Note: This article describes how this feature works in Lokalise Expert. The same feature is also available in Lokalise Vantage, but the interface and workflow may differ. If you are using Lokalise Vantage, see: Lokalise Vantage: Editor.
This feature is available from the Growth plan and above.
The translation history feature lets you roll back any translation to an earlier version, giving you full control over changes in your project. It also helps with accountability by showing who made each change and when — making it easier to troubleshoot issues and maintain a clear audit trail.
Viewing translation history
To view the history of a specific translation, open the project editor, locate the translation you’re interested in, and click the History button next to it:
This will open the History pane:
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In the list, the earliest version of the translation is at the bottom. You can toggle the Show differences option to highlight the changes between versions.
For each version, you’ll see details like who made the changes, which tool was used (such as the editor or API), and when the changes were made.
If you need to revert to an earlier version, simply click the Restore button next to that version.
Translation history in branches
When you create a branch, translations are copied from the main branch, but their translation history is not. Translation history in the new branch starts when a translation is first changed there.
This affects translation history and the Undo bulk action in the following ways:
The first change to a translation in a branch appears as a full-value change in its history because there is no earlier history entry in the branch to compare it with. Subsequent changes are displayed normally.
Undo cannot restore a translation to the value it had when the branch was created if that translation had not previously been changed in the branch. Undo relies on the translation history available in the branch, so in this case there is no earlier branch value to restore.
After a translation has been changed in the branch and has its own history, Undo works normally for subsequent changes.
The Restore to last translation history bulk action can be used to restore translations that do not yet have previous history in the branch. In this case, Lokalise uses the value from the main branch that the translation had when the branch was created.
Reverting to last translation history in bulk
If you need to undo the last change for multiple translation keys at once, you can do this in bulk. Just select the affected keys and choose Restore to last translation history from the bulk actions menu. This will revert all selected translations to their previous state.
For a more comprehensive backup, you can use snapshots to save the entire project, including all keys, translations, settings, and contributors. This is especially useful if you want a full restore point before making significant changes.
Known issues and limitations
Translation history is not included in the project snapshots.
History is not shown for translations longer than 50,000 characters.
In some edge cases, after creating a new branch from an existing one or copying a project, translation history diffs may appear less granular for the first change to a string. The initial modification can be displayed as a full-value diff, even if only a small part of the text was changed. All subsequent changes are tracked and shown correctly.