# Version history

Go back to an earlier version of your design, look at it, restore it, or copy one board from it. Design saves versions as you work.

Canonical page: https://themachine.myapps.ai/docs/desktop/design/version-history

Design keeps earlier versions of your design, so you can always go back, even
after you close it or undo is long gone. Open them with the **clock** in the
top bar (**Version history**). **Esc** closes it.

## When Design saves a version

You don't have to do anything. Design saves a version:

- When you open the design.
- Before and after each agent turn that changes something.
- Every five minutes while the design is open, if something changed.
- When you close the design.
- Before you restore an earlier version.

A version is only saved when something changed since the last one, so the
list doesn't fill up with copies.

### Save a version with a name

Click **Save a version…** at the top of the list, type a name, such as
*"Before the new pricing page"*, and press **Enter**. Named versions show in
bold and are kept longest.

## Look at a version

The list shows versions newest first, grouped by day. Each one has its time
and what changed, for example *"Added Login"*, *"Edited Home and Pricing"*
or *"Changed the theme"*.

Click a version to see its boards as they were. You can't edit them here.

- Click a board to look closer at it. Click it again, or **All boards**, to
  see the whole page.
- If the version has more than one page, pick the page at the top.

## Restore a version

Click **Restore this version**. Your design goes back to how it was in that
version: its pages, boards and theme.

Before it restores, Design saves the design as it is now (*"Before restoring
…"* in the list), so nothing is lost. Changed your mind? Press **Ctrl+Z**
(**⌘Z** on Mac) straight after, or restore that version.

## Copy one board back

To get back just one board, point at it in the version and click **Copy
board into the design**. A copy is added next to your boards on the page
you're on, named with *"(earlier)"* at the end. The rest of your design stays
as it is.

## Where versions are kept

Versions are kept inside your design's folder, in `design/.history`, packed
small. They work the same on Windows and Mac, and don't need Git.

| | Kept |
|---|---|
| Versions | The last 100 |
| Space | Up to 100 MB |

When there are more, the oldest saved-by-itself versions go first. Named
versions are kept longest.

Pictures in `design/assets` aren't copied into each version: a restored
version uses the pictures that are there.

> **Leave .history alone**
> Don't edit or delete files in `design/.history` yourself. Agents are told
> never to touch it. To start over with no history, close the design and delete
> the whole `.history` folder.