Why do dreamweaver updates always delete my site definitions and local sites?

[Paul3242395614v7]

Everytime dreamweaver updates, it always deletes all my site information and local sites from my computer. I always have to recreate the sites and redownload everything from the servers. It's incredibly annoying. Why do they do this!

[Nancy OShea]

Are you deleting Preferences when you update?  If yes, that would explain why your settings are not being saved.

Refer to Creative Cloud Desktop App, Advanced Options.

https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/help/creative-cloud-updates.html

Hope that helps.

[Jon Fritz]

Losing your Preferences is one thing, but your actual files getting deleted during an update is definitely not the intended behavior, no matter what setting you're using. I've never had it happen while working with DW (starting with CS4 when GoLive was killed). 

The only plausible reason I could see a DW update deleting your actual site content and requiring you to download your files from the server, is if maybe the sites are being stored within the program folders that get modified during an update. 

I'm sort of grasping at straws here though, a DW update should not be deleting your local files, no matter what.

Where are your local files being stored?

[Paul3242395614v7]

Files were stored in the default location that the program set. I cannot find that location anywhere on my drive so this time around I specified the location manually. 

[Nancy OShea]

Dreamweaver saves files where you defined your site folder's location in Site Manager Panel.

Most people save projects to their primary hard drive or start up disk.

[Nancy OShea]

Local site folders & files are still where you originally saved them. But you may not see them listed in your Files Panel if Preferences were purged.  Go to Site > New Site > Browse to your local site folder. Example C:\MySite\

[Paul3242395614v7]

They are not there. 

[john32951680v9s5]

It's possible that Dreamweaver's updates might be overwriting or relocating configuration files during the process, leading to the loss of your site information. To minimize the hassle, consider backing up your site configurations and files before updating. Additionally, reaching out to support or community forums could provide insight into any specific issues with the update process and potential workarounds. It's essential for updates to be seamless, and your feedback could contribute to improving the user experience for others as well.

[Nancy OShea]

It's possible that Dreamweaver's updates might be overwriting or relocating configuration files

By @john32951680v9s5

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Unlikely without user intervention.

Updates only remove Preferences when user elects to remove them. Preferences are not removed by default.

https://helpx.adobe.com/dreamweaver/kb/restore-preferences-dreamweaver.html

Dreamweaver DOES NOT remove local site folders from the computer's hard drive.  No software does that. However the Recent History panel may be empty until a new history is created by opening & closing files.

[Paul3242395614v7]

Not true, several times in the last few years adobe dreamweaver completely removes all my data for sites and deletes my site definitions so i have to re-establish links, sites, and download my entire sites from the servers each time it has done this. I checked preferences during the last update and it has had the check box clicked to retain them. 

[Nancy OShea]

In 20 years of using Dreamweaver, I have never lost actual site files from my hard drive unless the computer hard drive failed.  Fortunately, I guard against data loss with nightly backups to recovery servers.

Site definitions are small data files (STEs) that tell Dreamweaver where to find your physical file folder and optionally what the server's FTP settings are.   They are also synced with other Preference settings to your Creative Cloud storage.

Note this for future reference.  You can Import Sync Settings settings from your Preferences panel.  See screenshot.