The Google Docs backup trick everybody should know

The useful part

Anyone who frequently writes documents has had that moment where a big edit goes sideways. So what do you do when you've deleted a paragraph you needed, rewrote half a document only to regret the whole thing, or opened a shared file and scratched your head, wondering who changed what? Google Docs has a safety net called "version history" that remembers every version of your work.

How it works

• You can click on any of them to preview how the document looked at that point.
• Google also shows who made changes, with different colors tied to different editors, which I find really helpful when several people are working in the same file as me.
• If you find the draft you want, click Restore this version, and Google Docs will replace your current document with that older draft.
• You can also make a separate copy of an older version if you only want to recover a section without replacing your current work.
• To find it, open your document and go to File > Version history > See version history.

What to take from it

You'll see older drafts listed by date and time on the right side of the screen. One habit I highly recommend is naming important versions before you make any major changes.