Recovering Lost 3Ds Max File after a Crash

3ds Max Recovery File Location

The issue of restoring a 3ds Max scene sometimes arises when it is accidentally or abruptly closed. During the process of working on any project, there are situations where it becomes necessary to restore a 3ds Max scene, for which backup copies are created in a dedicated folder. If you are using the Windows operating system and have not changed the project location or are unaware of the project's location, you can locate this folder by opening the Customize menu on the main toolbar of the 3ds Max program and selecting the option "Configure Project Paths".

In the opened "Configure Project Paths" window, find and select the line with the name "AutoBackup" and then click the "Make Absolute" button on the right side of the same window.

The full path indicating the location of the Autoback folder with scene backups will appear.

If any failure occurs during your work, you can restore the 3ds Max scene using a backup copy from this folder. There will be three copies in the folder, and you can find the appropriate file based on the modification date.

The number of backup copies can be changed. To do this, select Customize > Preferences from the main menu. In the preferences window, go to the "Files" tab. In the "Auto Backup" section, the "Enable" parameter allows you to activate backup saving, the "Number of Autoback files" parameter sets the number of copies, and the "Backup Interval (minutes)" determines how often copies are created, with a default interval of every 5 minutes.