Where Does Pencil2D Save Projects?
Pencil2D saves pclx bundles or pcl plus data folders wherever you choose. Turn on autosave in Preferences, Files first.
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Pencil2D projects are portable by design. The modern pclx format is a zip style bundle holding the timeline plus all artwork. The legacy pcl format splits into a small index file and a data folder of numbered PNG frames sitting next to it.
Autosave exists but works narrowly. It writes back into the already saved file after a set number of edits, so the first manual save is mandatory. The dev docs stress saving at session start, since unsaved work lives only in memory and temp folders. Export finished work to image sequences or video from the File menu.
Where Pencil2D stores this, by platform
C:\Users\<username>\Documents\MyAnimation.pclx
Modern bundle format. Keep backup copies before and after successful saves, since corruption usually surfaces at load time.
C:\Users\<username>\Documents\MyAnimation.pcl.data
Legacy format data folder. Every drawn keyframe is a numbered PNG inside. Move it together with its pcl file.
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp\Pencil2D
Crash recovery copies on Windows land in the temp tree. Grab them before relaunching if the app offers no recovery prompt.
Frequently asked questions
How do I turn on autosave?
Enable it in Edit, Preferences, Files, and save your file by hand at least once. Autosave writes into the existing file, so an never saved project has nothing to receive it.
Pencil2D crashed before I saved. Can I recover?
Copy the temp working folder before closing anything. On Windows an unsaved crash copy survives in the temp files folder, and that copy is your only shot.
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