What happens when versioning is enabled on an S3 bucket?

When versioning is enabled on an S3 bucket, every version of an object is stored when it is overwritten or deleted. This means that each time you upload an object with the same key as an existing object, S3 creates a new version of that object rather than replacing or removing the existing one.

This functionality allows you to preserve, retrieve, and restore every version of an object that is stored in the bucket. For example, if you mistakenly delete an object or upload a new version that you later regret, you can revert to an older version. This is particularly useful for data protection and recovery strategies, ensuring that important data is not permanently lost due to accidental overwrites or deletions.

The other options do not accurately describe the features of versioning in S3. Enabling versioning does not automatically delete objects after a specific time, nor does it restrict an S3 bucket to keeping only the latest version of an object. Additionally, versioning is unrelated to encryption settings—it focuses on retaining all versions of objects rather than their encryption status.