A paper’s history matters: the paragraph you deleted last week, the figure you replaced, the draft your co-author wants back. Writano keeps versions of the whole project, not just one file’s text, so a restored draft compiles the way it did then.
What a version captures
A version snapshots the project’s files together — the document text and the .bib, class files, and figures it depends on. That completeness is the point: restoring a draft that cited a key you have since removed still compiles, because its bibliography came back with it.
History has two scopes, switchable with the Document | Project toggle:
- Document versions — the history of the file you’re editing
- Project versions — snapshots covering every document in the project, which is what a thesis with chapters as separate files needs
Restore, safely
Restoring never gambles with your current work:
- A “Before restore” snapshot of the current state is saved first, so a restore is itself reversible
- Files added since the old version are never deleted — restore brings things back; it doesn’t take things away
- If the safety snapshot can’t be written, the restore doesn’t happen
Compare with current
Compare with current opens a marked-up PDF showing exactly what changed between a version and now — deletions struck out, additions highlighted — compiled with that version’s own figures and bibliography, so real papers diff cleanly. It’s the fastest way to review a co-author’s week of edits, or to check what you actually changed before resubmission.
Retention
How far back history reaches depends on your plan’s retention window; version history is available on Pro and above.
Tip: Before a major rewrite, note the time. “Compare with current” against the version from just before is the honest record of what the rewrite really changed — much better than memory.