Timeshift 25.12.4

Timeshift is the undo button for a Linux system. It takes periodic snapshots of the operating system and restores them when an update, a driver installation, or a configuration change leaves the machine broken. Linux Mint ships it by default, and it installs cleanly on nearly every other distribution.

Two backends, different tradeoffs

In Btrfs mode, Timeshift uses the filesystem’s native copy-on-write snapshots: creation is instantaneous and a snapshot costs almost nothing until the original diverges. This requires a Btrfs root with the standard @ and @home subvolume layout that Mint, Ubuntu, and Fedora installers create.

In rsync mode, it works on any filesystem, using hard links so that unchanged files across snapshots occupy space only once. Slower than Btrfs snapshots but universally applicable, including ext4.

System files, not your documents

Timeshift excludes home directories by default, and that is deliberate rather than a limitation. Rolling back a bad update should not also roll back today’s work. It is a system restore tool, so pair it with a real backup tool for personal data.

sudo timeshift --create --comments "before nvidia driver"
sudo timeshift --list
sudo timeshift --restore

Restoring a machine that will not boot

The case Timeshift exists for is the one where the desktop no longer starts. Boot a live USB, install Timeshift in the live session, point it at the drive holding your snapshots, and restore from there. That path is why it is worth setting up before you need it rather than after.

Snapshots are not backups

Snapshots live on the same disk as the data they protect. They cover bad updates and mistakes; they do not cover drive failure, theft, or fire. Run Timeshift for rollback and a separate off-device backup for survival.

Verify Your Download

Packages are available in most distribution repositories (apt install timeshift); release artifacts and checksums are published on GitHub.