Where does the Mac store versions of docs? I know there’s an invisible folder named “.DocumentRevisions-V100” somewhere
I need to know because my daughter’s mac’s HD crashed and her backup is fried. We can see most of her files, but some important ones won’t open (damaged). I’m hoping we could access the past revisions somehow.
Any suggestions? Or any to repair damaged files (mostly Numbers and Pages)
Here is what I send to the numerous users asking for a way to revive corrupted documents:
(1) Important comment. When we work with important documents, the basic rule is to keep several copies saved at different times. This way, when a version is corrupted, we may return to a not too old version.
(2) I hope that you will be able to retrieve a “not too old” version in the datas stored by the System’s version named “Versions”.
To do that you will have to use my set of three scripts embedded in the attached archive.
Read the explanations given in “Versions as a recovery tool.rtfd”
Double click the three files whose name ends by “.scpt” and read the explanations given, in French and in English at their very beginning.
No need to understand the working code to use them.
At last,
run the application “1 copie_.DocumentRevisions-V100.app” to create a replicate of the hidden folder containing the useful datas.
As is, the replicate is stored in a disk image.
Open the disk image then run “2 list_versioned_files.app”
Navigate in the displayed info to the descriptor of one of the available versions of your document.
Select this descriptor then run “3 open_a_version '13.app” which is the one matching the Pages version which you use.
Apple made numerous changes to the structure of the DocumentRevisions-V100 folder so scripts 2 and 3 no longer apply.
When the folder is copied in a disk image allowing us to enter its content, you will have to navigate by hand in search of Pages files.
Most of the time it works and a “not too old” version of the document is retrieved.
You may get the scripts from my Box account:
https://app.box.com/s/wxj9yjdlkjwxsr38b9b27tlrwvnd5afx
Of course, if somebody is interested and which to enhance the tool, he’s welcome.
I assume that a native application would be better but I am unable to build that.
Yvan KOENIG running High Sierra 10.13.6 in French (VALLAURIS, France) mardi 18 juin 2019 05:24:12
Thanks for this, very helpful. Pretty much exactly what I needed.
Thanks.
Now the real question is : is the “.DocumentRevisions-V100” folder which was on the corrupted disk is in good state.
It appears that there are some copies of this folder in the folder Backups.backupdb of my Time Machine disk.
Yvan KOENIG running High Sierra 10.13.6 in French (VALLAURIS, France) mardi 18 juin 2019 19:56:27