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Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Local File - Overwrite or Timestamp?

When creating a new local file, the file is saved in the folder highlighted in the Revit’s Options dialog as shown below.


Best practice is to create a new local file each day, as I elaborate on in this post: Create a New Local File Daily. When doing so, you are prompted to...
Overwrite or Timestamp the old local file. There are pros and cons to each option.

Overwrite: Replaces previous local file and does not consume large amounts of disk space on your local hard drive. If you forget to Sync w/ Central (SWC) you will lose work as the old local file is replaced.

Timestamp: Renames the current local file to include a timestamp and then creates a new local file. This prevents loss of work, but the “Revit Local Files” folder needs to be cleaned out once and a while to avoid filling up your hard drive.


When using the Overwrite option, you will have just one local file in your “Revit Local Files” folder (FYI: one for each project you work on).


When using the Timestamp option, you will have many local files where the older ones have the name changed to include a timestamp of when it was replaced.


Keep in mind the timestamped local file is only good for recovering lost work until you start working in a new local file and SWC. At this point you cannot open the old local and SWC. You could still open it detached and copy/paste stuff between projects in the worst case.

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