Hi there, I love Scrivener and appreciate the software is a brilliant tool. Until recently, I had been using Scrivener on a 2018 Macbook Air. I thought I backed up the data in those documents to iCloud. Then I went to Apple and bought a 2022 Macbook Air (trading in my old one). I’m still waiting for the new MBA to arrive, and currently don’t have access to the old MBA and am using a Windows 11 PC temporarily. But when I try to access the Scrivener documents I saved in iCloud, Windows Scrivener tells me it can’t find the data folder. This is a bit worrying as I had a fair few useful notes saved in those documents. Can anyone help me to recover my data?
What happens when you copy your Scrivener projects from iCloud to a local drive and try to open them from there?
Thank you for your reply. It appears that the Scriv files are 0 KB in size. When I copy them to a local drive and open them from there, the same Windows Scrivener 3 error message comes up: “[file name] is the main structure file for a project, but other required files for this project could not be found: the \Files\Data and \Settings folders are missing.”
Sounds like you copied just the Index file to iCloud, not the whole project folder containing the actual content.
Which shouldn’t happen on the Mac side, since the Scrivener project would appear as one file (“package”). Maybe iCloud didn’t have enough time to finish its magic in the background.
Do you have a Time Machine backup to access your data once the new Mac arrives?
Thank you for your reply again. Unfortunately I don’t have a Time Machine backup. I assumed that copying what seemed to be the right files to iCloud Drive was sufficient. Unfortunately, looks like I’ll have to start from the beginning with the files I lost.
Hmmmm. How do your projects look like in iCloud, e.g. are there folders, or single files named after each project?
Personally, I’d call the store first thing in the morning.
Perhaps it is not too late.
Show up with a thumb drive.
Best of luck to you.
In iCloud, there are single files named after each project - the ones that are 0KB in size. No folders containing Scrivener data.
Unfortunately when I traded in the old MBA Apple wiped the data on it before my very eyes.
Thanks for your sympathy.
Time Machine is your friend, use it. Let this be a lesson in proper backup hygiene. You only lost a few notes this time, it could have been a lot worse. When your next Mac arrives set up Time Machine and use it. Good to have more than one Time Machine. You can never have too many backups.
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No worries, will do Orpheus. I just noticed something curious, however. The file sizes are 0KB on iCloud on Windows 11, but when I view the same files in Files on my IPad, those files are a few hundred KB in size.
This suggests that perhaps the data is preserved after all. I just have to take possession of my new MBA, install Scrivener 3 on it, and open the files on the new MBA and hopefully the data will be there.
Hmmm, interesting. What you could also try in the meantime: Download your files (or just one for testing purposes) via a web browser at iCloud
Do you have iOS Scrivener on your iPad? If so, then you can use it to inspect the projects and confirm that they’re intact. You can also back them up, as explained here:
https://scrivener.tenderapp.com/help/kb/ios/guide-to-keeping-ios-projects-backed-up
You can also use Dropbox (not iCloud) to sync from iOS Scrivener to the PC. Instructions here:
https://scrivener.tenderapp.com/help/kb/ios/dropbox-syncing-with-ios
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Thanks November-Sierra and kewms. I confirm I downloaded my files via a webbrowser at icloud and the data was intact in the downloaded files. This seems to suggest there is a bug in inCloud app in Windows which gives the files the appearance of being 0KB in size.
I don’t have iOS Scrivener on ipad. I’m just a subscriber on Mac OS X and Windows 11.
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The 0KB size typically indicates that the project is stored only in the cloud. I’m not sure how to designate files as “available offline” in iCloud, but that is probably what you need to do.
True, I thought it would be something along those lines. But then:
That’s worrying. “Something” (iCloud on Windows, or Windows itself) reports a “successful” copy operation, but fails silently. Luckily Scrivener refused to open those “empty” files. Imagine those would get synced back.
However, this is a not a Scrivener problem, to be clear.
Many thanks to all who have provided insights and sympathy. The new MBA has arrived and I’ve successfully recovered my data. However as November_Sierra suggests, it appears my issue was not a Scrivener problem, but rather an iCloud on Windows problem. Hopefully this thread will help others with the same problem (if they don’t have a Time Machine backup!)
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28 posts were split to a new topic: On whether Scrivener should fix that iCloud-Windows can’t sync projects
18 posts were merged into an existing topic: On whether Scrivener should fix that iCloud-Windows can’t sync projects