Auto save of unsaved files

Ofer Gal

Up until a week ago I was able to close notepad++ without being asked to save unsaved files.
the next time I started it, all the unsaved files appeared in the editor, even after a shutdown.

I guess a new version took it away or made it a none default behavior.
Is there a setting I can change to bring it back?

Claudia Frank

@Ofer-Gal

I’m a bit confused what you’ve described as it sounds like it does what you want, anyway
the setting about automatic backup is under
Settings->Preferences->Backup
I guess you are looking for Remember current session…

Cheers
Claudia

Ofer Gal

You rock!
That is exactly what I missed.

Scott Sumner

@Ofer-Gal

YMMV but you may want to read about some users’ problems with data loss after leaving files “unsaved”: https://notepad-plus-plus.org/community/topic/13119/automatic-reset

andrewralon

I’ve been using unsaved files for forever, but recently when closing N++ I get a prompt: Save file “new 1”?

What changed? I already have “Remember current session” enabled in Preferences->Backup.

Is there a way to prevent it from prompting me to save unsaved files?

glennfromiowa

I noticed that today also after I upgraded to version 7.3.2. It didn’t force me to save modified files that previously had been saved, but my new1, new2, etc. files were forced to be saved. Probably not a big issue, since I should save them regularly anyway, but it is a change in functionality from the previous version.

andrewralon

Yes @glennfromiowa those are my symptoms exactly.

It’s like the new1, new2, … files are not being backed up, implying their changes would actually be lost if they are not saved when prompted.

Did something change with the session snapshot / periodic backups? Did a default setting change?

Claudia Frank

@andrewralon

I’m using 7.3.2 as well and don’t have reported behavior.
If settings are correct, I would give it a try to disable/enable via the menu.
Meaning, uncheck it, close - restart npp, enable the setting and see if it is working again.
If this doesn’t help I would rename the %APPDATA%\notepad++ directory and let npp
recreate it’s configuration files. (assuming you don’t have local config)
Check it again and if it is solved copy your files from the renamed directory
back to the current one and see which one might have been corrupted.

Cheers
Claudia

glennfromiowa

Thanks, @Claudia-Frank I disabled/enabled the backups as you suggested, and that did seem to take care of the problem. I also discovered another issue that apparently changed one of my settings! (will post a new thread on that in a moment), but first, details on how I backed up my settings before disabling and then enabling them. It’s still weird that we would need to disable and re-enable it to avoid that regression!

First, I saved my session using File -> Save Session. Then I zipped my backup folder (%AppData%\backup\ - I have a non-local install) to save it. Then, I checked under Settings -> Preferences:

Settings

Backup -> Remember current session for next launch = Checked
-> Enable session snapshot and periodic backup = Unchecked †
-> Backup in every 60 seconds
-> Backup path: = C:\Users\xxxxxxxxx\Google Drive\Npp\backup\

† This was apparently changed recently, perhaps due to the issue I mentioned above. I know a week ago, it was Checked!

Change 1:

-> Enable session snapshot and periodic backup = Checked

Tried to change Backup path: but it wouldn’t allow changes

Restarted
Change persisted

Change 2:

Backup -> Remember current session for next launch = Unchecked
-> Enable session snapshot and periodic backup = Unchecked

Restarted
Clean session loaded

Change 3:

File -> Load Session -> (previously saved session file)
Settings -> Preferences ->
Backup -> Remember current session for next launch = Checked
-> Enable session snapshot and periodic backup = Checked
File -> New -> (typed random text in new file)
Also typed random text into existing file

Restarted - Was not prompted to save file new1
Change persisted

I haven’t needed to go into the zipped backup folder yet, but figure that’s a safe step to take before doing a change like this. The program appears to create a new date-time-stamped backup file for each time the unsaved file is closed.

Claudia Frank

@glennfromiowa

thx for sharing - yes it makes absolute sense to backup your data first
to avoid data loss. I should have mentioned it.
The backuppath cannot be changed (well it can but then you have to use the cloud).
Do not really understand why but I guess there are reasons but to be honest
I didn’t check the source code for this functionality thoroughly so it is still some kind
of black whole for me. If there would be a option to vote to make it changeable,
my voice guaranteed. ;-)

Cheers
Claudia