File from last year totally disappeared, how can I find it?
Where was it when you last saw it? You could search for .skp in the Windows File Explorer. Have it search your whole computer. If itās there, you should see it in the list.
Hi Dave,
Thank you for your help.
I worked on this project back in Nov 2019 and did a save as of several modified versions of the interior design, and kept it all in one sketch up folder. The entire folder is gone and all versions of the interior design project. I tried looking under title, date, *skp, in the remote hard drive and it is gone too. I have bunch of pdf copies of the project luckily.
Did you create the pdf with LayOut, by chance?
If so, the SketchUp files might be embedded in a .layout file.
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Did you look in the Recycle Bin? Maybe the folder is still there and could be recovered.
Going forward it might make sense to archive your files to Trimble Connect or another cloud based service so you have a backup. If you have more than one drive in your computer you might also consider local backups. I use a program called Cobian Backup which creates a backup of selected files. I have it set to do a backup once a week and it keeps the last 3 backups. You can adjust the frequency and the number of copies.
I use this Search Everything program in Windows 10:
As soon as I have typed the p in .skp, instantly I see the nearly 1000 SKP files that are on my drive. That may help to find a missing file or folder a bit quicker than the File Explorer search option.
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Thank you for the search suggestion. It did help bring up old AutoCAD files and one SketchUp Layout file from 2016. 
I last worked on the file, and alternate versions of the design, all saved, in Dec of 2019. And on the side, sometime early this year my PC had an automatic Windows 10 upgrade and I wonder if that did something to āhideā the file?
Thank you. I will try it.
Thanks, DaveR. I appreciate the information archiving with Trimble Connect.
It wouldnāt be common for a Windows update to delete user files but I suppose itās possible.
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I have a screenshot of one of the serval versions of this project that I can no longer find. The last time I modified the design was Dec 2019. The SketchUp program would show the list of recently opened files of this project. I cannot locate it, not one of 8 versions with this project title āStaircase Cabinetryā. It is a mystery to me, and I cannot think of what caused it to disappear. All my other projects with SketchUp are accessible. The program Voidtools.com is great but it could not locate the file pictured. I am baffled.
Can you find any other .skp files from around that time period?
If what you mean by Upgrade was an operating system change (Win 7 to Win 10) than maybe the files are lost forever.
Good questionā¦unfortunately that was the only project I had on SketchUp at the time.
The others were on AutoCAD.
Hmmmā¦ Unfortunately it kind of sounds like you are out of luck.
Iām going to ask what might be a stupid question. Iāve seen plenty of cases in troubleshooting everything from SketchUp problems to problems with critical life support equipment to know that stupid questions have to be asked once in awhile. Is there any chance at all that you might have made these SketchUp models on a different computer?
Thank you for the question.
I am afraid I used the same computer then that I am using now, MSI Dominator Pro G. It is about 3 years old.
Wellā¦ Iāve had to ask if the anesthesia machine was turned on before so I figured Iād ask.
I know a computer specialist working with a local company that has ties to the defense dept. He got a call late one weekend night about a computer issue on a Sub that was off the coast of LA. He went through all the troubleshooting steps with the crew to no avail. The tech was put on a plane that night and later dropped onto the sub by helicopter. He had the computer running in a very short order. The crew assumed the fuse the machine was on to be good. The problemā¦ the fuse was blown.
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There was a no-doubt apocryphal tale about a support call in which the person couldnāt get the computer to boot. The support person ran through the usual possibilities, eventually ending up with āis it plugged in?ā. The caller replied āI canāt tell! The power is out and it is dark back there.ā
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