Three ways back, for three different problems

You delete a paragraph, read the join and immediately regret it. Undo is the obvious answer.

You notice a week later that the argument was stronger before Tuesday’s rewrite. Now you need an earlier version.

Your Mac is missing. Neither the Undo session nor a version stored only on that Mac can help you reach the files.

These situations all feel like wanting the past back. They differ in where the past must have been kept, and for how long. It is easier to choose a recovery route when those differences are clear before something goes wrong.

Undo follows the recent editing

Undo is a way to reverse recent operations in the current editing session. It suits a mistaken deletion, an unwanted formatting change or a quick experiment with a sentence.

It is less useful as a method of investigating last week’s draft. Stepping backwards through a long sequence can also reverse changes you wanted to keep. If you are uncertain what changed or how far back you need to go, pause before repeatedly pressing the shortcut.

Pay attention to where you are typing. A document and a separate notes field contain different writing. In Clarity, the keyboard shortcut follows the document or text field currently being edited; the pane’s Undo control affects the document above it. The formatting guide explains that distinction.

History gives you captured versions

A captured version lets you inspect an earlier state without trying to reverse every action that followed it. You can compare the words, recover a passage or decide to return to that version.

Before a substantial rewrite, a deliberately saved, clearly named version is useful. “Before changing the conclusion” tells you why that point matters. It does not make every sentence in it better than the new draft; comparison is still an editing task.

Clarity’s History keeps versions it has captured, locally on the Mac. Automatic entries have limited retention. Saved or named versions are protected from automatic cleanup. A restore keeps the prior current capture in History and starts a fresh Undo session, so History is also the route back from that restore.

Those are useful capabilities with a defined scope. History captures Markdown text, including image references, rather than historical copies of image files. Export does not carry the History collection to another Mac.

A backup needs to cover what you would miss

A backup has a broader job: preserving copies you can use when the working material is lost or damaged. Think about the collection, not just its most visible file.

An illustrated essay may need its Markdown, local images and other source material. If your reading notes live separately, those need coverage too. A document that opens with half its pictures missing is only a partial recovery.

File synchronisation and backup also answer different questions. Synchronisation can carry your current state between locations, including changes you did not intend. What you need to establish is whether your backup keeps recoverable earlier copies and whether you can actually restore the material you care about.

The useful check is concrete: select a non-sensitive test document and one linked image, restore them to a separate location, and confirm both open. Check the location of separately stored notes as well. Clarity’s saving and recovery documentation sets out its local behaviour; your backup arrangement must cover the relevant files beyond that.

When a paragraph disappears, use the smallest recovery route that fits the problem. When planning for a missing computer, make sure that route reaches beyond the computer.