Compare an earlier version and copy back a passage

1Step 1: Save a named version before a cut or rewrite

InkSpine handles saving on two levels so you do not have to babysit files while you write. First, your text is written to the chapter's plain Markdown file on disk as you type (a moment after you pause), reflected by Saved to disk in the editor footer. Second, InkSpine records an automatic version after 5 minutes without typing whenever the manuscript has changed, and records one before high-impact actions such as clearing a chapter, deleting an item, or running book-wide Find & Replace (the Replace step lets you skip that version if you prefer).

When you are about to try a risky structural cut—such as trimming an opening scene or rewriting a dialogue exchange from another character's point of view—you can mark the moment with your own label:

1. Click the Saved to disk status in the editor footer, or open the command palette (⌘K / Ctrl+K) and pick Save a version now. (⇧⌘S on macOS, Ctrl+Shift+S on Windows and Linux, saves a version straight away without asking for a name.)
2. Type a short note that will make sense to you next month (for example, Before cutting the harbour prologue or Draft two — Eleanor POV) and press Return (or click Save in the footer popover).

2Step 2: Open the chapter's History tab

Each chapter, front-matter page, back-matter page, and scratch page keeps its own version list so you only see changes that actually touched the text in front of you:

1. With the chapter open in the editor, click the clock icon in the right-hand inspector to open the History tab (⌥⌘5 on macOS, Ctrl+Alt+5 on Windows and Linux). You can also click Saved to disk in the bottom footer to see the three most recent versions immediately and click All history to open the full History tab.
2. Browse the list from newest to oldest. Each row shows when the version was saved, your custom label (or Automatic version), and the exact word-level diff against the version before it (+212 −48).

3Step 3: Compare the earlier version beside your current draft

Click any version row in the History tab (or click its Compare button) to open the full-width Compare view across the manuscript area:

1. Your Current draft (left) and the selected earlier version (right) sit side by side with word-level differences highlighted in place: words added since that version are tinted green, and words cut since that version appear in red strikethrough.
2. Scroll through the changes in context, or use the Comparing against dropdown above the earlier version to switch to an older or newer version without closing the view.
3. Click Exit compare in the banner across the top of the view (or press Esc) whenever you want to return to the normal single-column canvas.

4Step 4: Copy a passage back into your draft

InkSpine deliberately avoids a destructive project-wide "overwrite" button that could wipe out work you did in other chapters later that afternoon. Instead, you bring back the exact paragraph, dialogue exchange, or full chapter text you want right inside Compare:

1. Locate the cut or altered paragraph in the earlier version pane.
2. Click the ⤴ copy button beside that changed passage. InkSpine inserts those words back into your live draft at the matching position.
3. If you want to bring back every change from that snapshot for the open chapter, click Copy all changes in the banner across the top of Compare.
4. Both ⤴ copy and Copy all changes apply as a single normal editor transaction—if you change your mind a moment later, press ⌘Z (Ctrl+Z on Windows and Linux) to undo it immediately.

If you deleted an entire chapter, book, scratch page, or Worldbuilding entry rather than editing inside a chapter, open Preferences → Project → Recently deleted (or press ⌘K / Ctrl+K and choose Recently deleted…) to recover it as a new item from the snapshot taken automatically right before deletion. For more on how InkSpine protects your work, see the feature overview and the FAQ.

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