Retrace | Folder History
A native version history for the folders you pick - rewind a whole folder to any moment, not one file.
Retrace is a native macOS app that keeps a local version history of the folders you choose, saving a copy of each file seconds after you stop editing it - or waiting for a snapshot, on the folders you would rather it left alone - so you can rewind an entire folder to any moment and undo the rewind if it was not the one.
Rewind a folder, not a file.
Retrace keeps a quiet local history of the folders you choose. A few seconds after you stop editing a file it saves a copy - or, for a folder you would rather it left alone, it waits until you ask. Because those copies share their data with the original they start out costing nothing, and you decide how much disk each folder may use and how long history is kept. When something goes wrong you put the whole folder back to how it was - and back to now again if that was not it either.
Features
- Saves a copy seconds after you stop editing a file
- Rewind a whole folder to any moment, then undo it
- Compare two versions side by side: text, images, PDFs
- Search inside old versions: text files, PDFs, documents
- Export a folder as it was at any moment, into a new one
- Knows an overwrite from an edit, and keeps both
- Start from Finder, snapshot from any app with a shortcut
- Your files stay on your Mac and no account is needed
How it works
- Right-click any folder in Finder, choose History, and switch it on. The disk limit and how long history is kept can be changed in Settings.
- Keep working. Retrace saves a copy whenever a file settles, or waits for a snapshot on a folder you set to record only when asked.
- Open the history to compare versions, search old ones for a word or jump to a day, then rewind the folder or export it as it was.
Buying and licensing
Yes. Download the app and it runs in full for 30 days - no key, no card, no email. Nothing is held back during the trial.
No. You pay once and the license is yours for good, on up to 3 Macs. There is no renewal and no in-app purchase. The studio also sells an optional subscription that includes this app, if you would rather have every app instead.
Buy from the store and the key arrives by email right after checkout. Paste it into the app once and it stays activated.
The app locks until you enter a key. Nothing is deleted - your data stays on your Mac and comes straight back the moment you activate.
Yes, and thank you. Every app page has a Buy me a coffee button - one-off, any amount. It is not a purchase: no license is issued and nothing is unlocked, so every app works exactly the same whether you tip or not.