Version history for Markdown notes on a Mac, without Git

Checked November 2026 against Apple's guides to Time Machine, past versions and iCloud recovery, plus Obsidian's File recovery help and the Git documentation. Coffee isn't affiliated with Apple, Obsidian or the Git project.

You don't need Git to get back yesterday's version of a note. Time Machine backs up your Mac every hour and can restore a single file. Some apps keep versions you can browse from File > Revert To. Obsidian keeps snapshots of each note for 7 days, and Coffee keeps up to 100 versions of each note, with a short description of what changed in each.

They differ in what they keep, how often, and whether you can see what changed. Here they are side by side.

Compared	How often	How long	See what changed
Time Machine	Hourly backups	Not stated in Apple's guide	No, you compare by eye
Browse All Versions	Hourly, or more when you make many changes	Not stated in Apple's guide	By eye
iCloud.com recovery	Deleted files only	30 days	No
Obsidian File recovery	At least 5 minutes apart	7 days by default	Yes, with Show changes
Coffee	At most every 5 minutes as you write	The last 100, plus any you name	Yes, with Changes since
Git	Each time you commit	For as long as the repository	Yes

Time Machine

This is the one to set up whatever else you use. Apple's guide says Time Machine makes hourly, daily and weekly backups once it's on, to a separate disk such as an external drive or one on your network. It also makes local snapshots hourly, kept for up to 24 hours or until the space is needed.

To restore a note, open its folder in Finder, then open Time Machine. Use the arrows or the timeline to go back, select the file and click Restore. It goes back where it was.

The catch is that it works by the hour and by eye. If you changed a note five times this morning, you get whatever was there at the last backup, and you compare versions by opening them. It's a safety net, not a history you'd browse for fun.

Browse All Versions

Many Mac apps keep versions of a document as you work, and Apple describes how to use them: open the document and choose File > Revert To > Browse All Versions. Versions are saved every hour, or more often when you make many changes, and also when you open, save, duplicate, lock, rename or revert the document.

The important word there is "many". This only works in apps that use the Mac's document versions, and many Markdown editors don't. If your editor's File menu has no Revert To, this isn't available to you, and putting your notes in iCloud Drive doesn't add it. Coffee doesn't use it either, and keeps its own history instead.

iCloud Drive

If your notes are in iCloud Drive and you delete one, iCloud.com can recover it within 30 days. Go to iCloud Drive on iCloud.com and choose Recently Deleted, or use Data Recovery for files from other apps. Once a file is permanently removed, it can't be recovered.

That's for deleted files. Apple's recovery page says nothing about earlier versions of a note that still exists, so don't count on iCloud for that. There's more on what sync does and doesn't do in syncing notes with iCloud Drive.

Obsidian's File recovery

If you use Obsidian, its File recovery core plugin is already a good history. By default, snapshots are at least 5 minutes apart and kept for 7 days, and you can change both under Settings, Core plugins, File recovery.

To restore, go to Settings, File recovery, Snapshots, View, pick the note and a snapshot, and choose Copy or Restore. Show changes highlights what was added, removed or changed.

Its help is clear about the limits. Snapshots are kept outside the vault and stay on each device, so they don't sync, through Obsidian Sync or anything else. Only .md and .canvas files can be restored. Moving the vault without its vault switcher can make older snapshots unreachable, and Obsidian says plainly that this isn't a full backup.

Git, briefly

Git is the most complete history there is: every version you commit, kept for good, with exact differences between any two. It's also the most to learn, and it only keeps what you remember to commit. For a single note:

git log -p --follow -- notes.md

That shows each commit that touched the note and what it changed, following the file through renames. If you'd like Git's benefits without the commands, there's a guide to proposing a change without learning Git.

Coffee's version history

I built this into Coffee so a note's history is there without setting anything up. Open a note and choose Version History… from the Note menu, or Version history from the ··· menu beside the title.

What it keeps. As you write, Coffee keeps the note's previous text at most once every 5 minutes, and only when it has changed. It also keeps a version every time before something replaces the text on purpose, however recent the last one was: before a replace across notes, before restoring an older version, and when another app or a sync changes a note you have open, in which case both your text and the new text are kept. The last 100 versions of each note are kept, and older ones are cleared out.

What each version says. Each version is described by what changed against the one before it, worked out from the text itself without AI, such as "New section 'Ending', +120 words" or "Changed 'Pricing', +12 words". It's a lot quicker to find "before I cut the intro" in a list like that than in a list of times.

Naming one. Give a version a name, such as "Before the rewrite", and it's never cleared out. Named versions don't count towards the 100.

Looking and restoring. Pick a version and choose This version to read it as it was, or Changes since to see the note as it is now, with what's been added since highlighted and what's gone struck through. Restore this version puts it back in the editor. That's an ordinary edit, so ⌘Z undoes it, and the text it replaced is kept as a version first.

Where it lives. Versions are kept on your Mac, outside your notes folder, so they never add files among your notes. That also means they don't travel with the file. A second Mac starts its own history for the same note. When you rename or move a note in Coffee, its history follows it. A private note's history is stored encrypted, the same as the note.

It isn't a backup either. If the Mac's disk fails, the history goes with it, so keep Time Machine on.

Coffee is Mac only, with macOS 15 or later. It's free for 14 days without a card, then €3 a month, €29 a year, or €79 once with two years of updates.

What I'd do

Everyone: turn on Time Machine. It covers every app and the whole folder.
Day to day: use the history in your editor, Obsidian's snapshots or Coffee's versions, for the "what did this say an hour ago" moments.
For work that matters over months: consider Git, or at least name the versions you'd hate to lose.

Questions

How do I see an earlier version of a Markdown file on a Mac?

If your editor has File > Revert To > Browse All Versions, use that. Otherwise, use your editor's own history if it has one, or restore the file from Time Machine.

Does iCloud Drive keep old versions of my notes?

Apple's iCloud recovery page covers deleted files, which can be recovered on iCloud.com within 30 days. It doesn't describe earlier versions of files that still exist, so keep Time Machine on as well.

How long does Obsidian keep file recovery snapshots?

7 days by default, with snapshots at least 5 minutes apart. You can change both in the File recovery settings, and the snapshots stay on each device.

How many versions does Coffee keep?

The last 100 of each note, saved at most every 5 minutes as you write, and also before any replace or restore. Versions you name are kept for good and don't count towards the 100.

Does Coffee's version history sync between Macs?

No. It's kept on each Mac, outside your notes folder, so a second Mac starts its own history for a note.