How to recover unsaved work in Lil Cactus

Recover your work and save it to a file

1. 1

   Return to the same editor address in an empty tab

   Use the same computer, browser and browser profile you used for the edit. A browser profile is a browser’s separate set of settings and stored data. Return to the same Lil Cactus address: a recovery copy from one address is not available at another.

   Start with no editing documents open. You will see New document and Open image. Leave both alone for now. If another editor tab still contains work, keep it open and use a new browser tab for recovery.

   

2. 2

   Choose the recovery copy in the File menu

   Open File. With one available recovery copy, choose Recover “file name”. In the one-copy example below, the label is Recover “tram-street”.

   With several copies, open File› then Recover Unsaved Work and choose the entry whose name and time match your edit. An entry can contain several documents from the same editing tab; selecting it restores those documents together.

   Wait for the restored document tabs to appear. A dot beside a tab’s name means the restored work needs saving to a file. The status bar shows Recovery pending for a few seconds, then settles to Recovery up to date.

   

   

3. 3

   Check which edits were recovered

   Look for the last change you remember. Check the image dimensions in the bottom status bar and the pieces of your design in Layers. A layer is a separate piece you can select and edit.

   In the practice exercise, the recovered photo is 1200 × 800 pixels and Layers contains Background and Background copy.

   

   

4. 4

   Save the recovered work as a project

   Choose File› then Save As› then Lil Cactus Project… Save the .cactus file in a folder you can find again. This format keeps the layers separate and editable. The practice photo’s suggested name is tram-street.cactus.

   Your browser may ask where to save or download the project. For a download, check the downloads list and locate the file on your device before closing the editor. After Save As, File› then Save saves this project. If recovery restored several documents, select each tab and save each document you need.

   To keep an editable master and a separate copy for sharing, see saving and exporting.

   Tip A downloaded project can still show an unsaved dot: the browser cannot confirm that the download reached its final location. Check the file itself in the next step.

   

   

   

5. 5

   Reopen the saved project

   Choose File› then Open… and select the .cactus file you just saved. It opens in a new document tab. Check that this file contains the recovered work you need before relying on it.

   For the practice photo, confirm 1200 × 800 pixels and the two separate layers again. You now have an editable file you can reopen from your device.

   

   

Practice recovery with the sample photo

After recovering any real work, click Open the sample. Choose Layer› then Duplicate Layer to make a second photo layer. Then choose Image› then Image Size…, keep Units at Pixels and the chain link on, and set Width to 1200. Height becomes 800. Click Resize.

Wait until the bottom status bar says Recovery up to date. Close that browser tab, then return to the empty editor and follow the five recovery steps above. If your browser asks whether to leave, confirm only for this practice document. Do not use File› then Close Document and Don’t Save for this exercise: that explicitly discards the document’s recovery work.

Fix common recovery problems

The recovery command is gray

With documents open, Recover “file name” is gray, as are the entries inside File› then Recover Unsaved Work: Lil Cactus cannot restore a recovery copy into an editor that already has documents open. Open the same editor address in a new browser tab and use its File menu.

There is no recovery entry in File

The browser is not listing an available copy. Check that you returned to the same address and browser profile on the same computer. Clearing site data removes browser recovery, and a different browser or private window does not share the original profile’s copy. If no copy remains, reopen your last saved file with File› then Open…

The last edits are missing

Recovery can only restore changes that reached its stored copy. It cannot recreate later edits that were never stored. Continue from the recovered version or your last saved project.

The editor says it could not recover the work

The message Could not recover this work. No documents were opened. means the selected copy could not be restored. Use File› then Open… to reopen your last saved project if you have one.

Recovery says pending, overdue or failed

Recovery pending means the latest changes are waiting to reach browser storage. Recovery overdue means they have waited at least 30 seconds; Recovery failed means the write failed. Click the status to read its details. Use Retry recovery to try another write, and Save project… to save an editable file before closing.

Unsaved work recovery: questions and answers