Before you roll a Photoshop file back with Time Machine
REFLO Team2026. 10. 1. 오전 10:005 min read
When a file goes wrong, pause before opening Time Machine. Decide whether you need the whole Mac, or just that one file.
When a file gets tangled, a lot of people open Time Machine first.
Pause before you roll the whole Mac back. The safer first step is to decide whether you actually need the whole computer, or just one file.
What Time Machine rolls back
Time Machine is a backup of the whole Mac at a point in time. It is not a place to put Photoshop version A next to version B and compare them.
If you roll the whole Mac back to that moment, other files you worked on afterward go back with it. You can pull out a single file, but you have to restore it and open it to see how it differs from the current version. If the goal is “just this PSD, the version from yesterday afternoon,” check whether that file already has its own save history before you roll the Mac back.
A side-by-side look at Time Machine and REFLO is in REFLO vs Time Machine.
A mistake you just made, and a file you saved yesterday
A stroke you just drew, or a layer you just deleted, belongs to Photoshop Undo and the History panel. That record disappears when you close the file.
Yesterday’s PSD, or the version a client means by “that one,” is different. REFLO keeps a save each time you save a file in the folder you chose. On the timeline you can look at an earlier save next to the current file, and restore that file alone.
What about InDesign and Figma?
InDesign. Undo inside the app, and InDesign’s own recovery, belong in InDesign. REFLO does not ship an InDesign panel. If you save the file into a folder you protect, that save can still show up on the REFLO timeline. Opening a version from a panel inside the app is available for Photoshop and Illustrator.
Figma. Use Figma’s own version history. REFLO does not replace Figma undo or Figma’s cloud history. REFLO is for Photoshop and Illustrator files saved in a folder on your computer.
Which tool for which moment
- The last step: Undo in Photoshop or InDesign (Cmd+Z)
- An earlier Figma frame: Figma’s version history
- One PSD or AI file from yesterday: the REFLO timeline
- The whole Mac on a given date: Time Machine. Check first that other files from the meantime will roll back with it
If you want versions of the files you care about without restoring the whole Mac, start with REFLO.