backups not opening

Scrivener Scrivener for macOS
1

I had a weird thing happen and lost a few paragraphs by mistake. When I went to open a backup to copy the missing bits, I got this message:

The file…"seems to be of an older format, but no binder.scrivproj file could be found inside it. It may be missing or corrupt, possibly because of a problem with the device on which it is stored, or because of a synchronisation problem.

Try ctrl-clicking on the project in the Finder and selecting “Show Package Contents”, then look for a file entitled ‘binder.scrivproj’. Ensure it has not been renamed by a backup routine. If it does not exist, try restoring from a backup."

When I ctrl-click in the Finder, “Show Package Contents” is not one of the options. I’ve worked on the same computer with the same version of Scrivener.

I do have the current copy of the document, and the missing bits are not the end of the world, but not having openable backups is!

So my question is, what do I need to do for my backup system to work properly? And is emailing myself a copy of the document not a useful way to backup versions?

Thank you!

2

Are your backups zip files by chance? That is the default, as it not only saves spaces, but is safer for archival. If it is a zip, the icon will not look like an ordinary Scrivener project, but a plain white document with a zipper up the front. If that is what you have, just double-click on it, and a few moments later you should see a copy of the project appear beside it. I would recommend dragging that out of your backup folder where it can be loaded alongside the current WIP. You can then locate the missing paragraphs and copy and paste them over, discarding the extracted backup copy when you’re done. This is safe to do because the .zip remains untouched the entire time (another benefit of using Zip).