Hi there, Claire. Ugh, that's the worst. When you say that you already looked in the temp folder, I'm assuming you did so with these steps:
1) Open this folder in Windows Explorer: %appdata%\Articulate\Storyline
2) Scan the contents of this folder for a file that starts with the name of your project. If you find one, copy it to your desktop. If you find more than one, copy the latest version to your desktop.
3) Change the file extension of the copy on your desktop from *.tmp to *.story.
4) Double-click the file to open it in Storyline.
Did you have any luck using the undo button in Storyline to get to the point before making those deletes? This question might be moot if you had already closed the file. I'm not sure that there's much else you can do outside of those steps.
Ugh - sorry to hear that Claire! Crystal's answer is typically how we're able to track down files that are corrupt or otherwise inaccessible due to a hiccup in Storyline, but it sounds like you were overwriting the existing file? If so - there isn't a saved copy of it, although the "undo" button could help slightly.
In case it helps anybody, the best practice seems to be to use file explorer to make a copy of the old file and rename it. Then work on the new file.
The guiding principle: storage space is cheap, and the only people who think they have too many copies of a file are those who have never lost a file. Always make lots of backups, because this is not the only way you can lose all your work.
I recently lost a file and am on a tight deadline. I would have hated to have to draft the project over from scratch. This was a real time saver. Thanks Crystal.
Hi, I have similar issue and can find/change the .tmp to .story but then get message saying file might be corrupt or created in older version of Storyline. Is there anything i can do?
Would you be willing to share the file with our Support team through this private upload link? They can take a closer look to see if we can restore a version of the course.
✏️ Note: While it's tough to find the source of corruption, we have these tips that help protect your files from the risk. Saving to a local C: drive and closing Storyline daily are two of the easiest ways to protect your work.
I'm in the same situation. I have a course out for review and accidentally overwrote it. Thankfully I didn't publish it. checked the temp, nothing there. Tried undoing, didn't work. Is there anyway to generate the content from the review file?
Hi, I have similar issue as mentioned above and i was able to find/change the .tmp to .story but then get message saying file might be corrupt or created in older version of Storyline. Is there anything i can do? please help tomm is my deadline!!
I see that you've reached out to our Support Engineers for help, and they confirmed that your file was corrupted. I'm sorry to hear that! I see that Carlo is still available in your case. Don't hesitate to reach out to him if you need additional assistance.
What if you published a version to Review 360 that you want to recover b/c you'd mistakenly deleted some of the files and saved that newer version with the missing files? Is there any way to send the older version from Review 360 back to Storyline?
Your project in Review 360 doesn't include the .story file, so there isn't a way to open the Review 360 project in Storyline 360.
Have you tried looking for the project in your temp folder? Here's how:
1) Open this folder in Windows Explorer: %appdata%\Articulate\Storyline
2) Scan the contents of this folder for a file that starts with the name of your project. If you find one, copy it to your desktop. If you find more than one, copy the latest version to your desktop.
3) Change the file extension of the copy on your desktop from *.tmp to *.story.
Thanks, Lauren. I actually found a folder with the old files from when I had exported it in Web content form. Is there any way to import it from those?
Thanks for the follow-up. Published Storyline outputs, whether to Review 360, to the web or to an LMS, won't contain a .story file of your course so there's no way to re-edit them using those output files.
You will have to either save versions of your course or access that specific .story file version from your temporary files, if available, in order to make changes. I hope that helps clarify your question!
Welcome to E-Learning Heroes, and thanks for reaching out, Alejandro! 😊
Nice call on sending screenshots of the error you see to our support team in a case. I see my teammate, Ronaziel, is investigating things and will reach out to you soon with an update. You're in great hands!
25 Replies
Hi there, Claire. Ugh, that's the worst. When you say that you already looked in the temp folder, I'm assuming you did so with these steps:
1) Open this folder in Windows Explorer: %appdata%\Articulate\Storyline
2) Scan the contents of this folder for a file that starts with the name of your project. If you find one, copy it to your desktop. If you find more than one, copy the latest version to your desktop.
3) Change the file extension of the copy on your desktop from *.tmp to *.story.
4) Double-click the file to open it in Storyline.
Did you have any luck using the undo button in Storyline to get to the point before making those deletes? This question might be moot if you had already closed the file. I'm not sure that there's much else you can do outside of those steps.
Yes, it's what I did but nothing worked. Thank you anyway for your answer :-)
Ugh - sorry to hear that Claire! Crystal's answer is typically how we're able to track down files that are corrupt or otherwise inaccessible due to a hiccup in Storyline, but it sounds like you were overwriting the existing file? If so - there isn't a saved copy of it, although the "undo" button could help slightly.
In case it helps anybody, the best practice seems to be to use file explorer to make a copy of the old file and rename it. Then work on the new file.
The guiding principle: storage space is cheap, and the only people who think they have too many copies of a file are those who have never lost a file. Always make lots of backups, because this is not the only way you can lose all your work.
Thank you Crystal! Your method worked for me too. Phew. Thanks so much.
Glad to hear that, Megan! If you need any other help, let us know.
Thank you Crystal. You're a life saver
So glad that this conversation was able to help you out as well, Aine.
Thanks for popping in to share :)
I recently lost a file and am on a tight deadline. I would have hated to have to draft the project over from scratch. This was a real time saver. Thanks Crystal.
So glad you were able to find what you needed, Talia :) Thanks for popping in to share.
Hi, I have similar issue and can find/change the .tmp to .story but then get message saying file might be corrupt or created in older version of Storyline. Is there anything i can do?
Hi Richard,
Thanks for reaching out!
Would you be willing to share the file with our Support team through this private upload link? They can take a closer look to see if we can restore a version of the course.
Thanks for this! A robocopy file backup overwrote my project. Saved me weeks of work!
I'm in the same situation. I have a course out for review and accidentally overwrote it. Thankfully I didn't publish it. checked the temp, nothing there. Tried undoing, didn't work. Is there anyway to generate the content from the review file?
Hi Tania welcome to E-Learning Heroes 😊
Unfortunately, no. The output files, either to Review 360 or final publish, do not include a copy of the project file.
Do you have a backup system of your files? You may be able to find a copy there.
Hi, I have similar issue as mentioned above and i was able to find/change the .tmp to .story but then get message saying file might be corrupt or created in older version of Storyline. Is there anything i can do? please help tomm is my deadline!!
Hello Umair!
I see that you've reached out to our Support Engineers for help, and they confirmed that your file was corrupted. I'm sorry to hear that! I see that Carlo is still available in your case. Don't hesitate to reach out to him if you need additional assistance.
What if you published a version to Review 360 that you want to recover b/c you'd mistakenly deleted some of the files and saved that newer version with the missing files? Is there any way to send the older version from Review 360 back to Storyline?
Hello Margaret!
Your project in Review 360 doesn't include the .story file, so there isn't a way to open the Review 360 project in Storyline 360.
Have you tried looking for the project in your temp folder? Here's how:
1) Open this folder in Windows Explorer: %appdata%\Articulate\Storyline
2) Scan the contents of this folder for a file that starts with the name of your project. If you find one, copy it to your desktop. If you find more than one, copy the latest version to your desktop.
3) Change the file extension of the copy on your desktop from *.tmp to *.story.
4) Double-click the file to open it in Storyline.
Please keep me updated!
Thanks, Lauren. I actually found a folder with the old files from when I had exported it in Web content form. Is there any way to import it from those?
Hi Margaret,
Thanks for the follow-up. Published Storyline outputs, whether to Review 360, to the web or to an LMS, won't contain a .story file of your course so there's no way to re-edit them using those output files.
You will have to either save versions of your course or access that specific .story file version from your temporary files, if available, in order to make changes. I hope that helps clarify your question!
Hi!
i have a corrupt file and the " Project Recovery" window don´t show up, i don´t know what to do
:(
Welcome to E-Learning Heroes, and thanks for reaching out, Alejandro! 😊
Nice call on sending screenshots of the error you see to our support team in a case. I see my teammate, Ronaziel, is investigating things and will reach out to you soon with an update. You're in great hands!
and six years later you are saving my whole life!!! Thank you Crystal.
This thread saved me! Thank you!