Every save in the Slides editor writes a new version of the deck, and older versions stay in its history. Use this page to choose how often the editor saves, save by hand, resolve a conflict with someone else's edits, and restore an earlier version.
Two chips sit under the deck title. The first shows the save state, the second the autosave setting. Click either chip to open the Presentation popover.
Each state pairs a short chip with a sentence:
| Chip | Sentence | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Saved | All changes saved | Everything is in a version. |
| Unsaved | Unsaved changes | You have edits that are not in a version yet. |
| Saving | Saving | A version is being written now. |
| Failed | Save failed, with Retry | The last save did not go through. |
| Conflict | Newer version exists, with Overwrite and Revert | Someone else saved a newer version of the deck. |
The editor shows one state at a time. When more than one could apply, it shows them in this order: Conflict, Saving, Failed, Unsaved, Saved.
The second chip reads Autosave when the editor saves on every change, Manual when it saves only when you ask, and an interval such as Every 30s when it saves on a timer.
| Option | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| On every change | Writes a version 1.5 seconds after your last change. | Yes |
| Every 10 seconds | Writes a version every 10 seconds, when the deck has changed. | No |
| Every 30 seconds | Writes a version every 30 seconds, when the deck has changed. | No |
| Every minute | Writes a version every minute, when the deck has changed. | No |
| Every 5 minutes | Writes a version every 5 minutes, when the deck has changed. | No |
| Never | Writes a version only when you press Ctrl+S or click Save. | No |
Your choice applies to every deck in this browser. Another browser or device starts with On every change.
With Never or an interval selected, the Save button appears under Autosave in the Presentation popover. Click Save, or press Ctrl+S, to write a version now.
Write a new version now (Ctrl+S), Nothing to save (Ctrl+S), or This deck changed elsewhere - overwrite or revert first (Ctrl+S) while saving is blocked.Saved HH:MM, the time of the last save.A conflict happens when someone else saves a newer version while you have the deck open. Saves carry the version the editor started from, so a save that meets a newer version is refused instead of writing over it. The editor pauses saving and shows the This deck changed elsewhere message; the chip reads Conflict. Your edits stay in the editor.
Keep my edits: save them as the newest version.Discard my edits and load the version that was saved elsewhere.Saving stays paused until you resolve the conflict: the editor does not retry on its own. If someone saves again while you are overwriting, the conflict appears again. While it stands, the AI panel also refuses to change the deck; see Write slides with AI.
Revert discards the edits you made since the newer version was saved. Those edits exist only in the editor, so they cannot be recovered afterwards.
For who can edit a shared deck, see Publish and share.
v12), its author, the exact time, and a label where the version has one. The version the deck is on is marked Current.Showing slide 1 of N.Restore writes the chosen version back as a new version, so the version you restored from stays in the list. The Version restored message confirms it with the note Saved as version N.
Restore appears only when the selected version is not the current one and you can edit the deck. A view-only share gets no Restore button.
Restoring does not change a deck that is already open. The canvas keeps showing what it showed before, and your next save writes that content as the newest version, which replaces the restored slides. Leave the editor and open the deck again before you edit it.
For every Slides permission, see Slides permissions.
If autosave is not On every change, and the deck has edits that are not in a version yet, leaving the editor asks first. The dialog reads Leave without saving?, and its buttons are Leave without saving, Save and leave and Stay here.
The second save pauses and the chip reads Conflict. Choose Overwrite to save your edits as the newest version, or Revert to load the other version and discard yours. Neither choice removes a version from the history.
No. Restore saves the old version as a new version on top of the history, so nothing is overwritten.
With On every change, a version is written each time you stop editing for 1.5 seconds. Choose an interval, or Never, for fewer versions.
Your autosave choice is kept in this browser and applies to every deck you open here. Choose On every change again to go back to the default.
Restore appears only if you can edit this deck and you are not looking at the current version. Viewers can open the history and preview versions, but they cannot restore.
No. Your edits stay in the editor. Click Retry under Failed, or press Ctrl+S.
Yes. Ctrl+S works anywhere in the editor, including while you type in a text box or the deck title.
Open Version history. Each version shows its author and the time it was saved. Your own versions show You; when the editor cannot resolve an author, the row reads Another editor.
No. Saving and restoring only add versions. Who can open the deck comes from its workspace and its share list, and publishing replaces that list with exactly the people and roles the dialog shows. See Publish and share.
Yes. The deck is not locked while it is open. The slide rail shows who else has the deck open, and each marker fades 30 seconds after that person's last activity. Presence never blocks a save; if your save meets a newer version, the editor pauses and asks how to resolve it.
Your autosave is set to Never or to an interval, and some edits are not in a version yet. Choose Save and leave to save first, or Stay here to keep editing.