How to Recover Unsaved or Lost After Effects Files?

I started working on a new After Effect project and saved it manually only once at the beginning. But suddenly my After Effect crashed. What should I do? Please help me recover the AEP files.

Adobe After Effect is a motion graphic tool, which animators and designers use to create 2D and 3D animations, motion pictures, and visual effects. It saves After Effect projects in .aep file format and exports the final piece as .mov file format. Many After Effect users complain about project files lost after sudden OS or app crashing, accidental or intentional deletion, etc. So now the question arises how to recover unsaved After Effect Projects files in such a situation.

Read this blog to learn different ways to recover unsaved or lost files in After Effects after crashing or freezing the app, system shutdown and deletion, or more.

You can use these methods for any After Effect versions, including CS5, CS6, CC, version 2023 (23.2), and others.

How to Recover Lost After Effects Files?

1. Recover Deleted AE Project Files from Recycle Bin / Trash
2. Recover After Effects Project File from Recent Files
3. Recover Unsaved After Effects Project File from AutoSave
4. Recover Unsaved AEP Files Using Adobe Creative Cloud
5. Recover AE Project Files from the Backup
6. Recover After Effect Project Files with Software

1. Recover Deleted AE Project Files from Recycle Bin / Trash

Check the Trash Folder in macOS and Recycle Bin in Windows for deleted AE project files. If you accidentally or deliberately deleted them, Trash or Recycle Bin will keep these projects for 30 days or until you emptied them.

If you have Mac, open the Trash folder. Right-click on the desired AE project files and select the ‘Put Back’ option. The deleted AE files are restored to their original location.

To recover AE project files, open Recycle Bin in Windows. Locate the file you want, right-click on the file, and chose the ‘Restore’ option.

How to Recover AE Project Files if You Emptied Recycle Bin and Trash?

If you emptied your Recycle Bin and Trash folder, then After Effect projects will be no longer available. The only possible way to recover permanently deleted AE project files is with the help of After Effect Recovery Software.

2. Recover After Effects Project File from Recent Files

Using the ‘Open Recent files’ option is the easiest method to recover unsaved After Effects project files. If your system crashed unexpectedly or you forgot to save the file you were last working on, it is probably saved under the list of recently opened files.

Follow these simple steps to recover AE project files:

• Launch Adobe After Effect and once it opens, you can see the list of Recent files.
• Select the file you want to recover and After Effect will open the last saved version of the AE project file.

Note: The ‘Recent Files’ option will work only if you’ve worked on that project fairly recently, otherwise, turn to other methods to recover lost After Effect project files.

3. Recover Unsaved After Effects Project File from AutoSave

Adobe After Effect has an AutoSave feature that saves a copy of your AEP files at regular intervals to reduce the chances of data loss in case of an abrupt system shutdown or crash. If the AutoSave feature is enabled, then only you can recover the unsaved After Effect file after any such unforeseen situation.

Before that, let’s see how to enable Autosave in After Effect:

• Open After Effect > go to Edit > Preferences > AutoSave.

• The default number of minutes to automatically save your project is set to 20. So, if you want, you can change it.

• Click OK to save it.

Once you are sure the Autosave feature is enabled, go to the backup recovery folder to recover an unsaved backup version of your AEP files. To do so, first, check the path of the backup folder for this:

• Go to Edit > Preferences > Auto-Save.
• Next, follow the path mentioned under the Auto-Save Location.

• Once you navigate to this folder, open and save the latest recovered version of AEP files.

4. Recover Unsaved AEP Files Using Adobe Creative Cloud

If you are using After Effect with Adobe Creative Cloud, there is a possibility your AEP file is automatically backed up to the cloud at regular intervals.

To check if these AEP files are available online, use the Adobe Creative Cloud application or website.

• Open the Adobe CC app or navigate to https://assets.adobe.com/files.
• Sign in, if prompted.
• Check if the lost files are available in files.
• Then click Restore to save it locally by browsing the destination location.

Note: You can use Adobe Creative Cloud to restore AEP files only if you have turned on the sync functionality.

5. Recover AE Project Files from the Backup

It’s well known that backup protects you from unforeseen data loss scenarios. So whether it is your valuable 2D or 3D animation from After Effect or other photos and documents on your system, backup helps stay calm from stress caused due to loss of important After Effect project files. You can find AE project files in the backup folder created on OneDrive, an external hard drive, Time Machine, or others. Check your backup folder for the lost AE project files.

Windows users may be using Windows Backup and Restore or File History or function for saving their system backup.

If you own a Mac system, recover AE project files from Time Machine drive or search your After Effect project files in iCloud on Mac.

6. Recover After Effect Project Files with Software

Lost or deleted AE project files are on your system, even if you have removed them from Trash/Recycle Bin folder.

To recover AEP files, use After Effect files recovery software – Stellar Photo Recovery for Mac. It is a robust and efficient software to recover permanently deleted After Effect files of any size and format from your storage drive. It thoroughly scans the drive or storage media to recover lost or deleted AE files and other files.

This software is effective in case your AE project files are lost due to deletion, virus or malware attack, emptied Recycle Bin, drive corruption, or others.

Stellar Photo Recovery supports various file types used by After Effect and is available for both Windows and Mac. You can download the free trial of the software from here.

 

Here’s how to recover AE project files using software:

• Download and install Stellar Photo Recovery for Mac software on your computer.
• Select the drive from which the After Effect project files are lost.

• Next, click Settings and select File List in the Advanced Settings window.
• In the Video format list, uncheck all the formats except After Effect Project Files and click Close.
• Click Scan.

• Once the Scan is completed, Preview the recovered AE project files.

• Click Recover and select a destination to save the recovered AEP files.

Conclusion

With all the reliable methods shared in this blog, now you are aware of where to look for unsaved, lost, or deleted After Effect Project files. You can easily recover an unsaved copy of the AE project files from AutoSave. If you can’t find AEP files on your system, check the Recycle Bin/ Trash folder or Adobe Creative Cloud. Besides recovering lost or deleted After Effect Project files, try Time Machine or File History or use an efficient AEP file Recovery software like Stellar Photo Recovery.

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About The Author

Vishakha Singh

Vishakha Singh is a Senior Writer at Stellar Data Recovery with half a decade of experience in writing content in diverse verticals. She's a tech enthusiast who loves creating photo/video recovery & repair tutorials. Vishakha also specializes in writing full-blown iPhone and Android guides.