Restore Older Versions of Files

KDE Linux automatically takes snapshots of files in your home folder so you can restore older versions — even without an off-device backup.

Snapshots are periodically pruned so that only a maximum of 19 are retained, to avoid using too much disk space. Old versions of files are kept for up to 2 months; after that, their snapshot is pruned.

Restore an older version of a file

  1. Open Dolphin and navigate to the file.
  2. Right-click on the file.
  3. Select View snapshots….
  4. Right-click the version of the file you’d like to restore.
  5. Select Restore….
  6. In the dialog window that appears, click Overwrite.

Restore a file that was accidentally deleted

  1. Open Dolphin and right-click on the folder which contained the deleted file.
  2. Select Browse snapshots…
  3. This takes you to a view showing all the available snapshots sorted by date.
  4. Enter the desired snapshot and navigate to the place where the deleted file used to be.
  5. Right-click the file.
  6. Select Restore….

Manually take a new snapshot

The system automatically takes a new snapshot every hour, but you can do it manually, too. There are two options, depending on the desired lifetime of the new snapshot:

1. Pruned automatically on the standard schedule

Use a terminal window to run snapper --config home_$(id -u) create --cleanup-algorithm timeline.

2. Pruned only when you do it manually

Use a terminal window to run snapper --config home_$(id -u) create --description [desc].

Replace [desc] with some text to remind yourself of why you made this snapshot!

Manually prune a snapshot

First see the list of snapshots for your user by using a terminal window to run snapper --config home_$(id -u) list.

Then prune the desired snapshot: snapper --config home_$(id -u) delete --sync [id].

Replace [id] with the number of the snapshot you want to delete, or multiple IDs separated by spaces (for example, 1 6 27), or a range (for example 25-157).

Turn the snapshot system off and on

To turn the snapshot system off, use a terminal window to run systemctl disable --now snapper-timeline.timer.

To turn it back on again, run systemctl enable --now snapper-timeline.timer.

More information

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