diff --git a/lib/editor/atto/autosave-ajax.php b/lib/editor/atto/autosave-ajax.php
index 00572c0c72d..36dcc060760 100644
--- a/lib/editor/atto/autosave-ajax.php
+++ b/lib/editor/atto/autosave-ajax.php
@@ -30,6 +30,11 @@ $contextid = required_param('contextid', PARAM_INT);
 $elementid = required_param('elementid', PARAM_ALPHANUMEXT);
 $pagehash = required_param('pagehash', PARAM_ALPHANUMEXT);
 $pageinstance = required_param('pageinstance', PARAM_ALPHANUMEXT);
+$now = time();
+// This is the oldest time any autosave text will be recovered from.
+// This is so that there is a good chance the draft files will still exist (there are many variables so
+// this is impossible to guarantee).
+$before = $now - 60*60*24*4;
 
 list($context, $course, $cm) = get_context_info_array($contextid);
 $PAGE->set_url('/lib/editor/atto/autosave-ajax.php');
@@ -61,6 +66,7 @@ if ($action === 'save') {
         $record->contextid = $contextid;
         $record->drafttext = $drafttext;
         $record->pageinstance = $pageinstance;
+        $record->timemodified = $now;
 
         $DB->insert_record('editor_atto_autosave', $record);
 
@@ -68,6 +74,7 @@ if ($action === 'save') {
         die();
     } else {
         $record->drafttext = $drafttext;
+        $record->timemodified = time();
         $DB->update_record('editor_atto_autosave', $record);
 
         // No response means no error.
@@ -92,6 +99,7 @@ if ($action === 'save') {
         $record->pageinstance = $pageinstance;
         $record->pagehash = $pagehash;
         $record->draftid = $newdraftid;
+        $record->timemodified = time();
         $record->drafttext = '';
 
         $DB->insert_record('editor_atto_autosave', $record);
@@ -101,6 +109,7 @@ if ($action === 'save') {
     } else {
         // Copy all draft files from the old draft area.
         $usercontext = context_user::instance($USER->id);
+        $stale = $record->timemodified < $before;
         require_once($CFG->libdir . '/filelib.php');
 
         // This function copies all the files in one draft area, to another area (in this case it's
@@ -124,10 +133,13 @@ if ($action === 'save') {
 
         $record->pageinstance = $pageinstance;
         $record->draftid = $newdraftid;
+        $record->timemodified = time();
         $DB->update_record('editor_atto_autosave', $record);
 
         // A response means the draft has been restored and here is the auto-saved text.
-        echo $record->drafttext;
+        if (!$stale) {
+            echo $record->drafttext;
+        }
         die();
     }
 } else if ($action == 'reset') {
diff --git a/lib/editor/atto/db/install.xml b/lib/editor/atto/db/install.xml
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index 7134f35499f..8d17ee419bc
--- a/lib/editor/atto/db/install.xml
+++ b/lib/editor/atto/db/install.xml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
-<XMLDB PATH="lib/editor/atto/db" VERSION="20140703" COMMENT="XMLDB file for Moodle lib/editor/atto"
+<XMLDB PATH="lib/editor/atto/db" VERSION="20140819" COMMENT="XMLDB file for Moodle lib/editor/atto"
     xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
     xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="../../../../lib/xmldb/xmldb.xsd"
 >
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
         <FIELD NAME="drafttext" TYPE="text" NOTNULL="true" SEQUENCE="false" COMMENT="The draft text"/>
         <FIELD NAME="draftid" TYPE="int" LENGTH="10" NOTNULL="false" SEQUENCE="false" COMMENT="Optional draft area id containing draft files."/>
         <FIELD NAME="pageinstance" TYPE="char" LENGTH="64" NOTNULL="true" SEQUENCE="false" COMMENT="The browser tab instance that last saved the draft text. This is to prevent multiple tabs from the same user saving different text alternately."/>
+        <FIELD NAME="timemodified" TYPE="int" LENGTH="10" NOTNULL="true" DEFAULT="0" SEQUENCE="false" COMMENT="Store the last modified time for the auto save text."/>
       </FIELDS>
       <KEYS>
         <KEY NAME="primary" TYPE="primary" FIELDS="id"/>
@@ -21,4 +22,4 @@
       </KEYS>
     </TABLE>
   </TABLES>
-</XMLDB>
+</XMLDB>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/editor/atto/db/upgrade.php b/lib/editor/atto/db/upgrade.php
index 9aa772561b5..42ef164067b 100644
--- a/lib/editor/atto/db/upgrade.php
+++ b/lib/editor/atto/db/upgrade.php
@@ -81,5 +81,21 @@ function xmldb_editor_atto_upgrade($oldversion) {
         upgrade_plugin_savepoint(true, 2014081400, 'editor', 'atto');
     }
 
+    if ($oldversion < 2014081900) {
+
+        // Define field timemodified to be added to editor_atto_autosave.
+        $table = new xmldb_table('editor_atto_autosave');
+        $field = new xmldb_field('timemodified', XMLDB_TYPE_INTEGER, '10', null, XMLDB_NOTNULL, null, '0', 'pageinstance');
+
+        // Conditionally launch add field timemodified.
+        if (!$dbman->field_exists($table, $field)) {
+            $dbman->add_field($table, $field);
+        }
+
+        // Atto savepoint reached.
+        upgrade_plugin_savepoint(true, 2014081900, 'editor', 'atto');
+    }
+
+
     return true;
 }
diff --git a/lib/editor/atto/version.php b/lib/editor/atto/version.php
index c3208c368a8..0edaf3b1d0f 100644
--- a/lib/editor/atto/version.php
+++ b/lib/editor/atto/version.php
@@ -24,6 +24,6 @@
 
 defined('MOODLE_INTERNAL') || die();
 
-$plugin->version   = 2014081400;        // The current plugin version (Date: YYYYMMDDXX).
+$plugin->version   = 2014081900;        // The current plugin version (Date: YYYYMMDDXX).
 $plugin->requires  = 2014050800;        // Requires this Moodle version.
 $plugin->component = 'editor_atto';  // Full name of the plugin (used for diagnostics).