I am fairly new to Shotcut and have been using it to edit a 6 minute extensive video for work. It has been going well and I was in the final stages today. I always save it within Shotcut as I work. When I would close Shotcut, and then open it to work on it later, it always appeared in “recent projects” as the mlt file, I would select it, open it and continue to work. No problem.
I worked on it most of today, closed but did not power off my laptop. I just opened it to continue working. Opened Shotcut and for the first time NOTHING appears in “recent projects”. No mlt file.
I can’t find it anywhere. I tried restarting shotcut, restarting my computer etc. Nothing.
I tried to search for an mlt file in the start menu and one shows up but I can’t open it. I also believe it may be an older version…I’m not sure. Do I try to move that mlt file into shotcut somehow?
We do not know where you saved files on your system. Since Recent is empty it seems you may have reinstalled and turned on the option to remove all of Shotcut’s settings from the Registry. That will clear the Recent list. There is also an option in Shotcut’s settings to clear the recent list when you exit because some people want that for privacy in certain scenarios. Maybe that got turned on by a stray mouse click. The default location for saving project files is in My Documents. So, look there and look in the Videos folder as well. If you cannot find it and do not have a backup system in place, you really should consider doing that.
Hi. Thank you for your response. I’m not sure what you mean by reinstalled. Reinstalled shotcut? No, i used it, closed it for an hour and opened the program and recent was gone.
Where is the spot that you can change the settings to clear the recent list when you exit? I have never seen that before and I am wondering where I could have selected that.
Can you tell me what format the video file would save us? (other than the mlt) Because all I can find is the mlt file. I have looked in my videos and can’t find it. Only the mlt file is in videos.
What kind of backup system do you recommend?
I do save every 5 minutes when working on a project and have never had issues before. I am terrified that I have lost this project and will have to start over. And now would be scared that another 5 weeks in, it could happen again. Even if I had exported it, I wouldn’t be able to put it back into shotcut to continue editing it. How could this all disappear in the space of an hour when nothing was changed compared to all the other days I have used it? And how do I keep this from happening again.
I should mention that when I open Shotcut all of the individual video files I had uploaded to work on the project were all there. Just not the project itself… I’m not sure if that helps
Do you remember what you named the file when you saved it? Even if you don’t know where you saved it, just do a keyword search for the file, and you’ll find it.
Shotcut saves its work in a proprietary MLT file, so if you’re on windows, just search for all the MLT files by putting *.MLT (asterisk dot MLT) and you’ll find it even if it’s in the recycle bin
It will also disappear from the list after you have opened 100 other files - photos and videos - because the recent list is limited to 100 most recent.
Use File > Open to open the .mlt file you do have. If you are missing other video files, it is not Shotcut’s fault; it does not delete files.
One backup system to start with is the free one that comes with your operating system.
Thank you. I do not have 100 files in there so that would not be the cause.
I checked the clear on exit settings you mentioned and I didn’t have that selected either.
Please try to have patience with people like myself that are using this forum as a last resort. Some of your responses are quite harsh on this forum. I am doing my best to explain it and ask for assistance. And I appreciate the time anyone can take to try to help me.
I am not missing other video files. All of the individual video files i used in the project are there. I am just missing the one and only project file I have been working on as I mentioned and I am just trying to figure out where it went. I checked Documents and it is not there. I checked videos and the mlt file is there.
What format does shotcut automatically save the video in? And if I am able to find it, what is the next best step to get it back into Shotcut. How do I open the video file in Shotcut and continue editing it?
Shotcut automatically saves its work in an MLT format. Once you find the file under search, drag it on your desktop so you can easily find it. Then go to Shotcut and FILE Open, then find that file on your desktop. It should open it.
Actually this could be also a fault from your OS and if your one is windows 10 than windows 10 is a totally editable one and mess up on its own even you didn’t do anything actually it also had happened to me as the mentioned story in bracket (sometimes when you open windows it actually delete some of the files of it if a virus has born in it. In my shotcut it deleted all recent files and settings and all data in my opera browser) or it should solved when we come to your computer physically means we see your problem by coming at your home and handle the computer and solve the problem. Probably this option will be helpful but very hard and cost cutting if we live in different countries.
