Every time Claude edits your files, it quietly records a checkpoint. If a change made things worse, you can rewind to a known-good moment without losing the rest of the conversation. In Claude Desktop you rewind by just saying so in the chat ("that broke the layout — rewind to before it") — no command to learn. It's a safety net that lives inside the session — separate from, and faster than, undoing things by hand.
Every time Claude edits your files, it quietly records where things stood just before. You don’t set anything up; the safety net is simply there. When a change makes things worse — a layout breaks, a refactor goes sideways — you say so, and the files snap back to the last good moment.
The part that surprises people: rewinding restores your files without throwing away the conversation. You keep everything you’ve discussed and learned; you just undo the edits. That’s what makes it safe to experiment boldly on a hard task — there’s always a clean way back that doesn’t cost you the context you built up.
Think of it as session-level undo, and git as your durable, shareable undo — use
both. Checkpoints are fast and live inside the session, perfect for “try it and see”;
git is what you reach for once a change is good and you want it recorded for keeps.
It’s the natural companion to plan mode: plan to avoid the
wrong turn, checkpoint to recover quickly when one slips through anyway.
why it helps Experiment freely. There's always a clean way back.
examples- Checkpoints are session-level undo;
gitis your durable, shareable undo — use both. - Experiment boldly on a hard task: you can always rewind to the last good moment.
- Rewinding restores files without throwing away the conversation, so you keep the context.
Questions people ask
- Do I have to set up checkpoints myself?
- No. Every time Claude edits your files it quietly records a checkpoint on its own — there's nothing to configure. The safety net is simply there.
- Does rewinding lose my conversation?
- No. Rewinding restores your *files* to a known-good moment without throwing away the *conversation* — you keep everything you've discussed and learned, you just undo the edits.
- What's the difference between checkpoints and git?
- Checkpoints are fast, session-level undo for "try it and see"; `git` is your durable, shareable undo for recording a change once it's good. Use both — they do different jobs.
- How do I rewind a change?
- Just say so in plain language — "that last change broke the layout, rewind to before it" — and the files snap back to the last good moment. In Claude Desktop you do this right in the chat; there's no command to learn.