View source for Help:Reverting

{{Short description|Undoing an edit using the undo link}}
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'''Reverting''' on Wikipedia refers to the process of [[#Undo|undo]]ing or otherwise negating the effects of one or more edits, typically restoring the page, or a section of it, to a previous version in either exact wording or meaning. This action can take various forms. ''Partial reversion'' involves restoring a specific part of the page to a prior version while retaining other edits. ''Self-reversion'' involves an editor undoing their own previous edits.

Reversion does not necessarily require the use of the [[Help:Undo|undo]] tool. Any editing method that effectively returns the page to a previous state is classified as a reversion.

While reverting can sometimes be appropriate, undoing [[Wikipedia:Assume good faith|good-faith contributions]] can disrupt collaboration and lead to disputes. Excessive or unjustified reversions may result in administrative actions against the user performing the reverts, including a temporary editing [[Wikipedia:Blocking policy|block]]. To prevent edit warring, the [[The Three revert rule|three-revert rule]] (as outlined in Wikipedia's [[Wikipedia:Edit warring policy|edit warring policy]]) restricts an editor from making more than three reversions—including partial ones—on a single page within a 24-hour period.

== Before reverting<span class="anchor" id="BEFORE"></span> ==
Before performing a revert, carefully consider the consequences of dismissing another editor's contributions, as well as any subsequent edits linked to the original change. Assess the specific elements of the edit that are problematic and contemplate the editor's intentions. Rather than reverting entirely, consider improving the edit to enhance the article's quality. If only a portion of the edit is objectionable, a [[Wikipedia:Reverting#Do a partial reversion when appropriate|partial reversion]] may be more appropriate; complete reversions should be used sparingly and are effectively executed using the [[#Undo|undo tool]].

In the [[Wikipedia:Edit summary|edit summary]] or on the article's talk page, provide a succinct explanation detailing why the change is being reverted or why the reversion is beneficial. In instances of blatant [[Wikipedia:Vandalism|vandalism]], clearly [[Wikipedia:Disruptive edits|disruptive edits]], or [[Wikipedia:Content removal|unexplained content removal]], a brief explanation may suffice. However, in situations involving content disputes, offering a well-reasoned and politely worded justification is important to avoid unnecessary disagreements and to promote constructive collaboration.

==Reverting==
Reverting edits can be done in several ways: manual reverting, restoring a past version, undo, and rollback. [[Help:Reverting#Undo|Undo]] is the most commonly used method.

===Manual reverting===
The most basic method is ''manual reverting'', which means directly editing the page to match an earlier state, ideally by copying and pasting text from an earlier version of the page to ensure accuracy and consistency.  This relies on only basic word processing or text editing skills.

There is no functional difference between manual reverting and regular editing except that an edit is considered to be a manual revert if it happens (intentionally or not) to match an earlier version of the article. If it does, your edit is tagged as a manual revert. Otherwise, it is considered a regular edit.

===Restoring a past version===
You can also restore a past version of the page. Essentially, you load the text editor with a past version of the page, and then publish that, making it the current version.

To do this:
# Click the "View history" tab at the top of the page to display the page history.
# Click the {{Var|time and date}} (e.g. {{Fake link|00:00, 1 January 1970}}) of the earlier version to which you want to revert to.  You will then navigate to that earlier version of the page and see a warning at the top of the page similar to:<br>{{blockquote|{{tmbox|image=none|style= border: 1px solid #886425;|text={{int:revision-info|00:00, 1 {{int:january}} 1970|[[User:Example|Example]] {{int:parentheses|[[User talk:Example|{{int:talkpagelinktext}}]] {{int:pipe-separator}} [[Special:Contributions/Example|{{int:contribslink}}]]}}|1234567|1 {{int:january}} 1970|00:00|Example|&nbsp;<span class="comment">{{int:parentheses|Example summary}}</span>}}}}}}
#* {{a note}} In the case of [[WP:Vandalism|vandalism]], there may be multiple consecutive vandal edits or they may be interspersed between constructive edits. Be sure not to revert (intermediate) constructive edits by simply choosing the last version before the vandalism occurred. In these cases, the vandalism should be removed manually, or in other words, the constructive edits separated from the offending revisions.
# Click the "Edit" tab as you normally would. Above the edit box, you will see an edit notice similar to:<br>{{blockquote|{{tmbox|image=none|style= border: 1px solid #886425; width: 50%;|text=You are editing an old revision of this page. If you publish it, any changes made since then will be removed. You may wish to edit the current revision instead.}}}}
#* If editing the page requires a registered account, log in first. Alternatively go to the article's talk page and ask a registered editor to take care of the matter by making an [[Wikipedia:Edit requests|edit request]] if the page is highly trafficked, or ask for help at the [[WP:HELPDESK|Help desk]] for pages with low traffic.
#* Explain what you are doing in the [[Wikipedia:edit summary|edit summary]] field. Use complete words, not abbreviations. For example, "Reverting [vandalism]".
# Preview the page, or review the changes.
# Publish changes by clicking the {{Button|Publish changes}} button.
#* In the page history, your revision will automatically be tagged with ''([[Special:Tags|Tag]]: {{int:Tag-mw-manual-revert}})''. Some MediaWiki extensions also pop up a text box saying "✅ The page has been restored."
#* Optional: Go to the talk page and explain what you have done, and why.

Of course, you can also change the past version before publishing, but this would not be considered "restoring a past version".

===Undo===
{{shortcut|WP:UNDO}}
{{redirect|WP:UNDO|the neutral point of view policy governing due and undue weight|WP:UNDUE}}
The Wiki software enables editors to easily revert (undo) a single edit from the history of a page, without simultaneously undoing other changes that have been made since. To do this, view the [[Help:Page history|page history]] or the [[Help:diff|diff]] for the edit, then click on "undo" next to the edit in question. The software will attempt to create an edit page with a version of the article in which the undesirable edit has been removed, but all later edits are retained. There is a default edit summary, but this can be modified before saving.

It is also possible to undo several consecutive edits, even if they conflict among themselves: view the "diff" to be removed (by selecting the earliest and most recent revisions in the history and clicking "compare selected revisions"), and click the "undo" link.

An attempt to undo can fail if the software is unable to figure out how to undo the changes, usually because a subsequent edit has modified a line of text that it needs to change. When this happens, you have to rely on a manual revert as described above.

====Mobile====
{{Tracked|T312640|open}}
In the mobile web interface, editors cannot – by default – easily access mechanisms for undoing edits. With [[mw:Reading/Web/Advanced_mobile_contributions|Advanced Mobile Contributions]] (AMC) turned on, editors can access an "undo" button on page histories ''only'', which opens the [[Help:Mobile access#Desktop version access|desktop view]] undo interface.{{Update inline|date=January 2025|reason=Possibly now updated? See [[mw:Moderator Tools/Content moderation on mobile web/Diff]] and [[mw:https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Moderator_Tools/Content_moderation_on_mobile_web/Diff]]. User:Waddie96 can rollback pages on diff pages but that may be because they are a rollbacker.}}

===Rollback===
{{seealso|Wikipedia:Rollback}}

[[Wikipedia:Administrators|Administrators]] and rollbackers have additional links that:
* appear only next to the top edit
* revert ''all'' top consecutive edits made by the last editor
* work immediately, without the intermediate confirmation diff page
* add automatic [[Help:edit summary|edit summary]] ''<span class="comment">{{int:revertpage|Helpful contributor|Vandal}}</span>'', marking edit as [[Help: Minor edit|minor]]

Rollback links appear on the [[Help:user contributions|user contributions]] pages, [[Help:Watching pages|user watchlists]], [[Special:RecentChanges|recent changes pages]], [[Help:Page history|history pages]] and [[Help:Diff|diff pages]]. Note that in the last case, rollback links can be misleading, since reversion is not necessarily to the old version shown (the diff page may show the combined result of edits, including some by other editors or only part of the edits the rollback button would revert). To see the changes the rollback button will revert, view the specific diff that compares the last version from the last editor with the last version from the previous editor.

The rollback link looks similar to this:

[<nowiki/>[[wikipedia:Rollback|{{int:rollbacklinkcount|#}}]]]

Rollback works much more quickly than undo, since it:
* allows reverting without even looking at the list of revisions or diff
* does not require loading an edit page and sending the wikitext back to the server
* does not require a click of the Publish changes button

On the other hand, it is not as versatile as undo, since it does not allow specification of which edits have to be undone. One may want to revert more or fewer edits than the rollback does, or edits that do not include the last edit. It also does not allow adding an explanation to the automatic edit summary without external scripts. Rollback without an edit summary should only be used in [[Wikipedia:Rollback feature#When to use rollback|certain circumstances]]; most commonly to revert [[WP:VANDTYPES|obvious vandalism]]. Rolling back a good-faith edit or even during an [[Wikipedia:Edit warring|edit war]] may be interpreted as "I think your edit was no better than vandalism, and reverting it doesn't need an explanation". The rollback right can be revoked on misuse: refer to [[WP:Rollback|its main page]].

If someone else edited or rolled back the page before you clicked the "rollback" link, or if there was no previous editor, you will get an error message.

====Twinkle====

The [[WP:Twinkle|Twinkle]] gadget provides similar functionality. It displays three links when viewing the latest [[Help:Diff|diff]] of a page:
*"rollback ([[WP:AGF|AGF]])" (in green) is used to revert good-faith edits, so an edit summary is required.
*"rollback" (in blue) allows providing an edit summary without describing the edits as "good faith".
*"vandalism" (in red), which should only be used to revert obvious vandalism, since it does not allow providing an edit summary.

====Bot rollback====
In cases of flood vandalism (rapid changes to many articles), administrators and [[Wikipedia:Global_rights_policy#Global_rollbackers|global rollbackers]] may choose to hide vandalism and reverts from [[Help:Recent changes|recent changes]]. To do this, add <kbd>&bot=1</kbd> to the end of the URL used to access a user's contributions. For example: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Contributions&target=SomePersistentVandal&bot=1.

When the rollback links on the contributions list are clicked, the revert and the original edit that you are reverting will both be hidden from recent changes, unless you click the "bots" link in the Recent Changes to set <kbd>hidebots=0</kbd>. The edits are not hidden from contributions lists, page histories or watchlists. The edits remain in the database and are not removed, but they no longer flood "Recent changes". The aim of this feature is to reduce the annoyance factor of a flood vandal, with relatively little effort. This should '''not''' be used for reverting a change you just don't like, but is meant only for massive floods of simple vandalism.

==Reverting images==
To revert an image to a previous version, go to the image page and click on "File history."

You will then see a list of past edits and a thumbnail graphic of each. Logged-in users will also see a "Revert" link for versions other than the current one. Click on a Revert link to make the change.

If the image is at [[Wikimedia Commons]] you must click through to the image page there to do the revert. Then scroll down to the thumbnails. Beside the thumbnail you wish there will be the word "Revert". You will need to be logged in at Commons.

==Reverting multiple non-contiguous edits==
Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the person reverting edits on the page to be sure that any intervening helpful edits are not reverted, or unhelpful edits re-applied to the article.

In some instances, it is possible to progressively undo changes starting from the most recent and working backward in time, skipping those edits which are not to be reverted. The success of being able to do this will depend on where the various edits are located within the article text.  If they overlap or are close together within the text, the software will consider them to be conflicting with more recent edits and not permit an "undo" operation. In some cases, it is easier to begin with this technique as it may revert at least some of the unhelpful edits, providing a point from which it is easier to begin hand editing.

When considering reverting multiple edits, one should examine all the intervening edits. These are often a mix of both helpful and unhelpful edits. The goal is to remove the effect of the unhelpful edits and leave the helpful ones. This can be done either by undoing the unhelpful edits or reverting to a version of the page prior to the beginning of the unhelpful edits and re-applying, by hand, the helpful edits. To re-apply helpful edits, or revert unhelpful edits, it is usually easier to copy-and-paste portions of a version of the article which contains, or does not contain those edits.  In complex situations, this may result in combining portions of text from multiple versions of the article. The choice of starting this process from the current version as your base text, or using a prior version as your base will depend on the relative extent and localization within the article text of the changes which are to be kept and those to be reverted. It is usually easier to have the by-hand operation be on localized areas of text, rather than those changes spread throughout an article. This can be a long (hours) and complex process. It can be quite helpful to use the "Show changes" button in the edit window to compare the current diff against a diff, in a different tab or window, of the changes which you are attempting to remove or re-apply.

If you are re-applying edits by other editors, you should state the original author(s) and which edit(s) in your edit summary to provide appropriate credit. If you are reverting to a prior version with the intent of re-applying changes in follow-up edits, you should explicitly say so in the edit summary of your reversion and use the {{tl|in use}} template to indicate to other editors that you are working on the article. This is particularly important because the editors responsible for any edits which you have reverted will immediately be notified that their edit has been reverted. If there is no indication that you are working on the article, particularly if you are working to re-apply helpful edits, the other editors may edit the article in the intervening time, creating an edit conflict. Having an edit reverted can be upsetting to other editors, particularly if considerable time and effort were put into performing the edit. If you are planning to re-apply such edits, it is best to let the editors know that up-front.

The choice of method to use in complex situations is often based on your experience with the process and the available tools. Keep in mind that if you get into a situation which you find difficult to resolve, it is always possible to completely revert your own edit(s) and return the article to the condition in which you found it before the edit.

==See also==
* [[Wikipedia:Cleaning up vandalism/Tools]] – List of tools that can be used to make reverts
* [[WP:Three-revert rule]] (policy)
* [[WP:Twinkle]]
* [[WP:Reverting]] (essay)
* [[WP:Alternatives to reversion]] (essay)
* [[WP:Baby and bathwater]] (essay)
* [[WP:Revert only when necessary]] (essay)
* {{section link|Wikipedia:Vandalism|Template and CSS vandalism}} (policy) – if the edits don't appear in the page's edit history, or the history and edit tabs are obscured
* [[m:Research:Revert]] – overview of types of reverting actions and revert detection methods for analysis purposes

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