My Project disappeared!!

Report · Jul 02, 2018

My project disappeared from Premiere Pro! I have been working on the same project every night for a week. When I went to go open it up in premiere it was gone? I've looked in all my files no where to be found. The last project says opened 4 days ago but I was on premiere less then 24 hours ago.. What happened? How can I get my work back?

Report · Jul 02, 2018

Check the Project file location in the Project Manager of PrPro or use you search management in your computer and look for .prproj files.

Neil

Report · Jul 17, 2018

Hi baileya,

Did you ever locate your project? Please check your Auto Save folder for a more recent version if you have not already done so. Let us know what's going on.

Thanks,
Kevin

Kevin Monahan - Sr. Community & Engagement Strategist – Pro Video and Audio

Report · Apr 24, 2019

hi there, I had my project disappear on me mid-editing is there a way to get it back? undo doesn't work and manual save file retrieval doesn't work

EDIT: oops found it I named the copy as the same name but with (2) at the end. I just did a stup. the same

Report · Dec 02, 2020

Hi Neil , I have located the premier pro auto save files...but none would open. It gives an error message each time I try to open. Kindly help

Report · Dec 02, 2020

What's the error? Maybe @Kevin-Monahan might be able to help.

Neil

Report · Dec 02, 2020

Hi Neil,

Unable to open project it is damaged.

Thats the error i received.

Report · Dec 03, 2020

Ouch.

And you don't have copies ... this is how I learned (painfully, I would note) to do iterative save-as every so often, and make copy of the project in any crucial project. That way I always have a fairly recent version of the project file available, and on two different drives.

There's a guy that has been able to rescue project files, really understands the "language" used and the process that Premiere goes through in using those files. I don't have his connection data though.

Neil

Report · Jul 22, 2018

Same thing happened to me and I am furious!!! This was a video project I had been working on for DAYS! for a client and now it is gone! I only have a few hours to deliver this is HORRIBLE! I am so angry I am in tears and more than likely will never work with this video editing software again! I can't find auto saves the saves I did manually NOTHING! It shows my recent projects were last month when I just was working on it last night!!! I pay for a service and files are automatically getting deleted I am beyond pissed!

Report · Jul 22, 2018

Tried a back up project you made?

Report · Jul 22, 2018

Did you read any replies above and look for your file?

When you created the project you had to select a location. Have you looked there?

PrPro doesn't delete project files. Sometimes it forgets where they are, and you need to navigate to them manually.

And really Basic Computer 101 ... you always make a copy for backup. Period. I do hope you don't assume an autosave feature relieves you of the responsibility to work safely on a computer.

Neil

Report · Aug 09, 2018

this happened to me too !!! Its completely gone no trace anywhere on my PC!!! Ive been searching for 2 hours and the last week of work has been erased from existance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE HELP!!

Report · Aug 09, 2018

I looked at "task view" on windows 10 to see all of the activity on my computer for the past 20 days. My last edit session was on Tuesday august 7th but task view is showing that I haven't opened premiere pro since JULY 31st!! what the hell is going on?? all of my session files in the explorer say 7-31 even the autosaves!! Please help!!

Report · Aug 09, 2018

What was the original project file save location?

Report · Aug 09, 2018

If you used the default project save location, try looking here:

/users/YOUR_USER_NAME/Documents/Adobe/Premiere Pro/12.0

I'm assuming you're on a PC

Report · Aug 09, 2018

I found the project file. it had been oddly saved under the wrong name on a separate external hard drive. This happened because im not used to cc2018 and the screwy way it deals with having multiple projects open at once. I find that I think I'm saving to this project when in fact its saving to another project I didn't even realize was opened. What a scary experience! I'm going back to 2017.Thanks for your assistance!

Report · Aug 09, 2018

In the Preferences / General / there is a setting to open projects in a new window instead of a new tab. This might reduce the confussion for you.

Report · Aug 18, 2020

R Neil,

how is this helpful and not just rude?

"And really Basic Computer 101 ... you always make a copy for backup. Period. I do hope you don't assume an autosave feature relieves you of the responsibility to work safely on a computer."

Report · Apr 21, 2019

Same! Did you ever find a solution to this??? I am in the same situation with a HUG project! ALL GONE! It's like it never existed!

Report · Apr 22, 2019

Assuming you made a backup?

Report · Aug 18, 2020

This is not helpful, Ann. I'm reading your replies and oyur tone is super condescending.

Report · Sep 07, 2018

it happen to me to, and i remember seeing him doing auto-save...i was confident on that.. shit

Report · Oct 25, 2018

thank you all so much. i am a noob with the software and didnt think to check the auto save folder. i found the latest auto save version. For some reason when i accidentally hit save as instead of save it deleted everything from the project area when i reopened it... it was all displayed as one merged clip in the imported files area.. i had no choice but to find an auto save version simply because the background music wouldnt have matched after cutting and editing more... thanks again everyone...!

Report · Apr 23, 2019

I saw many topics of people encountering the same problem I had. My problem was caused by starting a portable version of photoshop on a computer with premiere installed (not portable): when closing photoshop, it deletes ALL files from /13 folder (default premiere folder). The problem is still present in last versions but since happened to me, I save project outside default folder (on desktop for example), and also do backup on external hd. Can't believe advanced softwares like this always have this problem, or problems like rendered clips disappearing (becoming red again) with no reason.

Report · Apr 23, 2019

I can never believe how many people don't set up their own storage and backup for their projects active/archived. Instead, they save their projects to the folders created by the app ... I can't understand the thinking for that.

That is asking for disaster.

Neil