# What does non-destructive editing mean?

It means your edits are stored as instructions layered over the original recording, which is never overwritten. The practical consequence: any cut can be undone at any time, including one you made weeks ago, and including after you have exported.

![In Cast the original recording is never overwritten: edits are stored as removable layers on top of it, so Restore can lift any one of them off, even after export. Destructive editing bakes each change into the file, and an over-aggressive pass is unrecoverable.](https://mubert.com/tools/cast/docs-media/diagrams/what-is-non-destructive.svg)

The opposite — destructive editing — bakes each change into the audio file. That is how you end up with a recording you cannot recover after an over-aggressive noise-reduction pass.

Everything in Cast works this way. It is why Restore exists on every cut.

## Related

- [Can I undo a cleanup — even long after I made it?](https://mubert.com/tools/cast/docs/undo-cleanup)
- [What is the difference between Delete and Ignore?](https://mubert.com/tools/cast/docs/delete-vs-ignore)

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Source: https://mubert.com/tools/cast/docs/what-is-non-destructive · Cast docs
Last updated: 2026-09-14