Every action in an Overleaf project—every keystroke, every upload, every deletion—is recorded in a continuous timeline. Therefore, recovering a deleted file is not about "undelete" but about "rewinding time."
Crucially, in the traditional sense. There is no folder where deleted files sit waiting to be restored with a right-click. Instead, Overleaf relies on its robust History and Versioning system . This is both a strength and a potential point of confusion.
Restoring a historical version brings back the entire project as it was at that moment. It does not merge the deleted file into your current work. If you have made other changes since the deletion (e.g., edited another file), restoring will revert those too. However, because Overleaf uses Git-like versioning, you can always restore, copy the recovered file's contents, and then restore forward again. overleaf recover deleted file
: Click the History button (clock icon) located in the top-right corner of the editor. Find the Version : Switch to the All history view.
If you literally just deleted the file or a large chunk of text, your browser’s cache might still have the action in its immediate memory. Press Ctrl + Z (Windows) or Cmd + Z (Mac). Every action in an Overleaf project—every keystroke, every
Free Overleaf accounts cannot use the native GitHub sync, but they can use the Git bridge if enabled by the institution. Alternatively, use the overleaf-git community tools (use with caution) or simply manually download ZIPs.
This is the most powerful tool for recovering specific files or previous versions of your code. Overleaf tracks changes as you work. Open the project where the file was deleted. Instead, Overleaf relies on its robust History and
: Look at the file list on the left side of the history interface. Deleted files will appear in strikethrough text.
Recovering a deleted file in Overleaf is almost always possible, but it requires understanding the tool's unique model of time-travel, not trash cans. The History feature is your best friend. The copy-paste method is your surgical scalpel. External backups (GitHub, ZIP files) are your insurance policy.
The brute-force restore described above can be disruptive. A more surgical approach is often better, especially in collaborative projects where others have made recent changes.
If you’ve just hit "Delete" on a crucial .tex file or a directory of images in Overleaf, take a deep breath. The panic is real, but the solution is usually straightforward. Overleaf is designed with academic disasters in mind, and it has robust version control built directly into the interface.