How to Open Auto Save Files in Krita

Krita's auto save feature works quietly in the background while you paint — but when you need to actually find and open those files, the process isn't always obvious. Whether your system crashed, the app closed unexpectedly, or you just want to verify your backup is running, knowing where Krita stores its auto saves and how to access them is essential knowledge for any digital artist.

What Is Krita's Auto Save and How Does It Work?

Krita includes a built-in auto save function that periodically writes a temporary backup of your current work to your local drive. This is separate from your main project file — it's a safety net, not a replacement for manually saving.

By default, Krita saves these backups at a set interval (commonly every 15 minutes, though this is adjustable). The auto save file uses a modified version of your filename and is stored in a specific directory depending on your operating system.

A few important things to understand about how this system works:

• Auto save files are temporary. They're deleted when you close a project normally.
• They're only preserved if Krita or your system crashes or closes unexpectedly.
• The auto save is written as a .kra file with a tilde (~) or modified naming convention, depending on your version of Krita and OS.

Where Krita Stores Auto Save Files 🗂️

The location of Krita's auto save files varies by operating system. Here's where to look:

On Windows, the AppData folder is hidden by default. To access it, open File Explorer, click the View menu, and enable Hidden Items — or type %AppData% directly into the address bar and navigate from there to Local > Temp.

On Linux, the /tmp/ directory is cleared on reboot, so if your system restarted after a crash, those files may already be gone.

The auto save file itself is typically named something like filename~.kra or .autosave_filename.kra — look for files with a tilde in the name or with "autosave" in the filename.

How to Open an Auto Save File in Krita

Once you've located the file, opening it is straightforward:

1. Navigate to the auto save directory for your OS (see table above).
2. Locate the file — filter by .kra extension or search for filenames containing a tilde (~).
3. Open Krita if it's not already running.
4. Go to File > Open and browse to the temp directory.
5. Select the auto save file and click Open.

Alternatively, you can double-click the .kra file directly if Krita is set as your default application for that file type. Krita will open it just like any regular project file.

Once open, immediately save it to a permanent location using File > Save As. Auto save files left in the temp directory are at risk of being cleared by your OS.

How to Check or Adjust Your Auto Save Settings

If you want to confirm auto save is enabled — or change how frequently it runs — you can find those controls inside Krita's preferences:

1. Open Settings > Configure Krita.
2. Navigate to the General section.
3. Look for the Auto Save option, which shows the current interval in minutes.
4. Enable it if it's off, or adjust the interval to suit how you work.

Shorter intervals (like 5–10 minutes) give you more frequent backups but can occasionally cause minor pauses during intensive painting sessions on lower-spec machines. Longer intervals reduce overhead but mean more potential lost work if something goes wrong.

Variables That Affect Your Experience 🔧

Whether finding and recovering an auto save is simple or frustrating depends on a few factors that differ from user to user:

• Operating system: File paths and access methods vary meaningfully between Windows, macOS, and Linux.
• Krita version: Older versions of Krita handled auto save file naming differently. If you're on an older release, the filename format may not match what's described here.
• System configuration: Some users redirect their temp directories, or run Krita in sandboxed or Flatpak environments on Linux, which changes where files are written.
• Whether the OS has rebooted: On Linux especially, a reboot after a crash wipes /tmp/, eliminating the recovery option entirely.
• File naming at the time of the crash: Unsaved new documents (never given a filename) may generate auto save files with generic names that are harder to identify.

When Auto Save Doesn't Catch Everything

Auto save has limits worth knowing. If Krita crashes within the first few minutes of a new session — before the first auto save interval triggers — there may be nothing to recover. Similarly, if you're working on a very large canvas with heavy brush layers, the auto save write process takes longer, and an ill-timed crash could catch the file mid-write, resulting in a corrupted backup.

For projects where the work is truly irreplaceable, manual saves at key milestones remain the most reliable protection. Some artists also use incremental saves (File > Save Incremental Version) to build a rolling history of their work that auto save alone can't replicate.

Understanding where your auto saves live and how Krita handles them is the foundation — but how often you should save, how you name and organize recovery files, and whether the built-in system is enough for your workflow depends entirely on what you're making and how you work.