<span class="mw-page-title-namespace">Help</span><span class="mw-page-title-separator">:</span><span class="mw-page-title-main">Page history</span>

Help:Page history

<p>A <b>page history</b> shows the order in which edits were made to any editable <a href="/en/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia" class="wl">Wikipedia</a> page, the difference between any two revisions, and a menu of special external tools. A page history is sometimes called <b>revision history</b> or <b>edit history</b>.</p>

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">Wikimedia help page</div>
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<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1097619167" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles mw:Transclusion">.mw-parser-output .ombox{margin:4px 0;border-collapse:collapse;border:1px solid #a2a9b1;background-color:#f8f9fa;box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .ombox.mbox-small{font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em}.mw-parser-output .ombox-speedy{border:2px solid #b32424;background-color:#fee7e6}.mw-parser-output .ombox-delete{border:2px solid #b32424}.mw-parser-output .ombox-content{border:1px solid #f28500}.mw-parser-output .ombox-style{border:1px solid #fc3}.mw-parser-output .ombox-move{border:1px solid #9932cc}.mw-parser-output .ombox-protection{border:2px solid #a2a9b1}.mw-parser-output .ombox .mbox-text{border:none;padding:0.25em 0.9em;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .ombox .mbox-image{border:none;padding:2px 0 2px 0.9em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ombox .mbox-imageright{border:none;padding:2px 0.9em 2px 0;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ombox .mbox-empty-cell{border:none;padding:0;width:1px}.mw-parser-output .ombox .mbox-invalid-type{text-align:center}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .ombox{margin:4px 10%}.mw-parser-output .ombox.mbox-small{clear:right;float:right;margin:4px 0 4px 1em;width:238px}}</style><table class="plainlinks ombox ombox-notice" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-image"><span><a href="/en/File:Twemoji_1f527.svg" class="mw-file-description image wl"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9e/Twemoji_1f527.svg/30px-Twemoji_1f527.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="512" data-file-type="drawing" height="30" width="30" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9e/Twemoji_1f527.svg/45px-Twemoji_1f527.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9e/Twemoji_1f527.svg/60px-Twemoji_1f527.svg.png 2x" alt="Twemoji_1f527.svg"></a></span></td><td class="mbox-text"><div style="padding-top: 6px; padding-bottom: 5px;"><b>This help page is a <a href="/en/Wikipedia:Project_namespace#Wikipedia_how-to_and_information_pages" title="Wikipedia:Project namespace" class="wl">how-to guide</a>.</b><br><div style="font-size: 90%;">It details processes or procedures of some aspect(s) of Wikipedia's norms and practices. It is not one of <a href="/en/Wikipedia:Policies_and_guidelines" title="Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines" class="wl">Wikipedia's policies or guidelines</a>, and may reflect varying levels of <a href="/en/Wikipedia:Consensus" title="Wikipedia:Consensus" class="wl">consensus</a> and <a href="/en/Wikipedia:Consensus#Achieving_consensus" title="Wikipedia:Consensus" class="wl">vetting</a>.</div></div></td><td class="mbox-imageright"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1144601400" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles">.mw-parser-output .module-shortcutboxplain{float:right;margin:0 0 0 1em;border:1px solid #aaa;background:#fff;padding:0.3em 0.6em 0.2em 0.6em;text-align:center;font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .module-shortcutboxleft{float:left;margin:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .module-shortcutlist{display:inline-block;border-bottom:1px solid #aaa;margin-bottom:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .module-shortcutboxplain ul{font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .module-shortcutanchordiv{position:relative;top:-3em}.mw-parser-output li .module-shortcutanchordiv{float:right}.mw-parser-output .mbox-imageright .module-shortcutboxplain{padding:0.4em 1em 0.4em 1em;line-height:1.3;margin:0}</style><div class="module-shortcutanchordiv"></div><div class="module-shortcutboxplain noprint" role="note"><div class="module-shortcutlist"><a href="/en/Wikipedia:Shortcut" title="Wikipedia:Shortcut" class="wl">Shortcuts</a></div><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1126788409" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles">.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul li{margin-bottom:0}</style><div class="plainlist"><ul><li><span class="plainlinks"><a rel="mw:ExtLink" href="//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:PAGE&amp;redirect=no" class="external text" target="_blank">WP:PAGE</a></span></li><li><span class="plainlinks"><a rel="mw:ExtLink" href="//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=H:PH&amp;redirect=no" class="external text" target="_blank">H:PH</a></span></li><li><span class="plainlinks"><a rel="mw:ExtLink" href="//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:PAGEHIST&amp;redirect=no" class="external text" target="_blank">WP:PAGEHIST</a></span></li></ul></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>
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<table class="plainlinks ombox ombox-notice notheme" role="presentation" style="background-color: #eaf8f4; border: 2px solid #008560;"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-image"><span><span><img loading="lazy" alt="Information_icon_dark_green.svg" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/Information_icon_dark_green.svg/40px-Information_icon_dark_green.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="620" data-file-height="620" data-file-type="drawing" height="40" width="40" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/Information_icon_dark_green.svg/60px-Information_icon_dark_green.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/Information_icon_dark_green.svg/80px-Information_icon_dark_green.svg.png 2x"></span></span></td><td class="mbox-text" style="font-size: 120%;">New here? <a href="/en/Help:Introduction" title="Help:Introduction" class="wl">Welcome!</a> There is a simplified version of this page at <b><a href="/en/Help:HISTINTRO" title="Help:HISTINTRO" class="mw-redirect wl">Help:HISTINTRO</a></b>.</td></tr></tbody></table>

<figure class="wiki-thumb"><a href="/en/File:View_History-_marked_screenshot.png" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:View_History-_marked_screenshot.png"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/64/View_History-_marked_screenshot.png/250px-View_History-_marked_screenshot.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="1232" data-file-height="699" data-file-type="bitmap" height="142" width="250" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/64/View_History-_marked_screenshot.png/375px-View_History-_marked_screenshot.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/64/View_History-_marked_screenshot.png/500px-View_History-_marked_screenshot.png 2x" alt="View_History-_marked_screenshot.png"></a><figcaption>If you want to view a page's history, go to the page (e.g., <a href="/en/Cat" title="Cat" class="wl">Cat</a>) and click the "<a href="/en/Special:PageHistory/Cat" title="Special:PageHistory/Cat" class="wl">View history</a>" tab in the upper-right section of the screen.</figcaption></figure>
<figure class="wiki-thumb"><span><a href="/en/File:Using_the_view_history_tab_on_Wikipedia.webm" class="app_media media-thumb" data-hash="File:Using_the_view_history_tab_on_Wikipedia.webm"><video poster="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/Using_the_view_history_tab_on_Wikipedia.webm/250px--Using_the_view_history_tab_on_Wikipedia.webm.jpg" preload="none" height="141" width="250" resource="./File:Using_the_view_history_tab_on_Wikipedia.webm"><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Using_the_view_history_tab_on_Wikipedia.webm" type="video/webm; codecs=&quot;vp8, vorbis&quot;" data-file-width="1280" data-file-height="720" data-title="Original WebM file, 1,280 × 720 (353 kbps)" data-shorttitle="WebM source"><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/c6/Using_the_view_history_tab_on_Wikipedia.webm/Using_the_view_history_tab_on_Wikipedia.webm.120p.vp9.webm" type="video/webm; codecs=&quot;vp9, opus&quot;" data-width="214" data-height="120" data-title="Lowest bandwidth VP9 (120P)" data-shorttitle="VP9 120P"><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/c6/Using_the_view_history_tab_on_Wikipedia.webm/Using_the_view_history_tab_on_Wikipedia.webm.160p.webm" type="video/webm; codecs=&quot;vp8, vorbis&quot;" data-width="284" data-height="160" data-title="Low bandwidth WebM (160P)" data-shorttitle="WebM 160P"><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/c6/Using_the_view_history_tab_on_Wikipedia.webm/Using_the_view_history_tab_on_Wikipedia.webm.180p.vp9.webm" type="video/webm; codecs=&quot;vp9, opus&quot;" data-width="320" data-height="180" data-title="Low bandwidth VP9 (180P)" data-shorttitle="VP9 180P"><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/c6/Using_the_view_history_tab_on_Wikipedia.webm/Using_the_view_history_tab_on_Wikipedia.webm.240p.vp9.webm" type="video/webm; codecs=&quot;vp9, opus&quot;" data-width="426" data-height="240" data-title="Small VP9 (240P)" data-shorttitle="VP9 240P"><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/c6/Using_the_view_history_tab_on_Wikipedia.webm/Using_the_view_history_tab_on_Wikipedia.webm.240p.webm" type="video/webm; codecs=&quot;vp8, vorbis&quot;" data-width="426" data-height="240" data-title="Small WebM (240P)" data-shorttitle="WebM 240P"><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/c6/Using_the_view_history_tab_on_Wikipedia.webm/Using_the_view_history_tab_on_Wikipedia.webm.360p.vp9.webm" type="video/webm; codecs=&quot;vp9, opus&quot;" data-width="640" data-height="360" data-title="VP9 (360P)" data-shorttitle="VP9 360P"><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/c6/Using_the_view_history_tab_on_Wikipedia.webm/Using_the_view_history_tab_on_Wikipedia.webm.360p.webm" type="video/webm; codecs=&quot;vp8, vorbis&quot;" data-width="640" data-height="360" data-title="WebM (360P)" data-shorttitle="WebM 360P"><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/c6/Using_the_view_history_tab_on_Wikipedia.webm/Using_the_view_history_tab_on_Wikipedia.webm.480p.vp9.webm" type="video/webm; codecs=&quot;vp9, opus&quot;" data-width="854" data-height="480" data-title="SD VP9 (480P)" data-shorttitle="VP9 480P"><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/c6/Using_the_view_history_tab_on_Wikipedia.webm/Using_the_view_history_tab_on_Wikipedia.webm.480p.webm" type="video/webm; codecs=&quot;vp8, vorbis&quot;" data-width="854" data-height="480" data-title="SD WebM (480P)" data-shorttitle="WebM 480P"><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/c6/Using_the_view_history_tab_on_Wikipedia.webm/Using_the_view_history_tab_on_Wikipedia.webm.720p.vp9.webm" type="video/webm; codecs=&quot;vp9, opus&quot;" data-width="1280" data-height="720" data-title="HD VP9 (720P)" data-shorttitle="VP9 720P"><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/c6/Using_the_view_history_tab_on_Wikipedia.webm/Using_the_view_history_tab_on_Wikipedia.webm.720p.webm" type="video/webm; codecs=&quot;vp8, vorbis&quot;" data-width="1280" data-height="720" data-title="HD WebM (720P)" data-shorttitle="WebM 720P"></video></a></span><figcaption>10-minute video introduction to the View History feature.</figcaption></figure>

<p>You can view a page's history by clicking the “View history” tab at the top of the associated page (<i>pictured right</i>). See <a href="#Mobile_version" target="_blank">§<span>&nbsp;</span>Mobile version</a> for the mobile version of the site which works differently.</p>

<p>The page history contains a list of the page's previous revisions, including the date and time<span>—</span>in <a href="/en/UTC" title="UTC" class="mw-redirect wl">UTC</a> by default<span>—</span>of each edit, the <a href="/en/Help:Username" title="Help:Username" class="mw-redirect wl">username</a> or <a href="/en/IP_address" title="IP address" class="wl">IP address</a> of the user who made the change, and an optional <a href="/en/Help:Edit_summary" title="Help:Edit summary" class="wl">edit summary</a> that briefly describes or explains the change. For example, the <a href="/en/Special:PageHistory/Help:Page_history" title="Special:PageHistory/Help:Page history" class="wl">page history</a> for this help page shows it was first created on September 20, 2004, and that it has been changed more than 500 times since then.</p>



A page history shows the order in which edits were made to any editable Wikipedia page, the difference between any two revisions, and a menu of special external tools. A page history is sometimes called revision history or edit history. You can view a page's history by clicking the “View history” tab at the top of the associated page . See § Mobile version for the mobile version of the site which works differently. 