Restore from a backup

This page is for bringing a book back from a backup you made in Write—to undo a revision that went wrong, to recover something you deleted, or to move a book into another Author Tools account. Write always reads the backup first and tells you what's in it; nothing changes until you choose.

Where to start

• From the Library. In the bar near the bottom, under Bring in, click Backup.
• From inside a book. Choose Publish, and in the Backup card click Restore from a backup…. Starting here is handy when the backup is of the book you have open.

Either way, click Choose a backup zip and pick the .zip file you downloaded. Write reads it and shows you which book it's of and when it was made.

Screenshot: the Restore from a backup window after reading a book's backup, showing the two choices.

Your two choices

Bring it in as a new book. Write makes a fresh copy of the book in your Library, in its series if you have one of the same name. The book it was backed up from is left exactly as it is. This is the safe choice whenever you're unsure—you can compare the two, keep what you want, and archive the other.

Restore over the book. Write puts the book back exactly as the backup holds it: chapters, scenes, front and back matter, notes, pictures, comments, and suggestions. Whatever the book holds now is replaced. The people it was shared with are invited back rather than let straight in: each gets an invitation in Shared with you in their Library, and is on the book again once they accept (see Share a book). This is offered only when the book is in your Library and you're allowed to change it.

Because restoring over a book can't be undone, Write asks you to confirm first. If there's anything in the book now that you might want, click Keep it, make a fresh backup of the book as it is (see Back up your books), and then restore. That way both versions are safe.

Restoring from a whole-library backup

If you pick a backup made with Back up all my books, Write lists every book inside it, and you choose for each one: Over, New, or Skip. There are shortcuts at the top to set them all at once. Write then restores them one at a time, and each row tells you how it went. Nothing is restored that you didn't choose.

Good to know

• The codex isn't part of a book's backup. It belongs to a universe and is backed up on its own (see Back up your books).
• A book someone shared with you can be brought in as a new book of your own, but can't be restored over—the original belongs to its owner.
• A very old backup made before Write kept the exact record can't be restored as it was. Its manuscript.md file still has all your words, though, and you can bring that in with Import a manuscript.