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Undo edits and manage design history

Learn how to undo, redo, or revert changes in Illustrator, and use the History panel to view and manage the state of your design.

When working on a design in Illustrator, you make innumerable edits and changes to the document. When unsure of a particular design edit, you can go back to the previous state of the design or even move to the subsequent state and revise it. By using the undo or redo commands, you can easily control your design's states. Similarly, you can use the History option to view, undo, redo, or edit any states of your design.

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Manage design history in a few simple steps.

Undo or redo edits

The Undo and Redo options let you undo or redo changes you've made in the document, allowing you to correct mistakes as you work. After you save or reopen a document, you can't undo or redo any changes.

The Undo and Redo options let you undo or redo changes you've made in the document, allowing you to correct mistakes as you work. You can find the Undo and redo option in the Edit menu in Illustrator.
Undo and redo options

To undo or redo, choose Edit > Undo or Edit > Redo.

Revert to the last saved version

You can also revert a file to the last saved version. However, Revert option doesn't work if you reopen the file or document.

You can also revert a file to the last saved version. However, Revert action doesn't work if you reopen the file or document. You can find the revert option in the File menu.
Revert option

To revert the document to the last saved version, choose File > Revert.

 You can also use the History panel to efficiently perform Undo/ Redo actions in Illustrator.

Use History panel

You can use the History panel to jump to any recent state of the design you created during the current working session in Illustrator. Each time you add any elements to the design, you can see new states being added to the History panel. 

For example, if you select, draw with a pen tool, and rotate part of a design, each of those states is listed separately in the panel. When you select one of the states, the artwork reverts to how it looked when that change was first applied. You can then work from that state.

Follow the steps below to open and use the History panel:

  1. Choose Window > History.

  2. To undo a specific change, select the state and click Step Backward from the History panel menu.

  3. To redo a specific change, select the state and click Step Forward from the History panel menu.

  4. To create a new document from the selected state, select the state in the History panel and click   .

  5. To change the number of states that displays in the History panel, click Set History Limit from the History panel menu. Select the number of states from the History States.

  6. To remove the states that follow a selected state, select the state in the History panel. Click Clear History from the History panel menu.

History panel and the History panel menu
History panel

Things to keep in mind

  • Application-based changes, such as changes to panels, color settings, actions, and preferences, are not reflected in the History panel, because they are not changes to a particular design.
  • When you select a state and clear the history, the states that come after it are removed. While the states that come before the selected state are also removed, the changes remain in the document.
  • By default, the History panel lists the previous 100 states. You can change the number of remembered states by setting the History States under Preferences > Performance. 
  • If the number of states exceeds the limit mentioned in the History States, the older states are automatically removed from the History panel.
  • When you close and reopen the document, all states are cleared from the panel from the last working session.
  • By default, selecting a state and then changing the design eliminates all states that come after it. 

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