Opening a GoBack for a File
To go back with a file, you open a GoBack window into it. There are three methods to do this.
- Method 1. The FileGoBack System Service (Recommended). When you select one or more files in a file-browsing application such as Finder or Path Finder, FileGoBack appears in the Services menu.

Clicking this item will activate FileGoBack and command it to open a GoBack window into each of the selected files.
- Method 2. Droplet. Drag and drop one or more files onto the FileGoBack application package.
- Method 3. Launch FileGoBack. When FileGoBack launches, it opens an Open Navigation dialog, in which you select one or more files. Then, when you click Go Back, FileGoBack will open a GoBack window for each item. If FileGoBack is already running, you can go back into additional files
by clicking in the menu: File ▸ New
GoBack.
Stopping the Search
When the new window opens, FileGoBack will search your Time Machine
archives, beginning with today and going back in time. If you know
the approximate date of the version you are interested in, you may
click the Stop button after it has
appeared.
Working with a selection
When you select a version from the table on the left, metadata
about the file and a QuickLook™ thumbnail image appear on the
right. For further information and actions, there are three buttons
available…
Preview. Shows the full QuickLook™
preview of the selected file in a separate window.
View. Opens the selected file in the
application which is registered to edit it. For example if you
click a .docx file and you have
Microsoft Word installed on your Mac, the file will open in
Microsoft Word. Note that you cannot edit the file in this mode,
because it is still on your Time Machine™ disk, which is not
writable. (If you could, that would be changing history!) If you want to edit the file, use Restore.
Restore. Opens a Save dialog in which you choose a name and folder
location where you want the old version to be copied to. A default
name, which is the old name appended with ~month-date is generated automatically.
Closing the GoBack Window
GoBack windows remain open in case you want to preview, view, or open other versions. When you are done with a GoBack window, click the red close button or type ⌘W.