Building a website with Google Sites is highly intuitive, but accidents happen. You might accidentally delete a crucial text box, ruin the layout of your homepage, or publish a series of unwanted edits. If multiple collaborators have access to the site, someone else might have made changes that you need to undo. Fortunately, you do not need to rebuild your website from scratch.
Google Sites includes a built-in Version History feature, much like Google Docs or Sheets. This tool automatically saves snapshots of your website as you work, allowing you to browse through past versions and instantly restore your site to exactly how it looked hours, days, or even months ago.
Accessing the Version History Panel
Before you can restore a previous version, you must access the history interface within the Google Sites editor.
- Navigate to sites.google.com and open the website you want to repair.
- Look at the top-right corner of the screen, next to the “Undo” and “Redo” arrows. Click on the More button (represented by three vertical dots).
- From the dropdown menu, select Version history.
- A new panel will slide out on the right side of your screen, displaying a chronological list of every saved version of your website.
Reviewing and Restoring a Past Version
The Version History panel groups edits by date and time, showing you exactly who made changes and when.
- Scroll through the list in the right-hand panel and click on a specific timestamp to preview that version.
- The main editing window will immediately update to show you exactly how the website looked at that exact moment in time. Take a moment to navigate through your pages to ensure this is the version you want to recover.
- If the previewed version is the correct one, click the blue Restore this version button located at the very top of the screen.
- A confirmation dialog box will appear. Click Restore to confirm your decision.
Publishing the Restored Site
It is crucial to understand that restoring a previous version only changes the website within the editor. It does not automatically update the live, public-facing website that your visitors see.
If you need the restored version to go live immediately, you must republish the site.
- After the restoration process is complete, look for the purple Publish button in the top-right corner of the editor.
- Click the Publish button.
- Google Sites will display a side-by-side comparison showing the “Currently published” version alongside your “Draft” (the version you just restored).
- Review the changes one final time, then click the blue Publish button in the top right to make the restored version live on the internet.