Restore an Older Version of a File

Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud and the Mac, each from its own help pages, and what Folder keeps.

How Long Each Keeps It

	Older versions	Deleted files
Dropbox Basic, Plus, Family	30 days	30 days
Dropbox Professional, Essentials, Standard, Business	180 days	180 days
Dropbox Advanced, Business Plus, Enterprise	365 days	365 days
Google Drive	30 days, or until there are 100 newer versions	30 days in the Trash
iCloud Drive	See Revert To on the Mac, below	30 days in Recently Deleted
Folder	Every one kept	Every one kept

As listed on Dropbox’s, Google’s and Apple’s help pages in October 2026.

Dropbox

An older version: on dropbox.com, hover over the file, click … › Activity › Version history, pick a version and Roll back to this version, then once more to confirm. On a Mac, right-click the file in Finder › Version history.
A deleted file: on dropbox.com, Deleted files in the left sidebar, then select it and restore it. It goes back to the folder it was deleted from.
Many changes at once: Dropbox Rewind undoes edits, renames, additions and deletes across a folder, within the account’s version history. It is on Plus and the other paid plans, not Basic.

Google Drive

An uploaded file, like a PDF, a photo or a Word file: on drive.google.com, select it, then More › Manage versions. More › Keep forever stops a version from being deleted, and More › Download saves a copy. To bring an old version back, download it and upload it again with Upload new version.
Google Docs, Sheets and Slides: open the file, click Last edit at the top right, pick an earlier version, then Restore this version.
A deleted file: Trash in the left panel, right-click the file › Restore.

iCloud Drive

On iPhone or iPad: Files › Browse › Recently Deleted, select the files and Recover.
On iCloud.com: icloud.com/iclouddrive › Recently Deleted, select the files and Recover, or Recover All.
Not in Recently Deleted: icloud.com/recovery › Restore Files.
On a Mac, a file you delete from iCloud Drive goes to the Trash, which empties it after 30 days.

The Mac

From Apple’s Mac User Guide, in the order worth trying.

The Trash

A file you deleted in Finder stays in the Trash until you empty it. Drag it out, or select it and choose File › Put Back. If Finder › Settings › Advanced › Remove items from the Trash after 30 days is on, it goes after 30 days.

A file deleted with rm in Terminal, or by a script or a Claude Code session that runs one, never goes to the Trash.

An Overwritten Document

Many apps save versions as you work: every hour, more often while you make many changes, and when you open, save, duplicate, rename or revert. Open the document and choose File › Revert To › Browse All Versions. Pick a version on the timeline and click Restore, or hold Option and click Restore a Copy (Apple).

Time Machine

With a Time Machine backup disk, open a Finder window where the file was. Open Time Machine with Spotlight, go back through the backups with the arrows, select the file and click Restore. It returns to where it was (Apple).

Folder

In a folder on Folder or in your own Cloudflare, every overwrite and every delete is kept, whatever made it. Right-click a file in Finder › History…, or open it at folder.dev, where each version has View, Restore and Save a Copy. Restoring keeps the version it replaces too.
A deleted file: on the web, Restore Points lists every change to the folder by day, Deleted Files shows only the deletes, and Restore brings one back.
In a folder on this Mac, Folder copies the folder before each Claude Code session, so a file a session deleted with rm comes back from View › Sessions with Restore. Earlier versions of the files a session changed are kept for 30 days. See Claude Code.

Get Folder for Mac and sign in with Apple: a folder on Folder is free with 5 GB. How putting a version back works: History.