Where Does AutoCAD Save Recovery Files?

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Have you ever encountered a situation where your AutoCAD software unexpectedly crashes or shuts down? If so, you may be wondering where your valuable work went and if there’s any way to recover it. In this article, we will explore where AutoCAD saves recovery files and how you can retrieve them.

Understanding AutoCAD Recovery Files

AutoCAD is a powerful software used by designers and engineers to create precise 2D and 3D drawings. To ensure that your work is not lost in the event of a crash or system failure, AutoCAD automatically creates temporary recovery files.

The purpose of these recovery files is to provide a backup of your work so that you can easily recover it when needed. These files are typically saved in a designated folder, which we will discuss in detail shortly.

Locating the AutoCAD Recovery Files

To find the location of the AutoCAD recovery files, follow these steps:

  • Step 1: Open Windows Explorer on your computer.
  • Step 2: Navigate to the drive where AutoCAD is installed (usually C:).
  • Step 3: Open the “Users” folder.
  • Step 4: Open the folder with your username.
  • Step 5: Locate and open the “AppData” folder (this folder might be hidden, so ensure that you have enabled the option to view hidden files and folders).
  • Step 6: Within the “AppData” folder, open “Local”.
  • Step 7: Look for a folder named “Autodesk” and open it.
  • Step 8: Inside the “Autodesk” folder, locate and open the folder corresponding to your AutoCAD version (e.g., AutoCAD 2021).
  • Step 9: Finally, within the AutoCAD version folder, you will find a subfolder called “ACAD-B000”. This is where AutoCAD saves its recovery files.

Note: The “B000” in the “ACAD-B000” folder name may vary depending on your AutoCAD version.

Retrieving AutoCAD Recovery Files

Now that you know where AutoCAD saves its recovery files, you can easily retrieve them by following these steps:

  1. Step 1: Close any running instances of AutoCAD.
  2. Step 2: Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the location mentioned above (the “ACAD-B000” folder).
  3. Step 3: Look for files with the “.sv$” extension. These are the recovery files created by AutoCAD.
  4. Step 4: Copy the desired recovery file(s) to a safe location on your computer or external storage device to prevent accidental deletion or overwriting.
  5. Step 5: To recover a file in AutoCAD, open the software and go to the File menu. Click on “Drawing Utilities” and select “Recover”.
  6. Step 6: In the file browser window, navigate to the location where you saved the recovery file(s) in Step 4 and select the desired file.
  7. Step 7: Click on “Open” to initiate the recovery process.
  8. Step 8: AutoCAD will attempt to recover the file and display a message indicating whether the recovery was successful or not.

Conclusion

In this article, we explored where AutoCAD saves its recovery files and how you can retrieve them. Remember, these recovery files are automatically created by AutoCAD to protect your work in case of unexpected software crashes or system failures. By following the steps outlined above, you can easily locate and recover your valuable drawings, ensuring that your hard work is never lost.

Now that you are aware of the location of AutoCAD recovery files, you can proceed with confidence knowing that your work is safe and recoverable.