# Note Revision History **URL:** \ **Category:** Feature Request\ **Created:** [April 17, 2024, 4:23am UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/note-revision-history/12381 "2024-04-17T04:23:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![crumbletop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@crumbletop](https://community.bear.app/u/crumbletop)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2025, 11:02pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/note-revision-history/12381/41 "2025-07-16T23:02:05Z")
The only kind of revision history I am familiar with in apps outside of programming specific “versions” of code is automatic using some sort of algorithm. Mainly time based. I am uninterested in manual version control. I can do that on my own outside of bear. Automatic is what is needed because when you lose edits by accidentally overwriting them (as an example) the likelihood I saved a manual version of the note content I lost in or outside of Bear is essentially zero. ---
**Author:** ![AdamRadPro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@AdamRadPro](https://community.bear.app/u/AdamRadPro)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2025, 11:43pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/note-revision-history/12381/42 "2025-07-16T23:43:03Z")
I see most requests in the Bear communities for version control because of **an accident that just occurred** versus going back to a version from a week or a month ago. Both scenarios are valid though. The _accident scenario_ has happened to me many times. **I would like automatic backups. I can do manual.** We run into this issue because we forget to do it manually, and it’s usually because of a _cut and paste mistake_ then leaving the app. We return to Bear to realize it’s too late. **I see Bear creating local timed backups** that are eventually purged to handle the space issue on most devices. To satisfy everyone’s space issue, the database is backed up by hours, days, or weeks in the Settings. Also the option to purge by hours, days, or weeks in Settings. Some users have more space than others on their devices. I could handle weeks of backups. If you can’t, I picture people handling at least a few days of backups to retrieve the recent accident. **See attached images.** I love how OmniFocus handles local backups. A local copy is created after every cloud sync, launch, and exit. _Most of the data is text, so it may be overkill for Bear_. You can restore the backup or open up the backup and grab what you want instead of restoring the entire database. ![OmniFocus Backup 01](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/uploads/bear/original/2X/e/e7501f65b9b22f1ba91df91d8d53aec0cc9b9254.jpeg) ![2025-07-16-091431 - Screenshot](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/uploads/bear/original/2X/b/bb7e07a7f6ce039eda8143adfda3def6ebefbd20.png) ---
**Author:** ![crumbletop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@crumbletop](https://community.bear.app/u/crumbletop)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2025, 10:56am UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/note-revision-history/12381/43 "2025-07-17T10:56:17Z")
Upnote looks like a good reference. ---
**Author:** ![bearmacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5e925/32.png) [@bearmacho](https://community.bear.app/u/bearmacho)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2025, 8:56pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/note-revision-history/12381/44 "2025-07-17T20:56:44Z")
they do it reasonably well imo ---
**Author:** ![ffmich](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.bear.app/ffmich/32/1515_2.png) [@ffmich](https://community.bear.app/u/ffmich)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 8:36am UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/note-revision-history/12381/45 "2025-07-18T08:36:17Z")
I’m mainly looking to prevent data loss, so for me it would be enough to have the app automatically take a snapshot of a note when I leave or close it, and keep a limited history of those snapshots. ---
**Author:** ![krssno](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.bear.app/krssno/32/1338_2.png) [@krssno](https://community.bear.app/u/krssno)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 7:57pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/note-revision-history/12381/46 "2025-07-18T19:57:47Z")
It seems to me that the majority prefer a backup solution, even if they call it by an inappropriate name. On the other hand, the name “version control” reveals that ultimately a complete backup solution is not requested. In Ulysses, for example, there is a complete backup function that even makes it possible to restore either entire folders or notes that were deleted months ago, as long as a backup still exists. At the same time, Ulysses also has a version control function that works as you would expect it to, namely manually. Both functions work independently of each other. It is therefore completely unclear to me how the feature should be implemented: A half-baked backup solution with the UI of a version control, where an endless number of copies of all notes, even the rather unimportant and insignificant ones, are created? That’s everything, but not a sensibly implemented version control worthy of the name. The UI for proper version control - as found in filebased and non-shoebox apps, which offers the nice ability to view two versions side by side, copying and pasting parts of the text from one to the main version - is so compelling that it would be an extraordinary shame not to find it in bear as a mac app. What upnote offers is not nearly as convincing. ---
**Author:** ![crumbletop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@crumbletop](https://community.bear.app/u/crumbletop)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 10:00pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/note-revision-history/12381/47 "2025-07-18T22:00:09Z")
Version control and revision history are different. The OP asked for revision history with the ability to restore an older note. Upnote limits “versions” to 50 per note with the ability of the user to increase or decrease that. The Bear devs may choose a similar methodology or create one of their own but the requested feature is rather straight forward. I have used “revision history” many times in other apps and find it quite useful and easy to understand. I have also used “version control” in software development settings. I don’t equate version control with what is being asked for here. ---
**Author:** ![HumbleBear](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.bear.app/humblebear/32/3730_2.png) [@HumbleBear](https://community.bear.app/u/HumbleBear)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 11:02pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/note-revision-history/12381/48 "2025-07-19T23:02:52Z")
I think revision history like either Drafts or StandardNotes implements in their pro version would be ideal ---
**Author:** ![krssno](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.bear.app/krssno/32/1338_2.png) [@krssno](https://community.bear.app/u/krssno)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 8:46am UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/note-revision-history/12381/49 "2025-07-20T08:46:56Z")
Ulysses as a so-called shoebox app has implemented an ui that mimics the native macOS ui for version control. For bear as a first class citizen of mac that would be more ideal ![Screenshot 2025-07-20 at 10.43.13](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/uploads/bear/original/2X/4/40cf73970ef56408e5b3b58b832162353bb2fa1c.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![lauren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@lauren](https://community.bear.app/u/lauren)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2025, 4:50pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/note-revision-history/12381/50 "2025-07-29T16:50:51Z")
I think iA Writer’s Backups and Versions are a great reference. It’d be great if Bear could consider something like that in the future. For sure. Looking forward to whatever cool ideas you folks come up with. ---
**Author:** ![Synapse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@Synapse](https://community.bear.app/u/Synapse)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2025, 9:31pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/note-revision-history/12381/51 "2025-07-29T21:31:47Z")
Ulysses is not a good example because backups only exist on the device. It’s not possible to make changes on, say, an iPad and then undo them on a Mac ---
**Author:** ![KillerWhale](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.bear.app/killerwhale/32/1337_2.png) [@KillerWhale](https://community.bear.app/u/KillerWhale)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 10:14pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/note-revision-history/12381/52 "2025-09-26T22:14:10Z")
Yeah, I think that’s a great model. Also adding my hopes to this. ---
**Author:** ![danpritts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b782af/32.png) [@danpritts](https://community.bear.app/u/danpritts)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 6:26pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/note-revision-history/12381/53 "2026-03-11T18:26:08Z")
Lost a minor bit of work today; NBD but gives me pause about continuing to subscribe to Bear. This is really a fundamental feature of a notes app in 2026. ---
**Author:** ![Matte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Matte](https://community.bear.app/u/Matte)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2026, 6:14am UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/note-revision-history/12381/54 "2026-06-12T06:14:11Z")
Especially with the mcp server running this and related features (version history, editing logs) it is becoming more critical if there are now multiple ways notes can be edited. ---
**Author:** ![JTMusky](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.bear.app/jtmusky/32/5132_2.png) [@JTMusky](https://community.bear.app/u/JTMusky)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2026, 10:14pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/note-revision-history/12381/55 "2026-06-14T22:14:31Z")
+1 on having note revision. Would love to see a “highlight” changes from previous editions, if at all possible. thanks for considering ---
**Author:** ![VibrantVector](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/0ea827/32.png) [@VibrantVector](https://community.bear.app/u/VibrantVector)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 2:56pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/note-revision-history/12381/56 "2026-07-08T14:56:04Z")
A bit of context for this request is the modern AI workflow. Bear is my go-to authoring environment for content. It is beautiful. As my workflow increasingly follows an AI-agent-backed model, I am using the agent to reach into bear for information on a design document or other specification. My goal would be to author the document in Bear, and have the different versions available as I would with Git/Non-bear editor. Other alternatives of backup and cron jobs are not granular enough to handle the rate of change for this workflow. I do recognize the difficulty in reconciling git-like behavior with a SQLite backing database. Perhaps just giving Bear the ability to access md files outside of the SQLite database would address this issue. ---
**Author:** ![Synapse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@Synapse](https://community.bear.app/u/Synapse)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2026, 4:10pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/note-revision-history/12381/57 "2026-07-11T16:10:39Z")
Or a new field in the database that holds prior versions of a note, would that work instead of implementing the complexity of git-like behaviour? ---
**Author:** ![AleemShaun](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.bear.app/aleemshaun/32/1006_2.png) [@AleemShaun](https://community.bear.app/u/AleemShaun)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2026, 6:23am UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/note-revision-history/12381/58 "2026-07-15T06:23:56Z")
Dropping in to see if this idea is still getting requests/love. I had a note crash in Bear just this week and lost an hour’s worth of work. Which is really more than that. An hour of writing… to rebuild it from scratch essentially took the rest of the day. This wouldn’t happen in iA Writer or Obsidian. My preference is Bear, but if I can’t trust that I can go back to previous versions/revisions, that’s a massive gap. ---
**Author:** ![mdeluk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mdeluk](https://community.bear.app/u/mdeluk)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2026, 12:13pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/note-revision-history/12381/59 "2026-07-15T12:13:59Z")
Aww man that sucks! Yeah I would really like to see this as well. I use a Siri shortcut to regularly back up my Bear notes but I don’t think this would really help with this scenario. ---
**Author:** ![Matte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Matte](https://community.bear.app/u/Matte)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2026, 11:25am UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/note-revision-history/12381/60 "2026-07-19T11:25:37Z")
Hi! Is it still high on the list? 🙂 [Previous page](https://community.bear.app/t/note-revision-history/12381.md?page=2) [Next page](https://community.bear.app/t/note-revision-history/12381.md?page=4)