{"id":106425,"date":"2022-07-26T09:01:02","date_gmt":"2022-07-26T16:01:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.backblaze.com\/blog\/?p=106425"},"modified":"2025-12-12T06:58:38","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T14:58:38","slug":"what-is-extended-version-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.backblaze.com\/blog\/what-is-extended-version-history\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Extended Version History?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Our recent Backup Awareness Survey<\/a> showed that 61% of Americans who own a computer and back it up are not very confident<\/em> that all of their data is being backed up. That just goes to show how complicated some backup solutions are.<\/p>\n

And what good is a backup service if it\u2019s hard to get your data back when you need it?<\/p>\n

The Backblaze Computer Backup client is designed to stay out of the way and back up your data, while making restoring that data a walk in the park. One of the popular ways of enhancing our backup service is a feature called Extended Version History. But, we\u2019ve found that some people still don\u2019t quite understand what it does. With that in mind, I wanted to write an overview of the feature, how it works, and why it\u2019s useful for anyone that uses our Computer Backup service, whether it\u2019s for personal use or for their company or family group.<\/p>\n

Extended Version History Explained<\/h2>\n

First, we need to define two key terms, \u201cretention\u201d and \u201cversion,\u201d to help explain Extended Version History.<\/p>\n

\n

What Is Retention?<\/h4>\n

In simple terms, retention is how long something in your backup is kept backed up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

What Is a Version?<\/h4>\n

It seems simple enough, but it\u2019s worth explaining what we mean by a \u201cversion.\u201d Without getting in the weeds, whenever a file is added or created on your computer, that is a version. Whenever you change a file on your computer, whether you add more lines to a spreadsheet or edit your recent vacation photos, those changes also create another version of the file.<\/p>\n

When you understand what retention is and what a version is, it\u2019s easy to understand Extended Version History. It\u2019s a feature that allows you to set a retention timeframe that specifies how long all the older versions\u2014the version history\u2014of your files should be kept as part of your backup.<\/p>\n

How Long Is Backblaze\u2019s Retention?<\/h2>\n

The standard Backblaze Computer Backup service comes with 30 days of Version History for the files that are backed up. This means that you can go back in time (using our roll back time feature<\/a>) and access older versions of files for 30 days from the date they were last changed or deleted. After that 30-day mark, the version of the file that\u2019s 30 days old will leave your backup, but any newer files will remain.<\/p>\n

Note:<\/strong> If you last changed or added a file more than 30 days ago, but have not made any changes to it, it will remain in your backup as long as it remains on your computer (or is unchanged). If it gets removed or changed, that\u2019s when the 30-day retention period starts.<\/div>\n

What Does Extended Version History Do?<\/h2>\n

With Extended Version History, you can increase that 30-day period to one year or even forever. This essentially increases the duration for which you can roll back time when going to access your data.<\/p>\n

A Very Simple Example (With Babies!)<\/h3>\n

As a new uncle, I have babies on the brain. Let’s say that a baby was born on July 1st and our family creates a spreadsheet to chart the growth of the baby. Every single day, we add a row to the spreadsheet to add in the baby\u2019s weight, height, and maybe a cute note. The previous rows don\u2019t get deleted, and so the spreadsheet grows by one row every single day.
\nOn July 30th, our spreadsheet will have 30 rows (one per day). If that spreadsheet was being backed up by Backblaze, I could go back in time to July 1st and get a copy of that spreadsheet from the very first day, with just a single row of baby information. However, if I tried to do that on July 31, that original version would be gone, but I could go back and get a copy from July 2nd, the version with the first two rows of baby data. If I tried to go back on, say, August 30th, I could get a copy from August 1, which would have all of July\u2019s rows of baby data.<\/p>\n

\"\"
To illustrate the point, here\u2019s me as a Soviet baby.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With Extended Version History, using that same example, I have more time (a year or forever) to go back and retrieve that original copy of the spreadsheet created on July 1 with just the first row.<\/p>\n

Why would you want the spreadsheet with just one row? Who knows, it\u2019s an example!<\/p>\n

Why Extended Version History? Because Mistakes Happen!<\/h2>\n

Our Backup Awareness Month<\/a> survey found that 67% of respondents have reported accidentally deleting a file. 44% reported losing data, or access to data, because a shared or synced drive or folder was deleted. Having Extended Version History turned on for your Backblaze backup helps avoid data loss because of accidental deletions.<\/p>\n

You may not always realize right away (or within 30 days) that you deleted a file accidentally. Or you may not regularly check that shared drive until it\u2019s too late and your older versions are gone. With Extended Version History, you can go back in time up to a year later or forever later and get those files back.<\/p>\n

How to Get Extended Version History?<\/h2>\n

I encourage everyone I know to enable Extended Version History as soon as they install Backblaze on their computer.
\nStep 1: Click \u201cUpgrade.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Step 2: Select how long you want to keep files\u2014one year or forever.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

One thing to keep in mind is that simply turning on Extended Version History won\u2019t automatically extend the \u201clife\u201d of your files retroactively. For example, if you open your account on July 1 and enable Extended Version History on July 28, only the versions from July 28 onward will have Extended Version History, not the versions created between July 1 and July 28. Once enabled, any new or changed files will have their retention rate increased, which is why doing so when you first install Backblaze is the best policy.<\/p>\n

Consider Extended Version History as getting additional \u201cmistake insurance\u201d for your data. If something happens, or you lose access to shared files and that goes unnoticed, we\u2019ll have your back!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Learn about the Extended Version History feature and how it works, and why it\u2019s useful for individuals or groups using the Backblaze Computer Backup service.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":106427,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[121],"tags":[469],"class_list":["post-106425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-backing-up","tag-consumerbackup","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat is the Meaning of Extended Version History for Your Backups?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Accidents happen. With Extended Version History, you can turn back time and stop them before they start.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.backblaze.com\/blog\/what-is-extended-version-history\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is the Meaning of Extended Version History for Your Backups?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Accidents happen. With Extended Version History, you can turn back time and stop them before they start.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.backblaze.com\/blog\/what-is-extended-version-history\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Backblaze Blog | Cloud Storage & Cloud Backup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/backblaze\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-26T16:01:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-12T14:58:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/bb-bh-What-Is-Extended-Version-History__Design-D-2.1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"820\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Yev\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@YevP\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@backblaze\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Yev\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What is the Meaning of Extended Version History for Your Backups?","description":"Accidents happen. With Extended Version History, you can turn back time and stop them before they start.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.backblaze.com\/blog\/what-is-extended-version-history\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What is the Meaning of Extended Version History for Your Backups?","og_description":"Accidents happen. With Extended Version History, you can turn back time and stop them before they start.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.backblaze.com\/blog\/what-is-extended-version-history\/","og_site_name":"Backblaze Blog | Cloud Storage & Cloud Backup","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/backblaze","article_published_time":"2022-07-26T16:01:02+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-12-12T14:58:38+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1440,"height":820,"url":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/bb-bh-What-Is-Extended-Version-History__Design-D-2.1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Yev","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@YevP","twitter_site":"@backblaze","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Yev","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.backblaze.com\/blog\/what-is-extended-version-history\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.backblaze.com\/blog\/what-is-extended-version-history\/"},"author":{"name":"Yev","@id":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/bc6b3436ea3db9f65bbeb917951f5408"},"headline":"What Is Extended Version History?","datePublished":"2022-07-26T16:01:02+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-12T14:58:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.backblaze.com\/blog\/what-is-extended-version-history\/"},"wordCount":1039,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.backblaze.com\/blog\/what-is-extended-version-history\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/bb-bh-What-Is-Extended-Version-History__Design-D-2.1.png","keywords":["ConsumerBackup"],"articleSection":["Backing Up"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.backblaze.com\/blog\/what-is-extended-version-history\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.backblaze.com\/blog\/what-is-extended-version-history\/","url":"https:\/\/www.backblaze.com\/blog\/what-is-extended-version-history\/","name":"What is the Meaning of Extended Version History for Your Backups?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.backblaze.com\/blog\/what-is-extended-version-history\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.backblaze.com\/blog\/what-is-extended-version-history\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/bb-bh-What-Is-Extended-Version-History__Design-D-2.1.png","datePublished":"2022-07-26T16:01:02+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-12T14:58:38+00:00","description":"Accidents happen. With Extended Version History, you can turn back time and stop them before they start.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.backblaze.com\/blog\/what-is-extended-version-history\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.backblaze.com\/blog\/what-is-extended-version-history\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.backblaze.com\/blog\/what-is-extended-version-history\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/bb-bh-What-Is-Extended-Version-History__Design-D-2.1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/bb-bh-What-Is-Extended-Version-History__Design-D-2.1.png","width":1440,"height":820},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.backblaze.com\/blog\/what-is-extended-version-history\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What Is Extended Version History?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/","name":"Backblaze Cloud Solutions Blog","description":"Cloud Storage & Cloud Backup","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Backblaze","url":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.backblaze.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/backblaze_icon_transparent.png?fit=512%2C512&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.backblaze.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/backblaze_icon_transparent.png?fit=512%2C512&ssl=1","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Backblaze"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/backblaze","https:\/\/x.com\/backblaze","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/Backblaze","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Backblaze"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/bc6b3436ea3db9f65bbeb917951f5408","name":"Yev","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Yev-Backup-Steward-Circle-Newlogo-150x150.png","url":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Yev-Backup-Steward-Circle-Newlogo-150x150.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Yev-Backup-Steward-Circle-Newlogo-150x150.png","caption":"Yev"},"description":"Yev Pusin is the Head of Communications and Community at Backblaze, which he joined in 2011. Yev has a degree in business and communications from the University of Iowa, where he developed an alliteration affinity. Yev enjoys writing in an amusing way about the \"why\" of things and how decisions are made, so that readers can learn and be entertained all at once. Follow Yev on: Twitter: @YevP | LinkedIn: Yev Pusin","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/YevP"],"url":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/author\/yev\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/bb-bh-What-Is-Extended-Version-History__Design-D-2.1.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backblazeprod.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}