***************
Recovering Data
***************

Blender provides a number of ways for the user to recover from mistakes,
and reduce the chance of losing his work in the event of operation errors,
computer failures, or power outages.
There are two ways for you to recover from mistakes or problems:

At the :doc:`User Level </interface/undo_and_redo>` (relating to *Actions*)

- For your actions, there are options like *Undo*, *Redo* and an *Undo History*,
  used to roll back from mistakes under normal operation, or return back to a specific action.
- Blender also has new features like *Repeat* and *Repeat History*,
  and the new *Redo Last* which you can use in conjunction with the options listed.

At the :ref:`System Level <troubleshooting-file-recovery>` (relating to *Files*)

- There are options to save your files like
  *Auto Save* that saves your file automatically over time, and *Save on Quit*,
  which saves your blend-file automatically when you exit Blender.

  .. note::

      In addition to these functions being enabled by default,
      the *Save on Quit* functionality cannot be disabled.


.. _troubleshooting-file-recovery:

Options for Files (System Level)
================================

Save and Auto Save
------------------

Computer crashes, power outages,
or simply forgetting to save can result in the loss or corruption of your work.
To reduce the chance of losing files when those events occur,
Blender can use an *Autosave* function. The *File* tab of the
*User Preferences* allows you to configure the two ways that Blender provides
for you to regress to a previous version of your work.

See :ref:`prefs-auto-save` for details.


Recovering Auto Saves
---------------------

Recover Last Session
   :menuselection:`File --> Recover Last Session` will open the ``quit.blend``
   that is saved into the :ref:`temp-dir` when you exit Blender.
   Note that files in your :ref:`temp-dir` may be deleted when you reboot
   (depending on your system configuration).

   .. _fig-troubleshooting-file-browser:

   .. figure:: /images/troubleshooting_recover_display-file-date.png

      File Browser with detailed view selected.

   .. tip::

      When recovering files, you will navigate to your temporary folder.
      It is important, when browsing, to enable the detailed list view.
      Otherwise, you will not be able to figure out the dates of the auto-saved blend-files.
      (See Fig. :ref:`fig-troubleshooting-file-browser`).

Recover Auto Save
   :menuselection:`File --> Recover Auto Save...` allows you to open the Auto Saved file.
   After loading the Auto Saved version,
   you may save it over the current file in your working directory as a normal blend-file.

   .. important::

      When recovering an Auto Saved file, you will lose any changes made since the last *Auto Save* was
      performed. Only **one** *Auto Saved* file exists for each project
      (i.e. Blender does not keep older versions.
      Hence, you will not be able to go back more than a few minutes with this tool).