Learn how to use Coda's version history feature to see a play-by-play of changes made to docs and pages, and to recover previous versions.

The version history feature allows you to view an activity log of changes in your doc. You can see when a change was made, by whom, and where. You can also make copies of past versions, or even restore your doc to a previous version.

💡Tip: If you're looking for activity and history of a single row in your table, you can actually find this through our row activity feature - check that out here.

Version history by Plan

Depending on the plan of your workspace, you’ll have access to different lengths of version history:

Free plan - 7 days of doc history
Pro plan - 30 days of doc and page history
Team plan - Unlimited doc and page history
Enterprise plan - Unlimited doc and page history

📣 Interested in upgrading to a Team or Enterprise plan to gain access to unlimited doc history? Check out our pricing page.

View changes to your doc

Your Coda doc will track and save the updates you and your team make. If you ever need to travel back in time, simply click the three-dot menu in the upper-right corner of your doc, and choose Doc history from the options.

You'll then see a list of edit batches to the whole doc and the editor on the right-hand panel under “This doc” tab. You can also use the normal page navigation panel on the left to jump around to different pages to see how they looked at a given timestamp. To see changes to a specific page in the doc that you’re currently on, select “This page” tab or alternatively, you can go to any page and select “Open page history”.

Each line item on the right-hand panel represents a unique edit that was made, along with editor and the associated timestamp. When you click on each, you'll see that any content added during each timestamp is in green, and any content that has been removed is highlighted in red.

Make a copy of a previous version of your doc

Within the version history tool, you have the ability to copy any previous version of your doc into a new doc. This is helpful if, for instance, you want to recover a previous version of your doc for testing or longevity, without restoring to the original doc. Or maybe you just want to recover some deleted data from the a previous version, without modifying the current version of the doc.

Once you’ve found the previous version you want, just click the Copy this version button in the upper right. Then follow the prompts to complete the creation of the copy.

A gif showing a user making a copy of a past version of a doc.

Restore the original doc to a previous version

If you would like to restore the doc to a previous version, you’ll need to reach out to our team for assistance. Please have the doc owner reach out to Coda Support by clicking the ? icon in the lower right corner of the doc, then choosing Contact support. Once in touch with Support, the doc owner will need to follow these steps:

Share the doc with Coda Support
Provide the doc link
Include the timestamp of the edit you would like to restore the doc to. As we may be in different time zones, please include a screenshot of the selected timestamp along with edits before and after.

Note: The doc owner must be an active Doc Maker in order for Support to complete the request.

Once restored, your team should see this pop-up that will prompt them to refresh the doc:

💡 Tip: If you only need to restore certain elements (such as text or a table) from a previous version, you don't need to do a full doc restore. You can instead find those elements within the version history, copy them, and then paste them into the current version of your doc.

To copy text from version history, simply highlight the text and use the keyboard shortcut (⌘ + C on Mac, or Ctrl + C on PC). To copy tables, callouts, and other similar objects, click on the vertical three-dot menu in the upper left corner of the object, then select Copy table (or whatever the object type might be). Finally, you can exit version history and paste the copied content into a current doc.

FAQs

Can I restore my doc to a previous version on my own?

Currently, no. You need to reach out to the Coda team for assistance restoring your doc. This is to prevent accidental changes that could result in permanent data loss.

Can I copy specific elements from version history without having to copy or restore the entire doc?

Yes! You can copy text from version history by simply highlighting the text and using the keyboard shortcut (⌘ + C on Mac, or Ctrl + C on PC). You can copy tables, callouts, and other similar objects by clicking on the vertical three-dot menu in the upper left corner of the object, then selecting Copy table (or whatever the object type might be). Finally, you can exit version history and paste the copied content into a current doc.

Will deleted comments be recovered when I restore or copy a previous version of my doc?

Yes - any comments that existed at the time of that previous version will be restored.

What does it mean when I see “Automation Bot” in the version history log?

This represents automated changes that were being made to your doc, based on what you have set up in your doc. For instance, it could represent an action taken by automations, or a Pack table automatically refreshing.

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