How do I use Previous Versions?

  • Article

On this page:

  • What is the Previous Versions feature?

  • How do I enable and configure Shadow Copies of Shared Folders?

  • How do I restore a previous version of a file or folder?

What is the Previous Versions feature?

You can use Previous Versions in Windows Server 2008 to enable your users to access previous versions of files and folders on your network.

This is useful because users can:

  • Recover files that were accidentally deleted. If you accidentally delete a file, you can open a previous version and copy it to a safe location.

  • Recover from accidentally overwriting a file. If you accidentally overwrite a file, you can recover a previous version of the file.

  • Compare versions of a file while working. You can use previous versions when you want to check what has changed between two versions of a file.

Important

This feature is not a replacement for creating regular backups.

To enable access to previous versions of files, you must enable Shadow Copies of Shared Folders on the file server. Shadow copies are copies of files that are located on the server and appear as previous versions.

Your users access previous versions using the folder Properties dialog box. Available versions appear on the Previous Versions tab under Folder versions.

Previous versions are read-only. You cannot make changes to a previous version of the file as it exists on the server. In addition, previous versions are periodically deleted and can disappear at any time. If you think you might want a previous version of a file, you should copy it to a safe place.

How do I enable and configure Shadow Copies of Shared Folders to make Previous Versions available?

Shadow Copies of Shared Folders is a feature included in the Shared Folders Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in. If you enable Shadow Copies of Shared Folders on a volume using the default values, tasks will be scheduled to create shadow copies at 7:00 A.M. and noon. The default storage area will be on the same volume, and its size will be 10% of the available space.

You can only enable Shadow Copies of Shared Folders on a per-volume basis—that is, you cannot select specific shared folders and files on a volume to be copied or not copied. Also, you should not use this feature to create shadow copies of files needed for the operating system to run properly.

To enable and configure Shadow Copies of Shared Folders

  1. Click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Computer Management.

  2. In the console tree, right-click Shared Folders, click All Tasks, and click Configure Shadow Copies.

  3. Click the volume where you want to enable Shadow Copies of Shared Folders, and then click Enable.

  4. To make changes to the default schedule and storage area, click Settings.

How do I restore a previous version of a file or folder?

Once you enable Shadow Copies of Shared Folders and start creating shadow copies, you can use the Previous Version feature to recover previous versions of files and folders, or files and folders that have been renamed or were deleted.

To restore a previous version of a file or folder

  1. Locate the file that you want to restore, right-click the file, and click Properties. The Properties dialog box will appear.

  2. On the Previous Versions tab, click the version of the file that you want to restore, and then click Restore. A warning message about restoring a previous version will appear. Click Restore to complete the procedure.

Important

Restoring a previous version will delete the current version. If you choose to restore a previous version of a folder, the folder will be restored to its state at the date and time of the version you selected. You will lose any changes that you have made to files in the folder since that time. If you do not want to delete the current version of a file or folder, use Copy to copy the previous version to a different location.

Additional considerations

  • If the Previous Versions tab does not appear in the Properties dialog box, Shadow Copies of Shared Folders might not be enabled on the shared resource. Shadow copies are copies of files that are located on the server and appear as previous versions. Please contact your administrator for more information.

  • If there are no previous versions listed, the file has not changed since the oldest copy was taken—Previous Versions shows only the unique versions of the file.

  • When you restore a previous version of a folder, files in the current folder that were not contained in the previous version of the folder will not be erased.

  • When you restore a file, the file permissions will not be changed—permissions will remain the same as they were before the restore. When you copy a previous version of a file, the permissions will be set to the default permissions for the directory where the copy of the file is placed.

  • Restoring a large directory puts a heavy load on the file server and can result in previous versions being deleted. Try to restore individual files instead of entire directories whenever possible.

  • Your server might function differently based on the version and edition of the operating system that is installed, your account permissions, and your menu settings.

Additional references

For more information about the Previous Versions feature and recovering files and folders for Windows Server 2008, see the following resources on the Microsoft Web site: