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Save points and history#

Your project keeps a timeline of past versions, so you can name a moment you want to keep, look back at how the script changed, and bring an earlier version back if you need it.

The History page holds all saved states — some Nabu creates automatically, others you create deliberately. This is where you go to get an earlier version back.

Opening your history#

  1. Open the project you want.
  2. In the project sidebar, click History (the clock-style History icon).

You land on a timeline of versions, newest at the top. Each entry shows a label, when it was saved, and a badge telling you what kind — a snapshot of the whole project, a single document like your treatment, or one scene.

Note: Your draft-revision timeline (the colored dots and draft number) also appears here.

How versions get created#

  • Automatically. Nabu captures versions at intervals while you work and right before anything significant changes your script (for example, just before Nisaba writes into a scene).
  • On purpose, with Save Version. When you reach a moment you want to be sure you can return to, save a version yourself and it stays put.

Saving a version yourself#

  1. On the History page, click Save Version in the top bar.
  2. Nabu takes a snapshot of the project and adds it to the top of the timeline, scrolling to the new entry so you can see it land.
  3. It may offer to lock your scene numbers so they stop shifting around — this is optional.

You can also save a checkpoint without leaving the editor: press Cmd+S (or Ctrl+S on Windows). Nabu creates a checkpoint in History labeled with the time (for example, "Checkpoint · 3:42 PM"), and "Saved · 3:42 PM" appears briefly above your script so you know it landed. If nothing has changed since your last checkpoint this session, Nabu skips writing a duplicate.

Note: If Nabu can't save your latest edits, it enters its retry flow and won't write a checkpoint until the words themselves are safe. If the words save but the checkpoint fails, a message lets you know your writing is saved even though the named checkpoint didn't land.

What you can do with a saved version#

Hover or tap an entry to find its actions:

  • Rename — Give a version a name that means something to you ("End of act one," "Before the big rewrite"). Naming a version also keeps it from being cleaned up later.
  • Pin — Keep a version from being tidied away automatically. A pinned version shows a 📌 badge. Click Unpin to remove the protection.
  • Compare — Click Compare on one version, then Compare to this on another to open the Compare versions dialog. Nabu shows a line-by-line diff with additions and removals marked. Each scene heading is an Open in editor link.
  • Lineage — See the chain a version came from, newest back to the very first state.
  • Restore — Bring that version's state back. (See the next section.)

Some rows, like the original file you imported, show Not restorable instead of Restore.

Note: A saved coverage report appears in this timeline too, with a Download PDF link instead of the restore and compare actions. See Coverage and the Script Doctor.

Restoring an earlier version#

  1. Find the version you want in the timeline.
  2. Click Restore on that entry.
  3. Nabu brings that earlier state back as your current working state.

Restoring is safe and additive: Nabu makes a fresh save of where you were just before restoring, then brings the older state forward as a new point on the timeline. If you change your mind, the version you came from is still there to restore back to.

Note: Restoring needs editor access to the project. If you're viewing someone else's project as a guest, you'll see the history but won't be able to restore.

Keeping a backup of the whole project#

The Export Backup button in the top bar of the History page downloads a single .nabu file — a complete copy of your project to keep somewhere safe. Your backup includes your version history.

For all the ways to get your work out of Nabu — PDF, Final Draft, Fountain, and this backup bundle — see Exporting your screenplay.

Good to know#

  • Nabu tidies up old automatic captures on its own over time. The versions you mark matter — anything you save by hand, rename, or pin is kept.
  • Versions cover more than the script. A version can be a snapshot of the whole project, a single document like your treatment or synopsis, or one scene. The badges on each row tell you which.
  • Filter the list when it gets long. Chips at the top — All, Project, Artifacts, Scenes, Revisions — let you filter by kind, and the Show wizard stages toggle shows or hides behind-the-scenes wizard steps (hidden by default).
  • Undo steps back one change at a time; History jumps. When you want a whole earlier state back — even days later — this page is where it lives. See Undo and redo.