# See and restore earlier versions of an article

_Category: Organize and publish_

Every article keeps a history of its changes: what changed, who changed it and when. Use it to see how an article evolved, or to undo a change that shouldn't have happened.

**Who can do this:** Owners, Admins and Editors · **Plans:** All plans (how far back the history goes depends on your plan)

## See an article's history

1. Open the article from **Articles**.
2. Click **Version History** above the article, next to its category.
3. Each entry says what changed, who made the change and how long ago. To see the change itself, click the compare icon next to it. A content edit opens on what that change did, with the added and removed text; for anything else, the old and new value appear right under the entry.
4. To see how far the article has moved on since then, click **Compare with current** under the entry.

![Screen recording. Click Version History above the article. Every change is listed with who made it and when. Click the compare icon to see what that change did. Click Restore to bring back an earlier version.](https://helpcenter-io.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/self/ylcYIWou8gZv11WsF3lyP5nKg06fafAdJe1cf3OE.gif)
The newest changes are at the top.

## What the history tracks

| Entry | What changed |
| --- | --- |
| **Content edited** | The article's text, in the languages named in the entry. |
| **Title changed** | The title. |
| **Slug changed** | The article's URL. |
| **Category changed** | The category the article is filed in. |
| **Author changed** | The person shown as the article's author. |
| **Status changed** | The article was published or unpublished. |
| **Translation released** | A language was released to readers, or hidden again. |

Changes to other settings, such as the article's access or its audio version, aren't listed. The history shows 10 changes at a time: click **Load more** for older ones.

## Read a comparison

- **Unified** shows the old and new text in one column; **Split** puts them side by side, when your window is wide enough.
- **Rendered** shows the article as readers see it; **Source** shows the underlying HTML.
- A new title, URL, category or status shows as old and new above the text.
- If more than one language changed, pick a language tab to see each one.
- Unchanged passages are folded away; click one to expand it. Jump between changes with the arrows, or press **J** for the next change and **K** for the previous one.
- To compare any two points in the history, pick them under **Base** and **Compare** at the top. The arrows between them swap the two.

## Restore an earlier version

1. In **Version history**, find the change you want to undo and click **Restore** next to it.
2. Click **Restore** again to confirm.

Restore puts that part of the article back the way it was right before the change. For example, restoring a **Title changed** entry brings back the previous title, and the rest of the article stays as it is. The restore is recorded as a new entry, so you can undo it the same way.

**On a published article, Restore changes the live article right away.** The confirmation talks about a draft and the status pill then shows **Unpublished edits**, but readers see the restored version as soon as you confirm. Compare the change before you restore it.

Restoring a **Status changed** entry also switches the article back to its earlier status, so it can publish or unpublish the article. Restoring a **Translation released** entry releases or hides that language again.

## How far back the history goes

How much history you can see depends on your plan. When older changes fall outside it, a note at the bottom of the list tells you how many are hidden. See [Plans and pricing](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/plans-and-pricing).

## On help centers with staged changes

If your help center uses staged changes (Catalyst), **Version history** also shows:

- **Staged changes** at the top, marked **Not live**, with **Compare**, **Publish** and **Discard**.
- **Live version**: what readers see right now.
- **Previous live version** entries. Click **Compare** to see what rolling back would change on the live article, then **Roll back to this version**. Or click **Restore**, then **Roll back**. Either way, that version goes live straight away. The version it replaces is archived first, so you can roll forward again.

See [Edit live articles safely with staged changes](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/staged-changes).

## Related articles

- [Update a published article](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/update-a-published-article)
- [Delete and restore articles](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/delete-and-restore-articles)
- [Edit live articles safely with staged changes](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/staged-changes)