How to Recover Unsaved or Crashed Blender Files

How to fix it

Try these in order — the most common fix is first.

1. 1. Recover Auto Save

   Copy steps
   1. Open Blender and choose File > Recover > Auto Save.
   2. Pick the newest <filename>_autosave.blend (use the detailed list to see time).
   3. Open it, then immediately File > Save As.
   Did this fix it? Yes No

2. 2. Recover Last Session

   Copy steps
   1. File > Recover > Last Session opens quit.blend from the temporary directory.
   2. Temporary files can be removed by reboots or cleanup tools, so act quickly.
   Did this fix it? Yes No

3. 3. Use .blend1 backups

   Copy steps
   1. Look next to your project for filename.blend1 and rename it to .blend.
   2. Increase Save Versions in preferences.
   Did this fix it? Yes No

Symptoms

Blender crashed or closed without saving and you need your scene back.

Why it happens

• Crash, power outage or forgot to save
• Auto Save does not capture Edit, Sculpt and Texture Paint mode changes

This guide also covers

• blender recover unsaved file
• blender recover autosave
• blender crashed lost work
• blender recover last session

Other Blender errors

• Blender Crashing When Rendering
• Blender GPU Not Detected / Not Showing in Preferences
• Blender CUDA / OptiX Error: Kernel Compilation Failed
• Blender Out of Memory Error When Rendering
• Blender Viewport Lag / Slow Viewport
• Blender Pink Textures / Missing Textures
• Blender FBX Export Textures Missing
• Blender glTF Export Missing Materials or Textures