This is my first post on the SketchUp Community. I am aware there are many other posts requesting help in searching for lost files - I haven’t gone through them all, but those I have seen don’t seem to apply.
I am running SketchUp 2016 on Windows 10. Last night I had a Windows Update which shut down my machine in the early hours of this morning. I knew it was coming some days before but forgot about it. When I came to open my SketchUp file this morning the work of the last two days wasn’t there. That must have been the last time I actively saved the file. I have been careful to ensure the default setting of saving every 5 minutes was showing under System Preferences/General/Saving, and the Creat backup and Auto-save boxes were both checked.
Under system Preferences/Files/Models I have entered the file path to a Desktop folder where I had intended any back-up file to go. It’s worked in the past, but not this time - although the time it worked may not have been a Windows update, but a SketchUp crash. I have searched my PC for all recent skb files, but the file I’m looking for isn’t amongst them. I have also searched for skp files, but this hasn’t revealed anything useful either.
I am more or less reconciled to having lost the work and my next task is to find a way to avoid losing work in the future. I thought I had it all sorted out, but I recognise I may still have further to go.
If anyone can help me to find the lost back-up file I would be eternally grateful. Any insights into how I can avoid this happening again would also be very welcome
Unfortunately you are probably out of luck. Long shot but you could look at the hidden User/AppData folder for Local/SketchUp/SketchUp 2016/SketchUp/working and see if there’s a copy there. TBH I don’t remember when this “working” folder was added as part of the user files for SketchUp. It may have been after 2016. At the time it was added, SketchUp was setup so if it crashed it would try to save a recovery file there. The event you describe isn’t technically a crash and even if the folder exists for 2016 it may not include a copy but it won’t cost anything to look.
It might be time to think about updating. With a current version of SketchUp you could have files saved locally as well as on Trimble Connect so you would have several options for getting files back.
i believe the working folder didn’t exist at the time
The custom folder you’ve set up in system preferences is for autosaving models that never have been saved (default path being user/mydocuments). But if your model has once been saved, I believe sketchup 2016 was storing the autosave in the very same folder where the original file was saved, named autosave_modelname.skp
I remember we had to be extra careful not to open the original file and modify it as the autosave could be overwritten
Thank you Dave, I’ll give your helpful suggestion a go and see what happens. I am running a very old version of SketchUp and I have been putting off updating, but this is probably the push I need. I don’t lose work very often but when it happens I usually just knuckle down and redo the work - then enter a state of denial, but that’s not a solution to the problem…
Thank you Paul. Yes, I was hoping that an auto-save version would be waiting for me in the original folder, but no luck unfortunately. It sounds as though I would have been better off if I’d never saved the file in the first place, which seems insane. Whenever I hit a problem I’m never entirely sure if I have messed up or if the software has done something it shouldn’t.
unfortunately, if you opened your file as a recent one and ignored the pop up message saying a more recent autosaved version of this file exists, and then closed sketchup with or without saving - the autosave file disappears (and not in the recycle bin nor anything, it literally vanishes)
But it had to be there at some point, the only option I see is the use of a recovery software which can be effective on a HDD but much less on a SSD, and quite tricky to use.
The best, to answer your question about preventing this to happen once more with 2016 version,is not to open sketchup at all after a crash / update / power cut, carefuly check for autosaves where your model was originally saved and make a copy of it.
Not true. If you have Autosave turned on, it only starts to work once you have saved your model at least once. The autosave file is not placed in the same folder as your saved model, but a special autosave folder. If it has been successful , you are offered the recovery option when you next open SketchUp.
Thank you again Dave - or is it Paul? It’s very kind of you to take the time to explain things. I will try to exercise greater presence of mind the next time I encounter this kind of problem and hold back before I open the the original file. John