Hi my Cubase 11 Pro Not saving Project BAK files
When i click on Save Project,cubase is over writing my existing project and not creating new .bak file
Also is their any way that i can get my projects to show in date and time order so that latest is either at the top or bottom of the project list inside folder
Many thanks
It would probably be a good idea for you to read the manual entry about this feature so you can understand it, and set your expectations accordingly.
Funnily enough my projects have always auto saved and i did have a read at the manual which refered to general preferences and also looked in project settings but i must have missed the answer
I think you’re misunderstanding. What @steve means is that Auto Saves are meant to be an emergency function in case of a crash. Auto Saves (the .bak files) aren’t replacements for proper manual saves (which have the .cpr extension), and it’s possibly dangerous to use them like that.
I would recommend using “Save New Version” if you want to keep multiple copies of your project at different stages of production.
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In my experience I use quite often .BAK files especially when wanting reverting back. I use auto save with 3 min interval and 250 files in total. To be honest I did not find in Cubase Manual about Auto Save function that it is dangerous to use BAK files as mentioned above by moderator @Romantique_Tp … If you have huge projects with hundred tracks auto save function is life saver. And I did not find any limitations why not to use them as backup project files especially if you not mess and not manually delete Audio Pool folder. And by the way .BAK files have same file size as usual .CPR files so I dont think that .BAK files are any kind different or degraded to .CPR (screenshot attached as example
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@Hiya I would suggest to try reinstall Cubase and try to reset settings. Save and copy your user settings folder as backup somewhere else, then delete it and open Cubase with default settings, then set Auto Save function again and check if it solves your problem. If not then just copy back your backup user settings again. I hope that will help to get back Auto Save function normal functionality. If not, maybe contact Steinberg support team.
One thing that’s not in the manual is that auto-save is never triggered during playback, that could be what you have seen. Or, you have corrupt prefs and need to run Cubase in its Safe Mode to test, and to delete prefs if necessary.
I’m not sure if @Romantique_Tp is referring to the .bak file format or something else as being dangerous, One possible danger is that .bak files can be removed by Cubase in a way that seems unexpected to people.
I agree that using the Save New Version command is better. Of course, the disadvantage is that Save New Version can’t be periodically triggered automatically by Cubase.
Cubase will always open a *.bak file as long as the file is not corrupted.
Historically speaking, the auto-save feature was implemented long ago when cpu and memory resources were scarce compared to now, and the feature is due for a rework.
@Hiya It’s always pleasure to help out 
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Romantique,i had reinistalled cubase and deleted preferences so this is maybe why the .bak function stopped working.
I was under the impression that .bak files are like a sort of historical back up of your project in a time dated order.
For reasons that i think a friend tokd me years ago,basically i hit save ir ctrl + s,on a very regular basis when working with Cubase.
So say my project is called Test.cpr i then do an an edit and press save,and then in my project folder i have my latest project edit called Test -01.bak which cubase names incrementally every time i press save so the next saved edit is Test -02.bak, etc, i have always thought that for safety sake this is how edit project then save should be done.
What happens if Cubase saves and overwrites the same project all the time,you only have one project which would appear to be risky if the file gets corrupted, no back up ?
So are we saying that autosave function periodically saves project to cpr or bak file.
Another thing than can be a bit confusing also is when you save project as a new version Cubase automatically adds 01, 02 etc to the file name the same as i does with.bak files.
I didnt know that saving as .bak files was not a good idea.
The only other way i can see is as you have said is to save as new version.
After deleting preferences my saved cpr and .bak files were not in the usual time stamped order in project folder.
That is why i was asking that question
Many thanks for your explanation
Sorry for earlier outburst,sometimes i dont keep well and misinterpret what people are explaining,many apologies
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Arlicht i have already uninstalled and reinstalled Cubase and have deleted preferences on a couple of occassions, i cant even save one .bak file now ,very strange
How are you trying to save the .bak file?
Please post a screenshot of the preferences>General window.
This one:
Steve once again i apologise for my stupid remarks.
I have done what you suggested and had a very good read at users manual starting at page 98,indeed very good advice and plenty stuff to learn
I have deleted preferences a couple of times tried autosave and not tried auto save.
I now cannot reproduce one single .bak file
I am happy enough to use Save as New Version as this allows me to be able to go back and trace my saved edits so to speak.
I am not understanding what you are referring to with when you say
I agree that using the Save New Version command is better. Of course, the disadvantage is that Save New Version can’t be periodically triggered automatically by Cubase.
Do you mean that autosave cannot run each time i create new versions.
Apart from the fact that i now cannot save a single bak file, what i am getting at is,
If a create a project and,lets call it Test.cpr and i make 10 edits on test.cpr and press Save each time i make an edit,when i look in the project folder after 10 edits i am still looking at Test.cpr not test 1,test 2 etc. it doesnt tell me that i have carried out an edit.
Is this is how you produce and top producers.
So am i supposed to sit with this one Test.cpr and maybe look back at my edits using history,or do i take pictures and save every edit and recall it that way.
If i press save and see a version with a number i know that my edit has been saved.
Do i use autosave in conjuction with saving manually.
As you can tell i am confused as to the best way to visually save my edits.
I am now aware that i should be using the proper Back Up To Project at the end of each recording session.
Anyway i think im going to have to unistall,reinstall and check preferences again,failing that i dont know.
When i click on Defaults this is the Setting That Are On Screen
I have also tried without autosave checked
You have the auto-save interval set to 15 minutes, and I expect that you are not waiting that long to test the function.
Do this:
- Set it to a very low interval,
- make sure playback is off,
- save project
- make one edit to the project.
- wait to see if an autosave occurs.
It’s not productive for you to repeat the same process over and over (reinstall etc) expecting that the result will change, since it won’t.
Your replies are so verbose, I that I don’t see what you want exactly.
If you reproduce the steps I outlined above, post the result.
I’ll check back for that answer.
The .bak files are created at the time intervals that you indicate in the Preferences (General → Auto Save Interval).
If you just click “Save” Cubase will replace the current .cpr file with a new .cpr file with the same name. The old version is gone afterwards.
“Save New Version” is what you want to use. This way Cubase will save a .cpr with the same name but a number counter at the end counting upwards.
A .bak file is the same as a .cpr file except for the different 3 letters in the suffix.
Please try to let go of your idea that .bak files are a history of your project file.
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Thanks for explaining that Johnny,that clarifies that ,really thank you.
So “Save New Version” is what you want to use
I do realise that i overthink stuff,it is a problem for me.
So regardless if i am using autosave or manual save what happens when cubase freezes when your in the middle of editing a project.
Do you lose what you are working on and are left with the saved previous version wether that be saved manually or auto save ?
Thanks
Yes Steve i did what you said and it worked a treat ,i have uploaded image,only thing i dont understand is why the the saved bak are are not showing in the correct order of time that were auto saved by Cubase ?
This is a very basic function of Windows, which has nothing to with Cubase.
Look for the Sort and Grouping menu items in Windows Explorer.
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I will do,thanks very much for your help
The work between the last saved file and the crash/freeze is lost. This is a problem for everybody working with computers and software, not just music. Steinberg trys to minimze the loss of your work with the autosave feature. If you put it to 10 minutes you will loose a maximum of 10 minutes of your work.
Thanks Johnny your explanations have helped me to understand the project and file management a lot better,ive also just realised that within windows folder i can filter out what i want to see either cpr or bak which makes project management so much easier,Once again many thanks
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