Recover unsaved SQL query scripts

Question

How to recover the unsaved scripts if the SSMS crashes / unsaved tab gets accidentally closed?

Answer 1

A bit late to the party, but none of the previously mentioned locations worked for me - for some reason the back up/autorecovery files were saved under VS15 folder on my PC (this is for SQL Server 2016 Management Studio)

C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\Documents\Visual Studio 2015\Backup Files\Solution1

You might want to check your Tools-Options-Environment-Import and Export Settings, the location of the settings files could point you to your back up folder - I would never have looked under the VS15 folder for this.

Answer 2

Maybe you don't find the suggested directories or your recovery file is missing, thanks god I replicated the crash with an unsaved script and lead me to this directory:

C:\Users\user\OneDrive\Documents\Visual Studio 2015\Backup Files\Solution1

So, maybe this saves your day :)

Answer 3

For SSMS 18, I found the files at:

C:\Users\YourUserName\Documents\Visual Studio 2017\Backup Files\Solution1

For SSMS 17, It was used to be at:

C:\Users\YourUserName\Documents\Visual Studio 2015\Backup Files\Solution1

Answer 4

Use the following location where you can find all ~AutoRecover.~vs*.sql (autorecovery files):

C:\Users\<YourUserName>\Documents\SQL Server Management Studio\Backup Files\Solution1

Answer 5

For SSMS 18 (specifically 18.6), I found my backup here C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Visual Studio 2017\Backup Files\Solution1.

Kudos to Matthew Lock for giving me the idea to just search across my whole machine!

Answer 6

You may be able to find them in one of these locations (depending on the version of Windows you are using).

Windows XP

C:\Documents and Settings\YourUsername\My Documents\SQL Server Management Studio\Backup Files\

Windows Vista/7/10

%USERPROFILE%\Documents\SQL Server Management Studio\Backup Files

OR

%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Temp

Googled from this source and this source.