How to recover older versions of files

Updated Feb 08, 2024
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This article describes a feature available to all Dropbox users, unless otherwise stated.

Dropbox keeps snapshots of all changes made to files in your Dropbox account, depending on your plan's version history:

  • Dropbox Basic, Plus, and Family accounts can recover versions of a file made within the last 30 days.
  • Dropbox Professional, Essentials, Standard, and Business accounts can recover versions of a file made within the last 180 days.
  • Dropbox Advanced, Business Plus, and Enterprise accounts can recover versions of a file made within the last 365 days.

Not using Dropbox yet? See how Dropbox helps makes it easy to manage your document version history.

How to return to an older version of a file

  1. Log in to dropbox.com.
  2. Hover over the name of the file and click "..." (ellipsis).
  3. Select Version history.
  4. Click on a version to preview it.
  5. Click Roll back to this version on the version you'd like to restore to. Your file will open in full screen.
  6. Click Roll back to this version at the top right. The same file will get replaced by the older version, so its name will stay the same.

Your restored file will immediately be available on dropbox.com and on the desktop app when syncing is complete.

  1. Open the Dropbox folder in File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac).
  2. Locate the file you'd like to view previous version of.
  3. Right-click the name of the file.
  4. Click Version history.
  5. Click on a version to preview it.
  6. Click Roll back to this version on the version you'd like to restore to. Your file will open in full screen.
  7. Click Roll back to this version at the top right. The same file will get replaced by the older version, so its name will stay the same

Your restored file will immediately be available on dropbox.com and on the desktop app when syncing is complete.

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Note: If your files are missing or you have a large number of files to recover, you can learn how to find or restore missing or corrupted files.

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