Where apps hide your files

Final Cut Pro library backups: where they go

Updated 2026-10-28 · 5 min read

Final Cut Pro backs up each library's database into a folder in Movies by default, and deletes backups after several days. Here is where to look, how to restore one, and how to change the location.

The location

By default, Final Cut Pro saves library backups in a folder inside your Movies folder, with one subfolder per library:

~/Movies/Final Cut Backups/<library name>/

Apple's Final Cut Pro User Guide calls it "the Final Cut Pro Backups folder in the Movies folder", and has used that wording in every edition from 10.4.7 to 12.4. The folder name Apple Community regulars quote from their own Macs is Final Cut Backups, which is what you should expect to see in Finder. Apple-created folders in Movies can also carry a hidden .localized ending in Terminal (Final Cut's Motion Templates.localized is one), so rather than guess, let the shell find the real name:

ls -d ~/Movies/Final\ Cut*Backup*

That matches all three spellings and changes nothing. Open the folder from Finder with Go > Go to Folder (⇧⌘G) and ~/Movies, or from Terminal with open ~/Movies, then open the backups folder you see there.

Final Cut Pro is not installed on the Mac used for this guide, and its Movies folder has no backup folder, so the details here come from Apple's guide and Apple Community answers rather than a local listing.

What a backup is, and is not

Apple's guide states three things about backups:

• They contain the database portion of the library only, not the media files. A backup brings back your events, projects, edits and organisation, not the video itself.
• They are saved with the time and date in the filename.
• They are standard Final Cut Pro library files, so you can open one by double-clicking it in Finder.

Because they hold no media, backups are small. If your media lives outside the library, or the library's drive fails, a backup cannot bring the footage back, so keep a separate copy of the media.

Restore a library from a backup

Apple's steps:

1. In the Libraries sidebar, select the library you want to restore.
2. Choose File > Open Library > From Backup.
3. Click the Restore from pop-up menu and choose a backup by time and date, or click Other to browse to a backup file somewhere else.
4. Click Open.

Apple says the backup is added to the Libraries sidebar as a library. It opens beside your current library rather than replacing it, so you can compare the two before deciding what to keep. If Final Cut Pro will not open the damaged library at all, double-click a backup in Finder instead.

How long backups last

Apple's guide says Final Cut Pro automatically deletes library backups that are more than several days old. It gives no number of days, so do not treat the folder as an archive. When you finish a project, or before a risky change, copy the latest backup to somewhere permanent.

Apple says only that backups are made "at regular intervals". Larry Jordan, an independent Final Cut trainer, writes that a backup is made about every 15 minutes while you are changing a library, and none while nothing changes; Apple does not confirm the interval.

Change the backup location, or turn it off

The setting belongs to each library. Apple's route:

1. Select the library in the Libraries sidebar.
2. Choose File > Library Properties (⌃⌘J), or click the Inspector button in the toolbar.
3. In the Library Properties inspector, click Modify Settings.
4. In the Backups pop-up menu, choose Choose, pick a folder and click Choose again. Choose Do Not Save to stop backups for that library.
5. Click OK.

Apple notes that new locations apply to future backups only: existing backup files stay where they are, so move them yourself if you want them together. A backup on a different drive from the library is the more useful choice, since one on the same drive fails with it.

Deleting old backups

Deleting a backup does not touch the library it came from, so trashing backups you no longer need is safe. Keep at least the newest one for any library you are still working on, and never delete the backups of a library you are trying to repair. Quit Final Cut Pro first, then move files to the Trash in Finder rather than using rm.

Backups, Time Machine and a new Mac

Time Machine backs up your Movies folder unless you excluded it, so it keeps older copies of these backups than Final Cut Pro does. On a new Mac, copy the libraries themselves first; old backups are worth copying only if you may need an earlier state of a project. Backup locations are set per library, so open Library Properties on the new Mac and check where each library will back up.

Why a normal search misses them

The backups folder sits in Movies, which Spotlight can search, but every backup carries the library's name plus a date. A search for a project or library name returns the library, every backup and your exports together, with nothing to tell them apart.

Finding backups again

In Everywhere, type the library's name to list the library with every dated backup beside it, each with its folder path, so you can tell at a glance whether backups land in Movies or in a folder you chose in Modify Settings. Typing Backups shows the backup folders themselves. Movies is a protected folder, so Everywhere finds these once it has Full Disk Access, and it matches file names only, not what is inside a library.

Common questions

Where does Final Cut Pro save library backups?

In a folder inside ~/Movies: Apple's guide calls it Final Cut Pro Backups, and Finder usually shows Final Cut Backups. Run ls -d ~/Movies/Final\ Cut*Backup* to see the exact name on your Mac.

How do I restore a Final Cut Pro library from a backup?

Select the library, choose File > Open Library > From Backup, pick a date in the Restore from menu (or Other to browse), and click Open. The backup opens as a separate library.

Do Final Cut Pro backups include my media?

No. Apple says backups hold only the database portion of the library, not the media files, so keep a separate copy of your footage.

How do I change the Final Cut Pro backup location?

Select the library, choose File > Library Properties, click Modify Settings and use the Backups pop-up menu. Existing backups stay where they were.