iMovie project progress all gone! PLEASE help :-(

Hmmmm. It appears that the crash may have broken some links between the iMovie app and the iMovie library. The good news is that you still have your media in the project.

Try deleting preferences and see if that restores the link. To delete preferences, 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.

If still no luck, try redownloading iMovie. To update/redownload iMovie 10, drag your iMovie 10 app from the Applications folder into the trash, but do not empty the trash. Sign in to the app store and open your purchases folder by clicking on your name at the bottom of the app store side bar. You will see your purchases displayed, including iMovie 10. Redownload/update iMovie from there. If not successful, drag your present iMovie app out of the trash and return it to the Applications folder. Now see if you can open your project and have it recognize all of the media in it.

If still no luck, try using your Time Machine backup to restore your iMovie library to a point in time just before the crash. See if that cures it. Restore the library to a different location so that you don't overwrite the current one. This might not work if it is a linkage problem, but worth a try.

All else failing, you might try contacting Apple Support. The techs there have the capability of remotely accessing your computer that we cannot do here.  To contact apple support click on the Contact Support item in the upper right hand corner of this forum’s screen.  Navigate to a place where you can enter your phone number.

If, after trying all of the above, the media still does not appear in the project, you unfortunately will need to start over with a newly created project. Bummer, I know. However, since you have already once done the editing procedures and have made the editing decisions, you will find that the re-editing process will go much faster. Sometimes starting over is the only solution.

-- Rich

Try recovering your project from 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

Go to your Movies folder (Go/Home/Movies) and control-click on the icon of the library that you were using when the crash occurred. In the pop-up menu that appears, click on Show Package Contents. You will see a list of your projects and events. (You can't play them there because they contain only codes and other data.) Find the project that you were working on and click on it. A folder will open showing the contents of the project. In the project folder there should be a sub-folder called Original Media. Open the Original Media folder and see if the project media is inside. Do not move, change, or in any way alter the contents of the Show Package Contents folder or the sub-folders inside it, or you risk damaging your library.

Post back with your observations regarding the Original Media folder. Was all the project media contained inside? Was there any missing media?

-- Rich