Use Version History

Version History lets you inspect earlier canvas states and restore one when the canvas changed in a way that is hard to fix manually. Use it when objects, pages, or layout were deleted, damaged, moved, or overwritten during collaboration and the canvas itself still opens.

Version History is strongest when you use it with Activity. Activity helps identify who changed, moved, deleted, archived, or changed access to visible work you can access. Version History helps you review the canvas state before and after that change, then restore a useful version if recovery is the right move.

When to use Version History

Use Version History when the problem is inside an open canvas:

If the whole canvas, project, dashboard, OKR session, or file is deleted, start with Trash. If you need a portable .bee recovery file, use Backup & Restore.

Open Version History

Open the canvas header menu and choose Version History. The action appears only when version history is enabled for the canvas and your account can change the canvas. Guests, demo mode, and read-only access do not get the control.

On supported desktop keyboard contexts, Cmd/Ctrl+Alt+Shift+H opens Version History. Alt+Shift+S saves the current version. Shortcuts work only when the canvas shortcut layer owns focus; text editors, comments, spreadsheets, browser controls, or modals can capture keys first.

Review earlier versions

Version History opens a timeline of canvas versions, newest first. Select a version to preview it before restoring. Do not restore from the list blindly: check the page, objects, and visible content that matter to the team.

Automatic versions are created after qualifying canvas changes. You can also create a named checkpoint with Save this version when the current state matters. Use named versions before major cleanup, client handoff, facilitator edits, or a risky import.

Restore a version

Select the version you want, choose restore, and confirm the warning. Restoring reverts the current document to the selected version, so it can replace work collaborators currently see.

Keep Save current version to version history selected if you may need to return to the current state after the restore. That gives the team a safer way back if the selected version is not the one you expected.

Sub-canvases are not deleted when you restore to a different version. They can remain even if the restored canvas state no longer points to them in the same way.

Work with collaborators before restoring

If Activity shows who made the change, talk to that person before restoring when the situation is not urgent. A deletion can be accidental, but it can also be an intentional cleanup, a duplicated section removed on purpose, or a page moved elsewhere.

For active collaboration, tell the team before restoring. Restoring is not a private view change; it changes the shared canvas state. If people are editing while you restore, ask them to pause or save anything important first.

What Version History is not

Version History is not the same as undo. Undo is for recent local canvas edits; Version History is for reviewing and restoring larger canvas states.

Version History is not Trash. Trash is for work that was deleted as an item, such as a whole canvas or file reference. Version History is for content inside a canvas that still opens.

Version History is not a .bee backup file. Use Backup & Restore when you need a file you can store outside ALLO and import later.

Some workspaces have a history window tied to the plan. If an older version cannot be previewed, renamed, or restored, check current plan limits on Pricing, then open Billing to confirm the workspace plan before assuming the version is recoverable.

What can go wrong

If Version History is missing, check whether you can edit the canvas, whether you are a guest, whether the canvas is in demo or read-only state, and whether the workspace supports version history.

If the version you need is not available, first confirm you are on the right canvas. Then check current plan limits on Pricing and open Billing to confirm the workspace plan; the version may be outside the available window or predate available history.

If restoring would overwrite useful current work, save the current version first or use Backup & Restore to export a separate recovery file before you continue.

If you need to know who changed something, use Activity with Version History. Version History helps with state recovery; Activity is the better place to investigate actor, action, target, and approximate time for changes that are visible to you.