interface.

1. You are asked to confirm that you want to Restore this version of the chosen file. Select Restore to confirm.

Overleaf's pop-up modal checking if you want to restore a file

1. Overleaf restores the file and switches your project out of History mode and back to editing mode.

Restoring an earlier version of the project

Follow these steps to restore an entire project to a previous version. This process restores the project’s content, plus any comments and tracked changes, to the state it was in at the selected date and time.

1. Switch to the All history view.

2. Select the project version you wish to restore.

3. Select the three-dot menu .

4. Choose Restore project to this version.

How to restore an Overleaf project version

1. You are asked to confirm whether you want to restore the entire project to its state at the specified time and date—including any comments and tracked changes. Select Restore to confirm.

Overleaf's pop-up modal checking if you want to restore your project

1. Overleaf restores your project, switches out of History mode and back to editing mode. You will need to select the file you want to continue editing.