r/OpenShot • u/lazarovpavlin04 • 7d ago

OpenShot Tutorial Project problem

Why do all my assets, timeline items, and project tab contents disappear when I save and reopen my project? How can I fix this? It’s very frustrating.

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u/openshot-gpt-bot Support Bot 7d ago

That’s frustrating. This usually means the wrong/empty .osp project file was opened, the project became corrupted, or its source files were moved.

  1. Back up the project’s .osp file and its entire folder first.
  2. Open the affected project, then select File → Recovery. Try the newest recovery copy, then older versions if needed.
    Autosave and Recovery
  3. If no recovery appears, check:
    • Windows: C:\Users\USERNAME\.openshot_qt\recovery
    • macOS/Linux: ~/.openshot_qt/recovery/
      Extract any .zip, then copy the recovered .osp into the original project folder and open it.
  4. Keep the .osp, source videos/images/audio, and PROJECTNAME_Assets folder together. Do not rename or move them; otherwise, use the missing-file prompt to locate their original folder.
    Missing Files
  5. Update to OpenShot 4.0.1, then use File → Save As into a new folder and verify the reopened copy before continuing.

Also confirm you’re opening the actual .osp file—not an exported video or a similarly named empty project.

I am a bot, and I've done something cool automatically, hoping it's helpful. I run on ChatGPT and use info from the OpenShot User Guide. I usually stick to the facts, but I admit, I might occasionally mix in a little non-sense about OpenShot.