# Restoring

Two shapes. Read [the overview](https://docs.foxecom.com/snapty-app/history-and-restore/overview#restoring) first for what each one can and cannot do; this page is every field and button on the way through.

## Restore a single file

Open a recording, click the file, press **Restore this file**.

### Which version goes back

The version on the **left-hand side** of the comparison — the copy recorded on that date. Nothing else in the theme is touched, and nothing is deleted.

### Where it lands

Always **the theme the recording was taken from**. What the screen offers depends on whether that theme is live:

**If it is your live theme — you choose:**

| Option | What happens |
| --- | --- |
| **A new unpublished copy of *your theme*** — marked *Recommended* | Your customers see nothing change. You look the copy over and publish it yourself |
| **Your live theme, *your theme*** | Customers see this the moment it lands |

Live is never preselected. Choosing it shows one more warning before the confirm:

<Hint type="danger" title="This writes to the theme your customers are seeing">

The change lands on your live storefront as soon as it is written. Snapty records the live theme first, so you can put it back.

</Hint>

**If it is not your live theme — no options.** The file goes back into that theme where it is. There is no storefront to reach, so there is nothing to weigh up; the screen names the theme and says your customers see nothing change.

### Your theme is recorded first

Before anything is written, Snapty takes a recording of the target theme as it is right now, tagged **before a restore** on your timeline. That recording is how the restore itself can be undone. If it cannot be made, the restore does not run.

### When the file already matches

If the theme already holds exactly the recorded content, Snapty stops and writes nothing. The activity log records **Already in place**. The check reads the theme before anything is created, so you are not left with a spare copy identical to the original.

### Confirm

**Restore this file** — or **Restore into the live theme** when that is the target. The restore is queued; the result appears in the activity log with the outcome and the theme it wrote into.

## Restore a whole version

Open a recording, press **Restore this version**.

### What happens

<Stepper>

<Step>

Snapty checks what can actually be restored — before anything is created.

</Step>

<Step>

You confirm against that answer.

</Step>

<Step>

Shopify duplicates the theme the recording was taken from.

</Step>

<Step>

Snapty writes the recorded files into the duplicate.

</Step>

<Step>

Snapty reads the copy back and checks each file arrived.

</Step>

<Step>

You preview the copy and publish it yourself, in Shopify, if you want it live.

</Step>

</Stepper>

Your live theme is not touched, in any case, ever.

### The confirm step

> This makes an unpublished copy of the theme this version was recorded from, and puts the N recorded files back into it. Your live theme is not touched.

Three lists can appear below it. Read them — this is where the surprises are.

| List | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| **N files will be kept — they were not in this version** | Files added after the recording. Nothing is deleted to make the copy match, so they stay. *If one of those files is what broke the theme, this does not fix it* |
| **N recorded files are no longer in storage** | Their contents have aged out. The copy keeps whatever the theme holds for them now. If none of the recorded files is still in storage, there is nothing to put back and no copy is made |
| **N recorded templates point at sections this version does not carry** | Shopify refuses to write a JSON template that names a section with no matching section file — even though your live theme holds the same content. Usually a page-builder app created sections and later removed them. The copy keeps the template the theme has now |

**Make the copy** — or **Make the copy anyway** when something above needs acknowledging. **Cancel** leaves everything as it was.

### No recording is taken first

Its target is a theme that did not exist a moment ago, so there is no earlier state to capture and nothing a recording could give back.

### The result

In the activity log as *restore, whole version*, with the copy it made:

- **Restored** — every recorded file is in the copy
- **Not confirmed** — the copy was made and some recorded files are not in it. The copy is still there and usable; the reason line says what to check

A file Shopify refuses costs that file, not the run. Snapty records the refusal and continues with the rest.

## Refused before anything is written

These appear on the confirm step. Nothing on your store has been touched.

| What you see | What it means | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **That theme is no longer on this store** | The theme the recording came from was deleted from Shopify | Nothing can be restored from this recording. It stays readable |
| **Snapty cannot say where this file would land** | The request to Shopify for the target theme did not get through | Reload and try again |
| **This file was recorded from a different theme** | Putting it back could break the current theme | Open a recording taken from the theme you are fixing |
| **Snapty cannot write to your theme files yet** | This store has not granted the permission a restore needs | Open Snapty again from your Shopify admin and accept the updated permissions |
| **This snapshot holds no recorded copy of that file** | The file was not in the theme when this recording was taken | Pick a later recording |
| **The recorded copy is no longer in storage** | Nothing to put back | Pick a more recent recording of the same file |
| **None of the files recorded in this version are still in storage** | Everything this recording pointed at has aged out | Restore from a more recent recording |
| **This version is no longer recorded** | The recording rolled off | Check your timeline for what is still kept |
| **Snapty could not read the whole of that theme just now** | The check that lists what the copy would keep did not complete, so Snapty will not guess | Try again in a minute |
| **The restore could not be started** | The request never reached the queue | Try again in a minute |

Outcomes after a restore has run are on [The Activity log](https://docs.foxecom.com/snapty-app/history-and-restore/the-activity-log#results-of-a-restore).