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Project Version Control

We keep track of every change made to your projects so you can revert to any point in time. If a team member makes a mistake or you want to compare to an earlier state, version control can help.

Getting started

To access project version control, you must be both:

Version control is enabled for every project automatically. To use the feature, click the project name (top left of any project view).

 

project versions

Then choose Project Versions from the list.

The version control window lists every change made to the project: task creation and deletion, links, schedules, assignments, priorities, etc. Business users will see the latest 90 days of changes and Enterprise users will see all changes since the project was created.

Changes made by the same person in quick succession will be grouped to make it easier to browse. If you see text like "8 more" beside an entry, you can click to see additional changes. You can hover over the date/time to see an explanation of exactly what was changed.


Once you've selected a version, you can choose to:

  • Restore the project to this version
  • Create a new project starting from this point in time
  • Export this version of the project to your computer

We've explained each of these in more detail below.

Restore a previous version of a project

We have powerful project access tools so you can control who can view/edit/manage your projects, but sometimes things go wrong. Version control gives you the peace of mind that, at any time, you can quickly roll back to a previous version.

To restore a project to a certain point in time:

  1. Open the version control window
  2. Select the version you want to revert to
  3. Click the Restore button at the bottom

Note that you're not just reverting the one selected change, you're reverting every change made between then and now. Think of it as traveling back to that point in the project's past.

Copy a version to a new project

If you don't want to alter the active project, you can create a new one matching your selected version. This can be useful for creating a backup project, comparing historical and live versions of a project or experimenting with project timeframes without affecting the live project. 

To copy a version to a new project:

  1. Open the version control window
  2. Select the version you want to copy
  3. Click the New Project button at the bottom
  4. The new project will be created and you'll be taken to it

The new project will have the same name as the original one but with the current date and time appended to it.

Export a project version

The export feature lets you download a historical copy of a project to your computer. This can be useful for keeping a local backup, sharing a past project version with someone else, or importing a version of the project into another tool.

To export a specific version of your project:

  1. Open the version control window
  2. Select the version you want to export
  3. Click the Export button at the bottom
  4. The file will start downloading to your computer

If the Export button is disabled, make sure your role has "Export Projects" enabled.

The file will be in the Microsoft Project XML format, which contains detailed information about the project and its tasks. This format is widely supported in the industry and can be used with our import function.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does restoring a project replace everything?

Version history tracks changes to tasks within a project, when you restore most task fields are reverted to the chosen point in time, and even tasks that were deleted in that time are restored. However, there are a few exceptions.

The following items are not altered when you restore:

While a restore doesn't directly alter comments, if you revert to a point before the task with comments was created, you'll lose access to the comments. Same for files.

How does this differ from the audit log?

The project history feature (and its siblings, task history and audit log) focuses on discovering when certain changes were made and who made them, therefore, it offers powerful search tools and more details about which values changed. Version control focuses on restoring the project to a specific point in time.

How does this differ from undo?

The undo/redo buttons on the Gantt are perfect for quickly reverting a change you just made. It's very similar to version control but has the following limitations:

  • Only goes back one step at a time
  • If you leave the Gantt your undo history is lost
  • Undo is only for your changes, it won't affect changes by others
To go further into the past, revert other people's changes or undo multiple changes at once, you'll want to use the more powerful version control feature.

How do I get help?

If you have any other questions, please contact us.