Where Are Logic Autosave Files (A Detailed Guide)

To find autosave files for a Logic Pro session, find the Logic project file in your Finder window, right-click it, and select ‘Show Package Contents.’ From here, click ‘Alternatives,’ ‘000’ (unless you have an alternative), ‘Autosave,’ and you should see any autosave files you have for that project.

Autosave Files In Logic Pro

Nothing is more heartstopping than your DAW (Digital Audio Workstation)crashing during a music production session. You immediately start thinking about how much work you might have lost!

If you are a Logic Pro user, however, do not worry! Logic has your back by sequentially auto-saving and backing up your work.

There have been multiple times that I would have lost hours and hours of work if not for the Logic Pro autosave and backup function.

In this article, we’re going to take a look at where Logic Pro stores autosave files.

Does Logic Have Autosave?

Logic has an autosave feature that saves your work in the event of an unexpected crash. 

If Logic crashes, it should give you a dialog box when you try to open it back up with the option to open the autosaved version. 

If you do not open the autosaved version, it will open the last manually saved version of the Logic file.

I highly recommend using iCloud to back up your music production files and projects.

How To Find Logic Autosave files Step-By-Step Guide

What You Will Need To Follow This Tutorial

Here is everything that you will need to follow along with me:

• Logic Pro DAW
• A Logic Pro session with autosave files

Step One – Find Package Contents For Your Logic Project File

The first step for locating your Logic Pro autosave files is to find your Logic project in the Finder window wherever you have it saved.

Once you have found it, right-click and select Show Package Contents. 

This will show you all the contents of your Logic project; once you are here, you can move on. 

Step Two – Locate Autosave Files

The next step is to locate your autosave files for this Logic Pro project. 

Here’s the path to follow once you have Show Package Contents open: Alternatives>000 (unless you have an alternative, in which case it would be 001, 002, etc.)>Autosave. 

Just like that, you have located any autosave files for your Logic Pro project. 

Now, you can use these files to get your Logic project back to where it was before it crashed. 

You will notice that I do not have an autosave folder for this Logic project. This is because it has never crashed, therefore, never autosaved. 

Can You Recover An Unsaved Logic Project?

Often, you will be able to recover an unsaved Logic project by using project auto backups, autosaves, Mac OS’s Time Machine, or other data recovery software.

If Logic crashes, try re-opening the Logic project file. You will hopefully get a dialog box prompting you to open the latest autosaved version.

 Do this, and the latest version of your project will open up! 

You can also revert to a previous project backup copy by selecting File>Revert To and choose the backup file you want to work with. 

If these methods do not work, you should try the Mac OS Time Machine to try and restore your project (if you have it set up) or look into another type of data recovery software/data recovery lab, depending on how precious the data was. 

To open up Time Machine, go to Applications>Time Machine.

How Do You Save A Frozen Logic Project?

To save a frozen Logic project, go to Finder>Applications>Utilities and open up Activity Monitor and Terminal. From here, locate the PID number for Logic Pro on the Activity Monitor.

Next, type this code into the Terminal: kill -s ABRT PID# and press enter. 

This will force quit Logic. 

Using this trick usually works, maybe not every time, sadly. 

Now, wait for a second while the code goes through and Logic force quits. 

Because we are effectively crashing Logic by doing this, Logic should also auto save your project file right before the crash. 

This means you should be able to open up your project after the fact without losing any work or progress!

Logic also automatically makes project backups as you work. 

To revert to a previous backup, click File>Revert To, select your desired version, and click Revert.

Logic Pro’s autosave and backup features make losing data much harder than other DAWs.

How Do I Find A Lost Logic File?

If you have lost track of where you saved a Logic project file, I recommend simply searching for it through the Finder window, iCloud, and the Trash Bin. 

To do this, open up the Finder and enter the name of your project in the search bar. 

Now, just look through the results and see if you can find your file on your hard drive or iCloud. 

If you do not see it here, try opening the Trash Bin and searching there. 

Once you find your file, right-click it and select ‘Put Back.’ 

As you can see, recovering items from the Trash Bin on Mac is a piece of cake. 

Unless you accidentally deleted your Logic project file from the Trash Bin, it must be somewhere on your computer. 

Just look for it using your search bars. 

How Do I Change Where Logic Saves Projects?

To change where Logic saves a project file on your Mac, press File>Save As in your Logic project and select your new save destination in the Finder interface. 

Now you have saved your Logic project file to your desired destination.

How Do I Save A Logic File As A Folder?

To save a Logic file as a folder, press File>Save As in your Logic project and check the box for Folder instead of File.

Now, you can check all the boxes for data you want to include in the bottom right of this same window and then hit ‘Save.’ 

Can You Store Logic Files In iCloud?

Yes, you can save your Logic Project files in iCloud. 

I keep all of my Logic files saved on my computer and the iCloud.

To save your Logic project to iCloud, click Save As and designate a save path for iCloud. 

Related Questions

For more awesome guides, check out this article on transferring Logic to another Mac.