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Forum Discussion

jim_in_public's avatar
jim_in_public
Helpful | Level 5
7 years ago

Can I retrieve an old version of a file without *restoring* it?

I have a file in my Dropbox account that is frequently updated; thus I have a bunch of previous versions of it, which appear on the "Previous versions" page.  I see that, on that page, I can click a ...
Download
Sync
  • jim_in_public's avatar
    jim_in_public
    7 years ago

    Thanks.  I did kinda the same, but, instead of clicking on the "restore" button, I clicked the link attached to the old version (again, on the Previous Versions page).  I got this:

     

     

    The Restore button here does the same kind of restore as the Restore button on the Previous Versions page, but the Download button does, indeed, download the file to wherever my browser puts those things.  So, unless you find something different, clicking the file link seems to give me what I want.

     

Tom H.'s avatar
Tom H.
Icon for Super User rankSuper User

Are you on a Mac by chance ? If so "Revisions for Dropbox" on the App Store can connect to your Dropbox account and it is able to download a file to a different location on your Hard Drive.  I have no affiliation with the developer, I do own the app, though I purchased it a long time ago. 

 

I don't find it the easiest to use. The indexing process takes a long time. I also had one file that refused to unzip. Though that could be for any number of reasons. 

 

Revesions also appears, to now be free, and available outside of the App store. https://www.revisionsapp.com

 

Disclaimer: I cannot speak to its safety and security, as I have not used it in sometime now. That would defiantly be a decision you need to make on your own.  Having said that it was passed and approved for sale by both Apple and Dropbox (Assumes vetted due to API usage by Dropbox)

 

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Jay's avatar
Jay
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
7 years ago
Actually, when I view version history, if you click the filename on the left, you'll be able to immediately preview that file, and then on the top right you’ll get the options to either restore to that version or to directly download the file.
 
See the following images:
 
 
Could you try testing it out to let me know if it works for you?

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