Help! Crash delete without recovery

[Anonymous]

Hi all. I've been working on a project and was about 18 hours into it when fusion crashed, and when I reloaded had no back ups or documents to recover. I've read through similar threads (https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/design-validate-document/any-way-to-recover-from-locally-cached-files...) but have yet to find a solution. Does anyone know how to find these files? I'd really prefer not to start completely over.

[paul.clauss · Accepted solution]

Hi @Anonymous

Thanks for posting! It is unfortunate that you have been unable to find a backup recovery file for your design. 

I would begin looking for the file by checking the crash recovery files in Fusion, as illustrated in this article. Remember to enable hidden files and folders!

If this does not work, it is possible that some missing files have not been uploaded to A360 cloud storage and may be found in your local cache folders, which you will need to enable hidden files and folders for Windows or Mac to access. To check your local cache folders:

1. Open Windows File Explorer or Finder (Mac).
2. Browse to the following filepaths;
1. Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Autodesk\Autodesk Fusion 360\<Custom Log-in ID>\W.login\F
2. Mac: ~Library/Autodesk/Application Support/Autodesk/Autodesk Fusion 360/ <Custom Log-in ID>/W.login/F
3. Designs containing assemblies with x-references will be found at the filepaths below;

1. Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%l\Autodesk\Autodesk Fusion 360\<Custom Log-in ID>\W.login\Q\_XRef_
2. Mac: ~Library/Autodesk/Application Support/Autodesk/Autodesk Fusion 360/ <Custom Log-in ID>/W.login/Q/_XRef_

Hopefully this will help you locate the missing files! If it does not, please attach your diagnostic log files to this thread and I will see if there is anything we can do to continue troubleshooting..

I would like to mention that the auto-save feature should not be relied upon 100% of the time - it is a good idea to save to the cloud frequently and create a local archive copy towards the end of the design process. If Fusion 360 is actively working on a process (e.g. rendering, solving a simulation, using the edit form command, etc.. ) then the auto-save can be skipped. Instead of relying on auto-save, you could use a lesser known feature allows the save a recovery file which does not sync with the cloud. To manually save a recovery version of a document, you could use the keyboard command:

Windows:
CTRL+SHIFT+S
Mac OS:
CMD+SHIFT+S

This recovery file will only be saved locally - no new cloud version will be created. The file will be found in the crash recovery folder as a "backup" format file, as described in this article. To then open this file, you can simply change the file extension to .f3d and upload the file to Fusion either through the Data Panel or the file menu with the "New Design from File option." I have shown how to use this option in the screencast below. While this is a nice technique to get a quick save, I would recommend habitually saving or exporting local copies as described previously.

Please let me know if you have any questions!