how to recover lost QuickTime recording?

Question

Level 1

11 points

how to recover lost QuickTime recording?

I was making a screen recording in QuickTime and after an hour, attempted to stop the recording. The application did not respond (the "stop recording" button in the top bar remained selected and nothing happened). After a minute or so, I foolishly force quit QuickTime -- and apparently lost my entire recording. I should've known better. Is it lost forever? I assume the file had not been written/saved but is there a temporary file anywhere? I have seen several answers for newer OS but I am running 10.6.8 and none of the answers applied.

If anyone has any help at all, I'd greatly appreciate it.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Jun 17, 2014 7:17 PM

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Answer 1

Jon Walker

Level 6

19,489 points

Oct 27, 2015 6:48 AM in response to mbrystow

What folder was the temporary file in, if you recall?

Most recent operating systems store the temporary recording in the logged in user's "Library > Containers > com.apple.QuickTimePlayerX > Data > Library > Autosave Information > Unsaved QuickTime Player Document.qtxcomposition" package file. To access the actual MOV file, use the "Show Package Contents" option in the Finder context menu to display the QTXCOMPOSITION package contents.

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Answer 2

garilea Author

Level 1

11 points

Jun 17, 2014 7:47 PM in response to garilea

Update: I found the temporary recording after a lot of internet digging, but cannot play it in QT. It is causing VLC to crash when I try it there. Is there another option for playing it and/or turning it into a playable file?

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Answer 3

mns579

Level 4

1,170 points

Jun 19, 2014 1:45 PM in response to garilea

Try these demo applications. When you aborted the process, the movie wasn't fully "cooked." You have a data stream, but it's missing crucial info that would allow it to be played. The applications below sample the stream. The second one actually tries (even in demo mode) to add the necessary file components to make the data stream playable.

http://aeroquartet.com/ (free diagnostic application, Treasured)

http://www.grauonline.de/cmsimple2_6/en/?Solutions:HD_Video_Repair_Utility (free diagnostic with 50% recovery if there's something to recover--use a valid QT-created screen recording as your reference movie)

But you won't find any free applications for the job. Sorry.

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Answer 4

mbrystow

Level 1

0 points

Oct 26, 2015 4:13 PM in response to garilea

What folder was the temporary file in, if you recall?

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