Projects lost - iMovie 10.2.2

Hi, Nils,

Updating iMovie will not delete your projects. Projects are stored in the iMovie library, so when you update the updated iMovie will link to your existing library. However, first it will open in a new blank library. It will look like your projects have disappeared. So the first thing is to confirm that you are in the correct library. Close iMovie and go to your Movies folder (Go/Home/Movies) and double click on your old iMovie library that contains your projects. iMovie will open in that library. Your projects should be there, unless when you updated you also manually deleted your current library.

If the above is not your situation, try deleting preferences in case a corrupt preference is disrupting the link between iMovie and your library. Open iMovie while holding down the Option and Command keys and select to delete preferences in the box that appears. iMovie will open in a new library. Reopen your old library to get back to your projects.  Deleting preferences is a safe

procedure that will not cause data loss or disruption to your project.

-- Rich

So, you opened your old library in the Movies folder and your projects still were absent. Correct? Or was your current library itself missing?

See if you can find your projects in the iMovie Backups folder. To get to the iMovie Backups folder, follow this file path from the Finder menu:

Go/Home/Library/Containers/com.apple.iMovieApp/Data/Library/Caches/iMovieBackups

When you get there you will see a list of previous backups of your iMovie library.  Click on one dated just before your issue started.  iMovie will open in that library.   Navigate to your projects browser (where your projects are displayed as icons) and see if your projects are intact.

-- Rich

In the Movies folder, assuming that your old library is still in there, Control-click on the library and in the drop down menu click on Show Package Contents. Are your projects and events listed there? (You can open the project folders but cannot play them there because they only contain data. Do not move, modify, or delete anything in the Show Contents folder.)

In the Backups folder file path, where in the path does the difficulty occur?

-- Rich

The iMovie Projects folder shown in your screen shot, if that's what you are referencing, contains the projects from iMovie 8 or 9. It is not relevant to your issue pertaining to iMovie 10.

Your screen shot shows two iMovie 10 libraries that each contain a significant amount of gigabytes--20.81GB and 16.23GB respectively. Those are what I meant by "old" library (or current, or original libraries if that's more clear). I take it that you have opened both of those libraries and your projects are not there. Correct? And you have control-clicked and opened the Show Package Contents of both to see if your projects are in there. Correct? If your projects still exist they would be located in one of those two libraries, unless you have another library stored on an external drive, in which case you should look in that one. The libraries have a significant amount of data in them, and those would be your projects and events.

-- Rich

Sorry that you are having this trouble. Best of luck with this issue. I would assume that your client keeps backups of its data, so while the situation may be embarrassing it may not be as bad as you think. You might look into getting a better backup system for your work, because data loss does happen occasionally with any digital system.

If you keep a Time Machine backup it might have a backup of your library in it. You can access your projects by restoring the library to a date before you lost the projects. If you restore the library, restore it to a different location than your two current libraries so that you don't overwrite them in case you need to use data recovery software. Be aware that if you open, or have opened, and older library with a newer iMovie app the library will get updated and you won't be able to open it with the older iMovie version.

You might look into data recovery software. If you use such software you should do it quickly before the lost data gets overwritten. Here's a link that lists some software recovery options:

https://www.cleverfiles.com/howto/top-5-data-recovery-software-mac.html

I've not used any of the recovery software mentioned in the above link, so can't vouch for them.

Also, before doing anything more you might benefit from talking with the techs at Apple Support, who have the capability of remotely accessing your computer, that we cannot do here. To contact Support click on the Contact Support item in the upper right hand corner of this forum's screen and navigate to a place where you can enter your phone number.

Again, best of luck with this.

-- Rich

Taking your Mac into the genius bar of an Apple store in your area is a good idea. See what the techs there recommend. Meanwhile, as you probably already know, avoid writing any more data to the drive so that you don't overwrite the client's data.

On the bright side, I feel confident that you will recover the data. No data is really "lost" these days. With these solid state drives it is almost impossible even to truly wipe a drive. Also, there are data recovery stores out there that do this kind of recovery work. If you go that route, just make sure that they are familiar with the iMovie structure.

Best of luck.

-- Rich