The restore timeline, and putting a folder back as it was
A continuous job restores from a timeline: pick any moment, browse your files as they were then, and put a folder back exactly as it was.
On this page
A continuous job saves a point every few minutes, so its Restore page shows a timeline instead of the 14-day strip. Pick a moment, and you see your files exactly as they were then. One folder can also go back in place, as a whole, without anything being overwritten. For how continuous jobs work, see Continuous protection.
Picking a moment#
- Click Restore in the left rail (or press Ctrl+R), then the continuous job.
- The timeline runs from left to right, oldest to newest, in three scales: Weeks, then the Days of the last month, then the Last 24 hours to the minute. Each point is a mark; a full backup's mark is taller.
- Click or drag on the timeline to a moment. Above it, As it was at 14:02 names the moment chosen.
The moment is the newest point saved at or before the time you picked: it holds the newest version of every file at that time.
To get to a moment exactly:
| Key or button | Goes to |
|---|---|
| ← / →, or Earlier point / Later point | the point before or after |
| Page Down / Page Up | a day back or forward |
| Home / End | the oldest point, or the newest |
| Go to a date and time | type the moment |
Zooming in on the timeline#
Points saved a minute apart are too close to tell apart on a timeline of weeks. When the newest points crowd together, the timeline opens zoomed in on them, for example on the Last 30 minutes, with a label every few minutes. Show all goes back to the whole history.
| To | Do this |
|---|---|
| Zoom in or out | click + or − over the right end of the timeline, press + or −, or hold Ctrl and turn the mouse wheel (or pinch on a touchpad) where you want to look; Show all, beside them, goes back to the whole history |
| Look at points too close together | click the number on the timeline: 9 means nine points there, and a click zooms in on them |
| Move earlier or later while zoomed in | drag the scale of times under the timeline, or turn the mouse wheel sideways (or with Shift) |
| See when a point was saved | point at its mark: the time, and how many files changed |
Zoomed in down to 5 minutes, every point has its own mark. Choosing a moment outside what is shown (with the arrows or by typing it) moves the timeline to it.
While the page is open, new points join the timeline and the table as they are saved. When you are on the newest point, the page follows the new ones.
Under the timeline, the table lists the points of the chosen day, newest first, for example Saved on 17 October: 46 points. A point that thinning merged says 12 saves in one: it stands for twelve saves and holds the newest version of each file among them. In Arabic the timeline runs from right to left.
Browsing files as they were#
Click Browse files as they were. The point opens like any other: folders, files, ticks, search, and Versions of this file for one file. See Restore a file or folder.
A small timeline stays above the list. Step it back or forward and the folder you are in, and your ticks, stay put while the files change to that moment. When the folder did not exist then, the page says so.
Tick what you want and click Start restore, as for any backup.
Putting a folder back as it was#
When a folder went wrong as a whole (a program rewrote it, a sync tool emptied it, ransomware encrypted it), put it back in one step:
- Browse to the folder at the moment you want.
- Click Put “Documents” back as it was at the bottom of the page.
- Read the dialog, then click Put back.
What happens:
- Every file comes back as it was at that moment, files deleted since included.
- Nothing is written over. A file that changed since is moved into a new folder beside this one, Documents (moved aside 2026-10-17 14.20.05), before the one from the backup takes its place.
- Files that have not changed are left alone, so putting back a large folder where little changed takes seconds.
- Also move out the files added since (off each time) moves files made or changed after that moment, which the point does not hold, into that same folder beside it. Nothing is deleted.
What always stays where it is: files the job leaves out by its filters, a file that has not changed since the point although the backup never had it, and the job's own destination.
A file open in a program (a mailbox while Outlook runs, say) is left as it is, and the report says so. Close the program and put the folder back again: the files already right are left alone.
The run report says what was done: 48 changed since: moved aside, then put back, 134 deleted since: brought back, 310 already as they were, 12 added since: moved aside, with Open it for the folder beside it. Once you are sure, delete that folder yourself.
Put back works on one folder at a time, inside what the job backs up. A folder above the job's sources is shown as the way to them, and cannot be put back as a whole.
Points on this PC#
When the job keeps versions on this PC while its destination is away, those points show on the timeline with an On this PC mark. They restore like the others. See Continuous protection.