Scrivener Project Won't Open? Recover the Writing (Beta)

When Scrivener says a project cannot be opened, the writing is usually still there: every document is a separate RTF file inside the project folder, and only the binder file (.scrivx) or a sync conflict stands in the way. Upload the project folder as a ZIP and get the documents out without Scrivener.

What is tried, in order

1. The project file. A readable .scrivx gives the full binder: titles, order, folders, labels, status, synopses and notes.
2. Scrivener's own copy of the binder. If the .scrivx is missing or damaged, the copy that Scrivener keeps inside the project (Files/binder.autosave or Files/binder.backup) is read instead, and the result tells you which copy was used. Changes made after Scrivener saved that copy may be missing from the binder, but not from the documents.
3. The documents alone. With no usable binder at all, every document is recovered one by one, titled from Scrivener's search index (Files/search.indexes) where it has the title.

Comment files damaged by a sync or version-control conflict are read entry by entry, and a project folder with several .scrivx files left by a sync conflict is read from the one named like the folder.

Before you upload

• Copy the project first and work on the copy.
• If it is synced with Dropbox, iCloud or Google Drive, wait until every file has downloaded: files that are still only in the cloud are not in the folder yet.
• Look for backups: Scrivener keeps ZIP backups in its Backups folder (the location is in its settings). A recent backup ZIP can be uploaded as it is, and so can a ZIP of several backups.

What you get

The manuscript as a Word document, EPUB and Markdown, every document on its own as Word, RTF and Markdown in the binder's folders, the snapshots, and the binder outline as Excel and CSV. The result page lists any binder items whose files are missing from the upload.

Results are deleted after 30 minutes.

More about what this tool reads and writes: Scrivener Project Converter.