It happens. We’ve all done it. If you’ve mistakenly deleted a file or want to revert to an earlier version, you can easily restore previous versions in Writer—or with iCloud, if you’re using a Mac.
iA Writer for Mac comes with built-in support for iCloud Drive. In addition to syncing documents across devices, you’ll also benefit from online recovery tools that iCloud provides.
To revert to a previously saved version of a file, go to File → Revert To, then select Last Opened/Previous Save or to Browse All Versions
Reverts your document to the last opened version, or the previously saved version.
Opens a new window where you can select from a list of previously archived versions (requires iCloud to be enabled for iA Writer).
Use either the arrow buttons to navigate through the list, or select a date from the timeline, then click Restore to revert to that version.
You can delete a document in Writer by right-clicking on it from the File List and selecting Move to Trash. To recover it, open the Bin on your Mac and drag-and-drop your deleted document to another location, such as your desktop.
By default, any items you move to the Trash on you Mac will stay there until you manually empty the Bin. You can choose to automatically empty the Trash via Finder’s settings (if you’re confident you won’t lose any important files this way).
Items that you move to the Trash from your iCloud Drive are automatically emptied from the Trash after 30 days, regardless what settings you change in Finder.
Find out more about deleting files on Apple Support.
If you work on important files it’s a good idea to set up Time Machine on your Mac, which periodically backs up your files on an external storage device. Visit Apple Support to find out how to set up Time Machine.
And here’s a step-by-step tutorial on how to restore a document from Time Machine.
You can restore deleted iCloud files from up to 30 days ago, using either iCloud’s Restore Files or the Recently Deleted folder options:
Follow these steps to restore files using iCloud’s Data Recovery feature:
Files that you deleted in iCloud are sent to the Recently Deleted folder. To recover these files:
For more up-to-date instructions on using iCloud recovery, visit Apple’s Support pages.
Many cloud storage providers preserve multiple versions and backups of your documents for up to 30 days. Some of the more popular options include:
If you’ve deleted a file or want to reverse recent changes from an existing one, restoring a previous version of your document is a simple process on Writer for iOS.
You have various options to recover your previous work, either through the iA Writer app or iCloud. iA Writer for iOS comes with built-in support for iCloud Drive. In addition to the advantages of document synchronization across devices, users also benefit from the extra security provided by online recovery tools available in iCloud.
For those familiar with the iPhone, you might already know the iOS Undo function, which is the first step to take to reverse recent changes.
While you’re in your document, just shake your phone from left to right to undo the most recent action you’ve taken, such as deleting a paragraph.
If you are working in iCloud, you can access previous versions by using the Browse Versions function.
Simply long-press on a file in the Library’s File List, then select Browse Versions (sweep upwards to reveal the option if necessary).
Another way to recover your previous elements in a document is via the Browse Backups function.
To locate a backup, just like for versions, long-press on a file in the Library then select Browse Backups (sweep upwards to reveal the option if necessary).
Select the desired backup from the list, then press Restore.
If you’ve deleted a file, you may be able to locate a prior backup by navigating to the top of the Library and long-pressing on a Location.
Down below, we will press on the Location iCloud to access all the recent backups.
Similar to the process for regular backups, you will see a list of recent backups to choose from. Choose the backup containing the deleted file you wish to recover and click on Restore.
The final screen will allow you to select the location where you want to restore this file.
Deleted iCloud files can be restored for up to 30 days, from either the iCloud’s Restore Files (A) or the Recently Deleted folder (B).
Files deleted within the app are sent to the Recently Deleted folder. To recover these files:
For the most up to date instructions on using iCloud recovery, please see the following Apple resource.
Many cloud storage providers preserve multiple versions and backups of your documents for up to 30 days.
We recommend visiting your cloud storage provider’s desktop/web console to see what options are available. For some of the most popular options please see:
If you’ve deleted a file or want to reverse recent changes from an existing one, restoring a previous version of your document is a simple process on Writer for iPadOS.
You have various options to recover your previous work, either through the iA Writer app or iCloud. iA Writer for iPadOS comes with built-in support for iCloud Drive. In addition to the advantages of document synchronization across devices, users also benefit from the extra security provided by online recovery tools available in iCloud.
For those familiar with the iPad, you might already know the iPadOS Undo function, which is the first step to take to reverse recent changes. While you’re in your document, just shake your device from left to right to undo the most recent action you’ve taken, such as deleting a paragraph.
If you are working in iCloud, you can access previous versions by using the Browse Versions function. Simply long-press on a file in the Library’s File List, then select Browse Versions (sweep upwards to reveal the option if necessary).
Choose the one you wish to retrieve and press Keep.
Another way to recover your previous elements in a document is via the Browse Backups function.
To locate a backup, just like for versions, long-press on a file in the Library then select Browse Backups (sweep upwards to reveal the option if necessary). This will give you a list of backups for this document.
Select the desired backup from the list, and on the next screen press Restore.
If you’ve deleted a file, you may be able to locate a prior backup by navigating to the top of the Library and long-pressing on a Location.
Down below, we will press on the Location iCloud to access all the recent backups.
Similar to the process for regular backups, you will see a list of recent backups to choose from.
Choose the backup containing the deleted file you wish to recover and on the next screen click on Restore.
The final screen will allow you to select the location where you want to restore this file, such as iCloud or existing folders used recently.
Deleted iCloud files can be restored for up to 30 days, from either the iCloud’s Restore Files (A) or the Recently Deleted folder (B).
Files deleted within the app are sent to the Recently Deleted folder. To recover these files:
For the most up to date instructions on using iCloud recovery, please see the following Apple resource.
Many cloud storage providers preserve multiple versions and backups of your documents for up to 30 days.
We recommend visiting your cloud storage provider’s desktop/web console to see what options are available. For some of the most popular options please see:
We’ve all been there. You open a document, only to find that 3 hours of writing progress you made the day before is…nowhere to be found!
Be it due to poor cloud sync behaviour or other issue, iA Writer for Android includes a built-in local backup of edits, just in case.
To restore a document to a prior point, or attempt lost progress recovery:
iA Writer for Android include a trash folder which contains recently deleted files.
To recover a file from Trash:
In some cases document may not be restored to original Location/folder. If you cannot locate the file where you expect, please check in Device Location.
In addition to built-in backups, files originally stored in a cloud storage provider service may be versioned/backed up by the provider.
We recommend visiting your cloud storage provider’s desktop/web console to see what options are available. For some of the most popular options please see:
If you’ve deleted a file or want to reverse recent changes from an existing one, restoring a previous version of your document is a simple process on Writer for Windows.
You have various options to recover your previous work, either through the iA Writer app or cloud storage.
To revert to a previously saved version of a file, simply right-click on the file in the File List of the Library then select Browse Backups.
iA Writer will give you the choice between the different backups of this file. Select the desired one and click on Restore.
Deleting a document from iA Writer is done by right-clicking on it from the File List and selecting Delete. This will place the file in your local Recycle Bin and naturally, the initial step to recover your document is to access the bin folder.
You can restore the file from there with a right-click.
You can retrieve a deleted document from iA Writer directly. In the Organizer pane of the Library, right-click on the location where the deleted file used to be and select Browse Backups.
A pop-up window will show you all the files included in this Location. Click on the file you would like to restore, select the desired backup, and click on Restore.
If you’re sharing documents between your PC and iPhone, you may have already installed iCloud Drive for Windows. Deleted iCloud files can be restored for up to 30 days, from either the iCloud’s Restore Files (A) or the Recently Deleted folder (B).
Files deleted within the app are sent to the Recently Deleted folder. To recover these files:
For the most up-to-date instructions on using iCloud recovery, please see the following Apple resource.
Many cloud storage providers preserve multiple versions and backups of your documents for up to 30 days.
We recommend visiting your cloud storage provider’s desktop/web console to see what options are available. For some of the most popular options please see:
If you are experiencing a problem that our support section doesn’t solve please reach out to us. We take a break on the weekends (JST), but during weekdays we aim to reply within 1-2 business days.
Help 
Below are answers to common questions. Everyone is special, but most questions that we get overlap.
Here are some things you can do if iA Writer acts in unexpected ways.
Lost progress in a document? Regret deleting that paragraph? No problem!
iA Writer is file storage provider agnostic but we recommend iCloud for the best experience across most devices:
Whenever possible, troubleshooting steps are listed here for iA Writer Classic on macOS & iOS and Writer 1.5.2 for Android.
Scroll through the history of our apps, version by version, platform by platform, update by update.
Which information do we see, and what do we leave untouched?
We want our products to be enjoyed by the widest possible audience.
Open iA Writer from other applications on both macOS and iOS, and perform specific actions on opening.