> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.quarkle.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How to Undo an AI Edit and Restore a Previous Draft

> Version history and safe restore points for AI-assisted novel writing: how to undo a bad edit or roll back to an earlier draft without losing work.

A bad paragraph and a character note that quietly drifted off canon are different problems, and Quarkle undoes them differently: chapter **History** for your prose, Atlas **note history** for everything the Story Atlas keeps. This guide is about knowing which one to reach for.

## Chapter checkpoints: History

Every chapter saves itself as a series of checkpoints as you write: automatically roughly every 250 words, or manually whenever you name one yourself. Open **History** in the left rail for a timeline of a chapter's checkpoints.

<Frame caption="The History timeline, with a diff of what changed.">
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/quarkle/5WUUaYl-dgOEAFoM/images/app/versions-history.jpg?fit=max&auto=format&n=5WUUaYl-dgOEAFoM&q=85&s=bb8fcccc90ecb67cf8579d4f7262c2d3" alt="The version history timeline next to a diff of added text" width="1568" height="772" data-path="images/app/versions-history.jpg" />
</Frame>

Switch to **Restore** mode to compare any checkpoint against your current draft, then restore it if that's what you want.

<Frame caption="Restore mode: your current draft on the left, the checkpoint on the right, and the exact difference between them.">
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/quarkle/5WUUaYl-dgOEAFoM/images/app/versions-restore.jpg?fit=max&auto=format&n=5WUUaYl-dgOEAFoM&q=85&s=d814da45b5137c1287433c8093468082" alt="Restore mode showing the current draft and a checkpoint side by side with a word diff" width="1568" height="772" data-path="images/app/versions-restore.jpg" />
</Frame>

<Note>
  Restoring is never destructive. Quarkle saves your current draft as its own checkpoint first, so a restore is always itself reversible.
</Note>

<Frame caption="Restoring saves your current draft first, so nothing is lost.">
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/quarkle/5WUUaYl-dgOEAFoM/images/app/versions-restore-dialog.jpg?fit=max&auto=format&n=5WUUaYl-dgOEAFoM&q=85&s=c21504caa90addce6d164f13cca0b262" alt="The restore confirmation dialog explaining the current draft is saved first" width="1568" height="772" data-path="images/app/versions-restore-dialog.jpg" />
</Frame>

**Use this when:** you want to roll back a chapter's prose, whether that's one bad AI rewrite you already accepted, or an entire session's worth of edits that didn't work out. Full reference: [Version history](/editor/version-history).

## Atlas note history

Character notes, world notes, Book Notes, Memory, every note in the Story Atlas keeps its own full history, completely separate from chapter checkpoints. Open a note and its history shows just that note's changes.

<Frame caption="One note's history: the timeline filtered to a single note.">
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/quarkle/LnPhsqiVrlYxZunt/images/app/atlas-note-history.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=LnPhsqiVrlYxZunt&q=85&s=d8d82c85fe7601e30d5a005e5212f41c" alt="The revision history for a single note" width="2436" height="1698" data-path="images/app/atlas-note-history.png" />
</Frame>

Open any past version to read it in full.

<Frame caption="A past version, labelled and dated, under a Versions breadcrumb.">
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/quarkle/LnPhsqiVrlYxZunt/images/app/atlas-version.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=LnPhsqiVrlYxZunt&q=85&s=1f6f298e1d276fc1e406842ac5ea491d" alt="A Version 2 page of a note with a Versions breadcrumb" width="2426" height="2646" data-path="images/app/atlas-version.png" />
</Frame>

You can restore it outright, or edit it and save as a new version, either way your history is preserved, never overwritten.

<Frame caption="Editing a past version saves it as a new version. History is never overwritten.">
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/quarkle/LnPhsqiVrlYxZunt/images/app/atlas-edit-version.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=LnPhsqiVrlYxZunt&q=85&s=e40f1cf98760ae6ee6627bbbe4f9291d" alt="Editing a version shows a Save as a new version action" width="2426" height="2646" data-path="images/app/atlas-edit-version.png" />
</Frame>

**Use this when:** a character or world note has drifted somewhere wrong, whether from an AI update you didn't catch or your own edit you want to walk back. This is completely independent of chapter checkpoints, restoring a note has no effect on your prose, and restoring a chapter has no effect on its notes.

## Which one do I use?

A quick way to tell them apart:

| Situation                                                   | Use                                          |
| ----------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| A rewrite you accepted made the prose worse                 | Chapter **History**, Restore mode            |
| You want to compare today's draft to yesterday's            | Chapter **History**                          |
| A character's profile says something that's no longer true  | That note's **version history** in the Atlas |
| Book Notes or Memory picked up something you didn't want    | That note's **version history**              |
| You're not sure which, and it's about the words on the page | Chapter **History**                          |
| You're not sure which, and it's about a fact Quarkle keeps  | Atlas note **version history**               |

<Tip>
  The one thing that prevents most "undo" situations before they start: [freeze](/guides/mastering-the-story-atlas#freeze-finished-notes) a note once it's right. A frozen note can't drift, because Quarkle simply won't write to it again.
</Tip>

<Card title="Next: Building a Custom Review Panel" icon="arrow-right" horizontal href="/guides/building-a-custom-review-panel">
  Design an AI editor around exactly what your genre needs.
</Card>