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End User Guide 5 min read

About the Revision Rollback Feature

The Revision Rollback feature allows you to restore all files within an entire folder to a previous point in time. It is particularly useful for recovering from ransomware attacks, accidental bulk deletions, or other data loss events.

What is Revision Rollback?

The Revision Rollback feature allows end users to restore all files within an entire folder -- including standard folders, Team Shares, and Backup folders -- to an earlier version before a selected date and time. This is different from restoring individual file versions: Rollback operates on an entire folder at once, restoring every file within it to its state at the chosen point in time.

The feature works by utilizing each file's revision history. When you perform a rollback, AXIS CloudSync finds the most recent version of each file that existed before the date and time you specify, and restores all currently-existing content in the folder to that state.

Note

A file's version can refer to the originally uploaded file (first version) or a version of an edited file (subsequent versions). A file does not need to be edited to have a version recorded in the system.

Use Cases

Revision Rollback is most useful in these situations:

  • Ransomware recovery: If ransomware encrypts your files, roll back the entire folder to a point before the infection occurred.
  • Bulk accidental deletion: If a large number of files were accidentally deleted or overwritten, roll back to restore them all at once.
  • CryptoLocker and similar attacks: Restore all files in a folder to their pre-attack state with a single operation.
  • Corrupted batch operations: If a script or automated process corrupted many files simultaneously, roll back to before the operation ran.

How to Perform a Rollback

Rollback is performed from the web portal. You must navigate to the specific folder you want to restore.

  1. 1Log in to the web portal and click the My Files link.
  2. 2Navigate to the folder you want to restore. You must be inside the folder (not just viewing it from the parent directory).
  3. 3Click the Rollback button in the toolbar at the top of the file list.
  4. 4The Rollback pop-up window displays, prompting you to select a date and time. Select a day and time before the event you want to recover from.
  5. 5Review the date and time carefully. If you select June 25th at 12:40 PM, the system will restore each file to its most recent version before June 25th at 12:40 PM.
  6. 6Click Rollback to confirm. The system will begin restoring all files in the folder.

Important

The Revision Rollback feature uses a 24-hour clock and is based on the timezone configured in the administrative web portal -- not your local timezone. Verify the timezone setting with your administrator before performing a rollback to ensure you select the correct time.

Note

If a version exists at 12:40 PM and another at 12:39 PM, and you select 12:40 PM as your rollback time, the file at 12:39 PM will be restored (the most recent version before the selected time).

Limitations

The Revision Rollback feature has the following limitations:

  • It can only be used to restore entire folders, not individual files. Use Version Restore for individual file recovery.
  • It can only restore to a previous point in time, not to a specific named revision.
  • It cannot restore deleted folders -- only the files within an existing folder.
  • The rollback applies to all currently-existing content in the folder at the time of the rollback operation.
  • Rollback is available for standard folders, Team Shares, and Backup folders.
  • The feature applies to .doc, .docx, and .xlsx files. It also applies to .xls, .odt, and .ods documents if opened with LibreOffice or OpenOffice. It is not supported for Word for Mac or .xls files opened with Excel.
  • This feature is only accessible from the desktop client installed on local machines.

Restoring Individual Files

If you only need to restore a single file (rather than an entire folder), use the Version Restore feature instead:

  • In the web portal, right-click the file you want to restore.
  • Select Revisions to view the file's version history.
  • Click the version you want to restore.
  • The selected version will be restored as the current version of the file.

See the Version Restore guide for complete instructions.

Best Practices

  • Do not store your AXIS CloudSync folder on an external drive. Desktop clients installed on external drives can unregister unexpectedly and may lead to data loss.
  • Note the exact time of the incident before performing a rollback. The more precisely you know when the problem started, the more accurate your rollback will be.
  • Communicate with your team before performing a folder rollback. Any changes made after the rollback point will be lost for all users who have access to the folder.
  • Test rollback in a non-critical folder before using it in a production environment for the first time.
  • Contact support if you are unsure about the rollback time or scope. AXIS CloudSync support can help you identify the correct rollback point.
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