Saving and recovering your work

Inkbreaker is built so you do not lose writing. Your work saves as you type, every delete is recoverable for a while, and a published piece never changes under your readers until you say so.

Autosave

The editor saves your work automatically a couple of seconds after you stop typing. You do not need to press save. The status line next to the toolbar tells you where things stand: saving, saved, unsaved changes, or saved only on this device when a save could not reach the server.

You can turn autosave off from the save menu if you would rather save by hand. Even with it off, Inkbreaker tries to save your latest changes when you leave the editor.

Editing a published piece

When a piece is published, your edits go into a private working copy. Readers keep seeing the published version until you choose to publish your changes. So you can revise a live piece for as long as you like, and no one sees a half-finished edit.

When you are ready, select Publish changes in the editor. Readers get the new version, and you can post an update so your followers know it changed. The full flow is in Publishing your work.

Version history

Version history is free for everyone. Inkbreaker keeps a history of a piece as it changes: it saves snapshots on its own as you write, and you can save a named version at any point worth marking, like "First draft" or "After workshop notes". Open the history from the save menu to preview an older version or restore it. Restoring brings the old text back into the editor as unsaved changes, so you can look it over before you keep it.

You can save a named version anytime with Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + S. The shortcut works in the editor and in every worldbuilding tool that keeps version history.

Version history covers your pieces and your worldbuilding work: world entries, systems, the Time Weaver, the Relationship Web, and chapter plans.

When a piece is open in two places

If you open the same piece in another tab or on another device, Inkbreaker shows a banner so you know that saves from either place can collide. The save status near the toolbar reflects this too.

If two places save the same piece and they disagree, Inkbreaker does not choose for you. It shows your version next to the other one and lets you keep yours or take theirs. Nothing is overwritten without your say.

Trash

Deleting something does not erase it right away. Pieces, worlds, world entries, systems, timelines, relationships, and chapter plans all go to Trash first. Find everything you have deleted under Manage, then Trash.

From Trash you can restore an item to where it was, or delete it permanently once you are sure. Permanent deletion asks you to confirm by typing, since that step cannot be undone. If an item's world was deleted along with it, recovering the item offers to bring the world back too.

The recovery window

Trashed items wait before Inkbreaker removes them for good. Free accounts keep them for 30 days. Pro accounts keep them for 90. Inkbreaker warns you in the week before anything is removed, and again in its final day, so a deleted piece never vanishes without notice. You can switch the email warnings off in Preferences and keep the in-app ones.

If your browser closes

If your browser or tab closes before a save lands, Inkbreaker keeps your most recent keystrokes on your own device. The next time you open that piece, it offers to bring those changes back, and you can recover or discard them. This copy lives only in your browser, and it clears once your work is safely saved.

Download a full backup

You can pull a complete copy of everything you have written. Go to Manage, then Backup (it is also linked from your account settings). Choose Inkbreaker JSON for a backup you can import again later, or a readable archive of Markdown and CSV files. Large backups are prepared in the background, and you get a notification with the download link when it is ready. Links stay good for 24 hours, and your recent backups are listed so you can download them again.