Backup

Supervertaler protects your work with two independent backup mechanisms, both on the Settings → 💾 Backup tab, and with safe saving, which is always on. Use the ? button on that tab (or press F1) to return to this page.

Auto Backup (time-based)

Automatically saves the current project at a regular interval to guard against crashes and forgotten saves.

• Enable automatic backups – turn the timer on or off.
• Backup interval – how often to save, in minutes (default 5, range 1–60).

Each run saves the project file and exports a <project>_backup.tmx into the tm/ folder of the project folder. (Older versions wrote it next to the .svproj; such a file is moved into tm/ the first time.) This overwrites the working files in place – it keeps the latest state current, but it is not a history you can step back through. For that, use timestamped backups below.

Timestamped project backups (every N saves)

Keeps immutable, dated snapshots of the project file (.svproj) so you can roll back to an earlier state – like a lightweight version history.

• Keep timestamped project backups – enable or disable the feature.
• Back up every N saves – how often a snapshot is taken, counted in save operations (default 1 = every save). Both manual saves (Ctrl+S) and the timed auto-backup above count toward N.
• Keep the last K backups – how many snapshots to retain per project (default 100). Older ones are pruned automatically.

Snapshots are written to a dedicated folder under your user-data location:

<user data>\workbench\backups\<project name>\<project name>_YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.svproj

Use the Open folder… button on the Backup tab to jump straight there.

Note

Taking a snapshot just copies the project file you already saved, so it adds no noticeable delay – backing up on every save is fine even on large projects.

Restoring a backup

1. Click Open folder… on the Backup tab (or browse to the path above).
2. Find the snapshot with the timestamp you want (filenames sort chronologically).
3. Copy it somewhere safe and rename it (e.g. drop the timestamp), then open it from Project → Open, or replace your current .svproj with it while Supervertaler is closed.

Tip

Because every save can be a snapshot and old ones are pruned for you, if something ever goes wrong you can almost always step back to a known-good version from a minute or two earlier.

Safe saving and the .svproj.bak copy

Saving never writes over your project file directly:

• Every save is all-or-nothing. Supervertaler first writes the project to a temporary file next to it, then swaps it in. If something goes wrong halfway, such as a full disk or a crash, the previous version stays intact. If another program (a virus scanner, or a sync tool such as OneDrive or Synology Drive) holds the file for a moment, Supervertaler waits a second for it.
• The previous save is kept as <project>.svproj.bak next to the project file. A damaged project file never replaces a good .bak.
• Opening a damaged project: if a project file can’t be read, Supervertaler offers to open the .bak copy instead and tells you when it was saved. Choose Yes, check your work, and save: that replaces the damaged file.

If saving fails, the project stays marked as unsaved, so you can try again or use Save As somewhere else.

Related

• General Settings