# Backing up projects **URL:** \ **Category:** Scrivener for macOS\ **Tags:** support\ **Created:** [January 15, 2025, 9:20pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/backing-up-projects/145279 "2025-01-15T21:20:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 4
**Author:** ![RuthS](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/ruths/32/17147_2.png) [@RuthS](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/RuthS)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2025, 10:12pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/backing-up-projects/145279/4 "2025-01-15T22:12:19Z")
Since I’m not quite sure what changes you’ve made, I’m not quite sure how to answer that question. Instead, I’ll give you some background on Scrivener’s default behaviors. I’m hoping that information will help you verify that the changes you’ve made will work going forward. **Creating a New Project** When Scrivener is first installed on a computer and you create your first project, Scrivener will suggest your new project be saved to the computer’s Documents folder. It’s a space designated by the operating system for user-created files and folders. Because it’s a default location for users’ data, many backup tools automatically include it in their processes. This is the dynamic, ever-changing, so-called “main” project that you’re writing and editing on a regular basis. Once your project is created, Scrivener’s auto-save will run when your activity in the project pauses. That is, any changes you’ve made to your text should be saved to the project in the Documents folder (assuming you’re using this default location). If you’d like to see how long activity needs to pause on your computer, you can go to `Scrivener > Settings > General > Saving` options on a Mac. You can also change that auto-save interval there. (In case any Windows users come along later, the path for that setting on a Windows machine is `File > Options > General > Saving`.) We typically do not recommend pushing the auto-save interval beyond 30 seconds. **Scrivener’s Automatic Backups** The auto-saves to your working project are different from Scrivener’s automatic backups. These automatic backups are a complete copy of the project _at the time the backup was made_. That is, these backups should _not_ see their data change. They may be replaced when newer backups are created. But, if a backup was made five days ago and you still have it, it won’t reflect any new edits made to the project today. These backups are saved in the file path shown in the `Scrivener > Settings > Backup > Backup location:` box. (Windows users can go to `File > Options > Backup > Backup location:`.) When Scrivener is first installed on a Mac, it will direct the automatic backups to `∼/Library/Application Support/Scrivener/Backups`, which is a hidden folder on the hard drive. (On a Windows system, the default backup path is `C:\Users\Account\AppData\Local\LiteratureAndLatte\Scrivener\Backups`.) As I hinted earlier, these backups will be replaced depending on the backup settings you’re using. If you have only five backups being created and you open and close your project six times today, you’ll have only the five most recent backups saved. You can change when backups are created and how many backups are saved if needed. You can also change where these backups are stored if you want to direct them to another location. In addition to these automatic settings, I suggest having Apple’s Time Machine and other backup options as a part of your workflow. My senior colleague Katherine had an excellent write-up on that topic in this [Got a backup?](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/got-a-backup/32512) post. While some of Katherine’s suggestions in that post are Mac-specific, others are equally available to Windows users. You’ll see a lot of advice on this forum and in other places to have lots of backups. I’m a fan of having additional tools in case one option fails. However, I think just throwing a lot of backups around isn’t really helpful if we’re not clear on what might be in each backup and why we want it. I’m happy to discuss this more if needed. --- _[View the full topic](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/backing-up-projects/145279)._