Help with lost scene

Scrivener Scrivener for Windows
1

I opened my document to continue working on my novel, and the scene I wanted to work on is gone, only this weir text left.

I back up the texts in USB and a Laptop, but both copies look the same.

I do have activated Scriveners automatic backup, but all 5 files are last saved 2025 for some reason.

Is there any way to recover the lost text? Why does it look like this?

2

The weird text you describe is what raw RTF code looks like.

Has any tool other than Scrivener had access to the project?

Was the project last accessed successfully on this computer?

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3

If you’ve set up a Backup location, try File → Show Application Support Folder and check out the Backups (default) folder that will be shown in File Explorer for your recent backups.

Sometimes Scrivener loses the location of a backup folder and reverts to that default location. An example of this happening might be if you’ve set the project to back up to a USB and the USB device is not in its slot, or, for a cloud service, you’re not on the internet.

Otherwise, check up on your automatic backup location under File → Options → Backup to see if your backup location is still set to where it’s expected to be and that the relevant tick boxes are checked.

If you use Scrivener often, 5 backups is very lean as you might close and start a project any number of times in a short period and perpetuate an error by automatically overwriting those 5 backups one-by-one.

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4

Hello, and thank you for your answer.

I wrote the post from my phone in a rush to work so I was not able to calmly write it, and the doublepost was accidental, so I do apologize for the trouble.

To answer your questions:

  1. I believe no other tool other than Scrivener has had access to the project. When I write something while outside home, I do it with my mobile-phone via Google Docs, and when I get home I do Copy&Paste notes from Docs to Scrivener to further work on those notes on my PC.
  2. The project has not given me any troubles while accessing it.

Some probably relevant information I did not write in the original post (I am sorry again for the post):

The way I worked was to have Scrivener in the USB Drive, and open it from there so that I can work from my laptop or from my desktop computer as I need. Then I’d save my work on the USB Drive and the Laptop/Desktop computer I am working with. Next time I use the other machine, I would copy again the folder with the backups and the file itself.

This way I would have 3 copies of the folder including the file and the backups at the same time. Every time I would save a file after working on it, I would rename the whole folder to the date I last used it, and then copy it as I said.

I believe this saving here and there may be the cause my backups have not been working properly, since I may have “confused” the software with different backup paths. I am no IT guy, and I am new to all this so, as you can see, I do not have not much understanding about backups and saving files. I noticed I should probably learn some things about the subject.

After three days since this has happened (and some emotional breakdowns because of the loss), I began to accept it for what it is, and understood that I just might have to rewrite the text. And that is okay. Right now I just want to learn how to avoid this happening in the future, and create a more solid backup system where I can keep my files and my projects as safe as possible.

Thank you very much again for your reply,

I wish to get another one soon with more information.

Have a great weekend.

5

Yes, my strong hunch is that your method of moving the project files between computers with a memory stick led to the file corruption/loss.

That method has a lot of complexities compared to other methods and before giving some guidance for using a memory stick (and dealing with the complexities), is using a third-party sync service, e.g. Dropbox out of the question?

My hunch is your project is small enough to be able to use Dropbox’s free account. And there are instructions for setting up Dropbox, along with other services to use and not use, on L&L’s Support web site. No need to repeat all that here.

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6

Hello and thank you for your reply.

Maybe I am just scared of the unkown, but I feel reluctant to third party softwares for a story that means so much to me… I want to keep the process as clean as possible when it comes to saving files, and work with what (I thought) I understood, A.K.A. USB Drive. So that I can just move my files and keep them “physically” stored.

With that said, since my method clearly did not work, I might have to try Dropbox as you recommend. So I will dig into that using the instructions you mention.

Thank you very much and have a nice day!

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7

Hello, thank you for your reply, and sorry for my late reply.

I believe it happened the exact way you mention.

I checked and all the backup files are corrupted, so it is as it is now. Thank you for the information and the time you took to reply. I will set the the back ups to 10, and make a specific folder for them, rearranging the backup paths.

Thank you very much, and have a nice day!

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8

All this up to you. As long as you have reliable backups (on both machines, 25 copies, Zip format, automatic on project close), I believe you may be at lower risk than you perceive. Syncing is NOT backup. It’s just a way to transport files between computers. As long as you follow exactly the setup and operational procedures documented on L&L’s Support website, you’ll be better off than doing what you are doing, IMHO. Refer to L&L’s Support web site for FAQ’s on syncing.

9

IMO, using a USB stick should be at least as safe as using a synchronization service. Since you control what is copied and when, there shouldn’t be any risk of synchronization conflicts, incomplete synchronization, poor “smart sync” algorithm behavior, and so on.

HOWEVER, using a USB stick means that keeping track of which version is which is entirely your responsibility. You can accidentally overwrite the current version with an old version – which appears to be what happened here – you can accidentally delete things, and all sorts of other human errors.

If you prefer to use a USB stick, I recommend the following best practices:

  • Always edit a project on the local drive, not directly on the USB stick.
  • Ensure that Scrivener’s automatic backups go to the local drive or to a different external drive, not to the USB stick.
  • Copy, don’t overwrite, ideally with a naming convention that helps you keep track. I would recommend using Scrivener’s File → Backup → Backup To command to copy projects from Device A to the USB stick, with the box checked to include the date in the file name. Then use Finder to drag and drop from the USB stick to Device B. And then the same in reverse.
  • (This will create multiple duplicates of the project. That’s okay – provided you use the date or something similar to keep track – and should protect you from this kind of error. You can just delete the extras after a suitable interval.)
  • Configure a Time Machine volume for every Mac you use.

You might also have a look at this article, with the USB stick substituting for a cloud service:

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