Restore or Repair Corrupted AutoCAD Files

Follow the six methods below to recover and repair corrupted AutoCAD files.

How Do I Recover An AutoCAD Autosave File?

"OK, this is the deal. Yesterday, I finally finished designing a bridge measure graphic with precise figures. And I remembered that I saved it carefully on my PC. However, this morning, when I tried to show my colleague the .dwg file, it wasn't in the folder where I used to safe AutoCAD drawings. How do restore the lost .dwg file in AutoCAD?"

It's no longer a new issue that AutoCAD users lost their long-time drawings without saving or CAD .dwg files corrupted on their computers. If you are having a similar problem that you lost AutoCAD files or your CAD files corrupted in PC, don't worry. 

Here we'll provide you with reliable and effective methods to recover lost CAD files and show you how to repair the corrupted .dwg files.

Part 1. Restore Lost or Unsaved AutoCAD Files

When you accidentally deleted or removed CAD files or .dwg files suddenly failed to work or open in drawing program, don't worry. You still have chances to get them back. Here in this part, we'll provide you with three methods to restore lost or corrupted AutoCAD files:

Method 1. Restore Lost AutoCAD Files with File Recovery Software

If you accidentally deleted or lost a local-saved AutoCAD file on your computer, you can first check the Recycle Bin to see if you can bring the lost .DWG file back.

If nothing was there, a wiser way that you can apply is to use professional file recovery software for help. Here, we'd like to recommend you to try Deep Data Recovery which enables you to fully scan computer hard drive and find your lost files in three simple steps:

• Free Download
• Windows 11/10/8/7, 100% Secure

Step 1. Launch Deep Data Recovery, select file types and click "Next" to start.

Step 2. Choose the drive where you lost files and start scanning. This software allows you to recover lost data from all devices, including HDD, SSD, USB drive, SD card, pen drive, camera, etc.

Step 3. Browse the full scan results. You can choose the file type you need by clicking on the file type filter. Qiling data recovery software supports 1000+ file types like photos, videos, documents, emails, audio files, and many more. 

Step 4. Select the files you want to preview. Click "Recover" and set a storage location to save the recovered data. 

Method 2. Recover Lost CAD File from Backup - .BAK File

When you lost a saved CAD file or an editing CAD file, you may also go to the CAD folder on your PC and you can try the below steps to restore lost CAD file from its .bak file:

Step 1. Go to the local folder which you use to store the CAD files, and locate the backup file with .bak extension.

Step 2. Copy and paste the .bak file in the folder and change the file extension of the copied file from .bak to .dwg, hit Enter to continue.

Step 3. Click "Yes" to confirm that you want to switch the .bak file to .dwg. Then you can double-click the DWG CAD file in AutoCAD.

There, your lost or unsaved drawing is back and you can save to keep this file on your computer by then.

If you have enabled the AutoSave feature in AutoCAD, and you lost a half drawing without saving, you can try the next method for help. 

Method 3. Restore Unsaved CAD files from Autosave

If you have enabled the AutoSave feature in AutoCAD, congratulations, you can directly restore an unsaved drawing when you closed the program or the file without saving. And here are the detailed steps for you to follow to bring the unsaved AutoCAD file back:

Step 1. Open AutoCAD and click on its icon at the Tools column, then select "Options".

Step 2. Go to the Files tab, expand the Automatic Save File Location and check the location of the autosaved files.

The autosaved are usually saved under this path: C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Local Settings\Temp.

Step 3. Copy the autosave file path and paste it to the Windows File Explorer, hit Enter to open the AutoSave file folder.

Step 4. If you can't locate the autosave file, show hidden file extension by opening Options in File Explorer > View > Uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types" > OK.

Step 5. Locate the CAD autosaved file with .sv$ file extension, copy it and change the extension of the copied file from .sv$ to .dwg, hit Enter to confirm.

Step 6. Then you can double-click the DWG file to open it in AutoCAD. 

You can choose to continue your drawing or save it to another secure drive on your computer.

Part 2. Repair corrupted AutoCAD files that fail to work or open

If the recovered files won't open or won't work in the drawing manager, don't worry. You can find wanted solutions in this part. 

Method 1. Repair Corrupted or Not Working CAD Files with Drawing Utilities

If you receive the 'Drawing file is not valid' error message while trying to open a CAD file, try below tips and you'll get your problem fixed:

Recover Command allows you to directly restore lost AutoCAD files when you delete or lose them. Here are the detailed steps.

Step 1. Open the corrupted DWG file in AutoCAD and click the AutoCAD icon at Tools column > Drawing Utilities > Recover.

The Recover option will repair a damaged drawing file automatically.

Step 2. When the process finishes, check the repaired CAD file. If it's OK, save it back to your local drive. 

If the Recover option doesn't work, continue with the next step.

Step 3. Repeat to open Drawing Utilities and select "Audit".

Step 4. Select "Yes" on the command window to execute the command and repair errors on the local drive.

Then wait for the auditing process to finish. This command will fix all checked errors on your disk and AutoCAD program.

There, you can check the corrupted AutoCAD file in the AutoCAD program and continue using it again.

Method 2. Run RECOVER Command to Repair Corrupted DWG AutoCAD Files

Step 1. Open a blank DWG and run RECOVER command > Select the problematic file and AutoCAD will try to recover the file and open it.

Step 2. Open a blank DRW and run RECOVERALL command > Select the problematic file and AutoCAD will try to recover the file and open it.

Step 3. Open a blank DWG and run INSERT command > Select the problematic file and see if it will insert.

If not, run EXPLODE and select the inserted block > Run AUDIT and PURGE command > Click Save to create a new DWG file.

Step 4. Go to: C:\Windows\Temp for files with an SV$ extension and if find a similar file with the same name of the corrupted .dwg file > Rename it to .dwg format to see if it opens or not.

Step 5. Try open the corrupted drawing by using DWG Trueview.

If you can open it there, convert the drawing to an older DRW version and try to open it again.

Method 3. Fix Corrupted .dwg Files that Can Be Opened But Not Responding

Step 1. Open corrupted .dwg file and type: -PURGE and hit Enter.

Step 2. Type: R and hit Enter.

Step 3. Type: N and hit Enter.

Step 4. Type: PURGE and check all boxes > Click Purge All.

Step 5. Type: AUDIT and select Y to fix all errors, then hit Enter.

Or you may try the below fixes to get your problem with corrupted CAD files repaired:

Step 1. Open corrupted .dwg files and open a new drawing.

Step 2. Press CTRL + A and CTRL＋SHIFT + C in the corrupted drawing. Basepoint is 0,0,0.

Step 3. Press CTRL + V in the new drawing and insert point: 0,0,0.

Step 4. Then save the new drawing.

After this, you will be able to use your corrupted CAD files again.

Bonus Tips to Back Up and Protect AutoCAD Files

Besides restoring lost or corrupted AutoCAD files, we'd also like to suggest you have a backup plan for protecting your valuable CAD drawings. 

Here are two practical tips for you to follow and fully back up AutoCAD files on your own:

# 1. Enable AutoSave in AutoCAD

Step 1. Click the AutoCAD icon at the Tools tab, select "Option".

Step 2. Go to the Open and Save tab on the Options window, check the Automatic save box and set the autosave frequency such as 15 Minutes between saves.

Click "Apply" to confirm.

Step 3. and click "OK" to enable the AutoSave feature in AutoCAD and keep all changes.

After this, you can directly go back to Method 3 in Part 1 to restore lost or unsaved drawings when you closed CAD or lost a DWG file without saving.

# 2. Run File Backup Software to Automatic Backup Saved CAD Files

As for the saved CAD files on your local PC, we also suggest you back up them regularly. You can manually copy them to an external hard drive or directly apply a file backup software with a schedule backup feature to fully protect these CAD files.

Here you can try Qiling Backup for a simple file backup process. It allows you to create a scheduled backup plan to automatically back up desired CAD files and other valuable data on your PC in only a few simple clicks.

Step 1. For the first time you use Qiling Backup to back up files, click File backup on the home screen.

Step 2. Since you're going to back up files and folders on your computer, you can select pictures, videos, documents and all other types of files to back up.

Step 3. Follow the paths to locate the files, folders or directories you want to back up, select them all.

Step 4. Now you need to select a backup location to save and retain the backup.

Step 5. Qiling Backup allows users to save the backup files to every device that is handy for you, like a local hard drive, external USB drive, SD card, network drive, or a NAS drive, plus a cloud drive of the Qiling brand. We personally recommend users to choose the cloud drive prior to a physical drive to save important backups due to the greater accessibility, flexibility and safety.

Step 6. If you're interested in an automatic and intelligent backup schedule for the next file backup task, go on with the "Options" setting. There you can encrypt a confidential file backup, compress the backup image size, or customize a backup scheme to tell the software in what time to start the next backup. 

Customize an advanced and automatic backup task here:

Step 7. Click "Proceed" to start the file backup process. Your completed backup files are visible on the left area in a card style.

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