Auto-Save / Backup
Auto-Save Every
Check this box to have Final Draft automatically save open documents at a time interval specified. Defaults are On and 15 minutes.
To change the Auto-Save time interval, select a different number of minutes from the Auto-Save Every dropdown.
Ask Before Auto-Save
Check this box to have Final Draft display a confirmation message before it automatically saves the open document.
If changes have been made to the open document since the last time it was saved, and the Ask Before Option is checked, a confirmation message appears before Final Draft saves the document:
If multiple documents with unsaved changed are open, a prompt to save N documents appears:
To save, click Save.
To not save at this time, click Don't Save.
To continue to Auto-Save automatically, check Do not ask me this again but keep Auto-Save on.
To disable Auto Save, check Turn Auto-Save off.
Auto-Backup Enabled
Check this box to have Final Draft automatically create a backup copy of a document every time it saves. The maximum number of backup copies Final Draft keeps in the backup folder can be set here and the location of the backup folder may be changed. This can be on the local hard drive or, better yet, an external storage device.
When Final Draft creates a backup copy it is named [date] [time] [filename].fdx. For example, if a script named Tangle & Moss is saved on December 31, 2024, at 1:37pm, the backup is named 2024121337 Tangle & Moss.fdx.
Backup Folder File Count
To change the maximum number of copies Final Draft saves to the backup folder, enter a number in Backup Folder File Count (default is 1000; maximum is 10,000).
After the maximum number of backups are saved, the oldest backup will be deleted at the moment a new backup is created.
Open Backup Folder
Click this button to access the backup script files.
Select New Folder
Choose this option to move or rename the backup folder. For example, Final Draft can be set to save backups to a cloud storage synch folder or another hard drive.
To change the location of the backup folder
- Outside of Final Draft, create the new backup folder in the desired directory or storage device and give it an appropriate name (such as Final Draft Backups);
- In Final Draft, go to the Final Draft menu and choose Preferences;
- Select the Auto-Save/Backup tab;
- Click Select New Folder button;
- Navigate to the new backup folder that has been created;
- Select the new backup folder and click Open;
- The path to the new backup folder will be displayed.
For more information on auto-save and backing up your files watch the following video: