This a either case of mutual misinterpretation of the written word, or my SketchUp v.19.3.253 doesn’t work like it’s supposed to. I suspect the former.
By Default:
SketchUp saves the Auto-Save file every after 5 minutes.
When the user saves the active model and continues modeling, the Auto-Save file is deleted and the 5-minute clock resets, as in this clip.
Save and Continue Modeling
When the user closes an active model prior to saving it, a popup dialog asks this question:
• Save changes to (model name).skp? Yes … No
Either answer results in the Auto-Save file being deleted, as in the following clips.
Yes, that’s how I’ve told people to test whether auto save is working ok. In the case of a software update and the message about “restart anyway”, I imagine Windows does the same End Task on each open app, but I haven’t tested that.
But like I said, the last auto save file should still be there, no matter how Windows closes the apps, because the file is made during the time that SketchUp is running ok, and not at the time that it is crashing.