How do you load a backup file?

Hi,

I thought I had finished a project a couple of months ago and unfortunately I deleted it from my project manager page. Now I need to re-do a couple of things.....grrrrr! I have all of the assets/media and a folder called "Resolve Project Backups". I cannot figure out how to re-open the project....I hope it is possible.

Thanks,

I'm kinda a newbie to Resolve.... I'm on a Mac... Version 19

Also,

Why do the backups appear as random number/characters, and not by the name of the project?

The files are not for you to access directly. They are using Global Unique Identifier (GUID) for names and there is a database that references them. So to get back your projects from a backup, you have to go into Resolve and do the “Restore” there. I hope you didn’t touch or change anything in that folder or you’ll be sadly sorry if the Restore fails.

If you want to keep archives of the projects, the best thing to do is to create a DRA or DaVinci Resolve Archive and save that so you can always import it back.

It’s a bit harder but as long as you have those project.db files you’ll eventually be ok.
Definitely easier if, as Ellory says, you can just go back into Resolve, right click on the project in the Project Manger, look at the backups, and choose one to restore.

Searching this forum or YouTube you’ll find plenty of descriptions of how to do the harder version.

So what is the harder version? Looks like that is the road I might have to take

So what is the harder version? Looks like that is the road I might have to take

Why? Personally, I would do what is the better practice like restoring backups in DVR or exporting/importing DRAs. Anything MacGyverish comes with “at your own risk”… like for example - when the DB changes with a new version of Resolve uses a different structure for the projects. Good luck and hopefully that works for you.

My saga continues. My last post in the forum was with problems using the speed editor. That is now corrected by getting a brand-new C drive which required using my last activation key (only had 2 activations and both needed to resolve the issues I was having. Now a new problem. Not all the project files were saved, despite sending them to BM cloud. The last one is missing. BUT I did find today, what I think is the one I am looking for because it has the latest date of March 24, 2025, right before I dropped off my computer to get straightened out regarding the speed editor. I watched Jason Yadlovski's YT "How to Restore Project.DB backup file in Davinci Resolve" from 3 years ago. I was able to recover the project file. But it's blank and missing a timeline. Yet I do see a Timeline.20230324101630 in my E drive further into the file when I expand it. Is there hope to recover this project? I know that I have to relink all the media files. After working weeks on the audio for this project, which is around an hour, I really want to try to recover what I had started back in March. Now it's June. Time to get back to this. I appreciate the assistance. I only started with Davinci Resolve last August with a computer that was not the proper build. I am now on my third new computer since then just to make DR work for me. Such a learning curve.

The .db file should contain everything from your project - including the timelines. If they’re missing then it’s not the right db file.

The timeline file just points into the db file. There’s no actual data in it.

If you have a copy of your old C drive there should be a Resolve Disk Database folder on it. I would suggest copying this whole folder to your new drive - say in your documents folder - and name it something like Resolve DB from old computer. Also make a copy for safe keeping - maybe by zipping the folder.

Then go into Resolve Project Manager, open the Project libraries panel, click Add Project Library, switch to the Connect tab, put in any name you like - but probably DB from old computer, and browse to the folder Resolve DB from old computer.

You should see everything you had before replacing your C drive.

[Dwaine Maggart]

That timeline file appears to be a timeline backup file, and it could be helpful, if matched up with the project that created it.

However, that number on the extension is a timestamp, and if it really says 20230324101630, that would seem to be from year 2023, which seems longer than you've used Resolve.

Is it possible that you posted that file name incorrectly? Or that the computer clock was years off?

How large is the file? If it's only a few 10's of K in size, it's likely not helpful. If it's hundred of K or larger, it could have good stuff in it. But again, only if matched up with the project that created it.

If you'd like to post links to whatever you have of the project file and to the timeline backup file, I'll take a look at them.

You are correct. I miss typed the number extension. The timestamp is 20250324101630. The timeline file size is 8k. This file was inside a file folder 79ba2706-aba3-4b4b-bd4a-8ef8f96071a4 (time 10:16AM) size unspecified. This file folder is inside a1cf6639-1ab9-43ab-8021-1fde964cb731. ALSO in this file are two Project.db files, both equal in size, 2,844KB. I did recover from the cloud two projects. One was Main Template E Drive, and the other was Main Template E Drive (Copy). The only thing is I added the hour-long voiceover to the (Copy) but did not rename it before saving it. So the two projects retrieved from the cloud are identical. I was hoping that when I saw the 3/24/2025 in my E drive I had the latest work I had done, since I dropped off my computer to be "fixed" later that day. What I have on my E drive is:
Project.db.20250324100254 2,884KB
Project.db.20250324101320 2,884KB

Is this helpful?

[Dwaine Maggart]

Certainly could be. Zip the files and you should be able to attach anything under 1MB to a forum response. Else put them on a file sharing site and provide a link to them.

If you (or anyone else with Project.db.xxxx files) are interested, this is an excellent video of how to tell what project those came from and how to restore them into a system:

solved

Dwaine, Great news!!! I was able to retrieve the file!!!! I watched the video you recommended and downloaded the suggested software mentioned in the video. Now all the media needs to be relinked, but I am up for that. Not only did your recommendation of the video help me but your comment about out the file size was a clue. When I saw 5000KB, I knew there was hope. I so appreciate this forum and grateful that its available for people like me who know very little. Thank you!!!

I'm so close. Now I have recovered the project file, AND the speed editor works. I was able to relink all my media (because I spent a good effort in organizing folders beforehand). But there is one group missing and it looks like it is my voiceover which is comprised of 60 dialogue wav files. The metadata says that the location is: D:\DaVinci Internal Workspace\Captures\project\Timeline 1\Dialogue Copy_023_1OD3T0.wav

I do have an external hard drive which is "D". But here's the sequence of events. The second PC build to incorporate a better graphics card used the transplanted Dell C drive from the 1st build but added an internal hard drive for additional capacity. But then the speed editor didn't work so there was a 3rd build (because the case also needed to be switched out). The IT guy decided to scrap the Dell C drive (since he wasn't able to delete any Dell programs from it) and replaced it with a new C drive with increased size. Then used my second activation key to install DR and kept the second internal hard drive now to be recognized as "F". I've sent a message to the IT guy to see if he can find the files. His reply is that he didn't delete or move anything just installed the items into the new case. What's throwing me is the "Davinci Internal Workspace" I can't find that location anywhere. Should I be looking somewhere specific?