The Versions feature in Lightroom is interesting, but it is NOT the same as Virtual Copies, and the way it works could mean lost edits and lots of frustration if you don’t understand what it’s doing.
Versions (Lightroom)
This is one of the ways in which the web-based version of Lightroom differs from Lightroom Classic. In Lightroom Classic you can create 'Virtual Copies' of images to try out different treatments, and these are shown as separate images in your library. You can't do this in the web version of Lightroom. Instead, you create 'Versions' which are stored within the image file and now shown separately – you have to know they are there to find them and compare them.
Lightroom vs Lightroom Classic: same name, very different workflow
The name is the same, but despite the apparent similarities, these are two very different programs. So what are the key differences between Lightroom CC and Lightroom Classic CC, and how do you choose which one to use?