Where apps hide your files

SketchUp autosave, backup and Plugins folders

Updated 2026-10-28 · 6 min read

SketchUp's files sit in three places: backups next to your model, extensions in a folder named after the SketchUp year, and auto-save files in a working folder that a clean exit empties. Here is each one, with SketchUp's own settings for the rest.

The locations

Replace 20xx with your SketchUp year, since each release keeps its own folder. Extensions go here, a path SketchUp's community experts give on the official forum (confirmed there for SketchUp 2022):

~/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 20xx/SketchUp/Plugins

Backups sit next to your model, with a ~ added to the file name. Auto-save files go to a working folder that a SketchUp staff member on the forum gave for 19.3 and 2020:

~/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 20xx/working/SKETCHUP/RecoveredFiles

Newer releases may differ, so check what exists. These commands only list names:

ls ~/Library/Application\ Support | grep -i sketchup
find ~/Library/Application\ Support -maxdepth 5 -type d -name RecoveredFiles 2>/dev/null

~/Library is hidden. In Finder, choose Go > Go to Folder (⇧⌘G), paste a path and press Return, or hold ⌥ while the Go menu is open to reveal Library.

Backups: one save behind, beside the model

SketchUp's help says Create backup is on by default in the General section of its settings. Each time you save, SketchUp keeps the previously saved version as a backup in the same folder as the .skp: on a Mac the backup adds a ~ to the file name, on Windows it is an .skb file. No backup exists until you have saved a model a second time.

If a model is corrupted, SketchUp's help says the backup is usually the only way back. Copy the backup to another folder, rename the copy to a normal .skp name and open the copy. Never rename or edit the only copy you have.

Auto-save and recovered files

SketchUp's help says auto-save is on by default and runs every 5 minutes, starting once a model has been saved for the first time. It writes to a temporary file, not to the file you opened. Those temporary files survive a crash and appear as Recovered in the Welcome window, and SketchUp deletes them when you exit normally.

So after a crash, reopen SketchUp and look in the Welcome window first (Help > Welcome to SketchUp if it does not appear). Only if that fails, look in RecoveredFiles with the find command above, and copy anything you find out of that folder straight away, because a clean exit removes it. Older releases used other folders, which is why the command searches rather than assumes.

To change the interval or switch backups off, open SketchUp > Settings (older releases call it Preferences) and go to General.

Templates, components and other saved files

SketchUp's settings answer this one for you. In the Files section, each category (Models, Components, Materials, Styles, Texture Images, Watermark Images, Export, Classifications and Templates) shows where that type is saved, with a button to change the location and an Open This Folder button that shows it in Finder. Use that rather than guessing a path.

SketchUp's help also warns against saving models, or choosing these folders, in OneDrive, Dropbox or Google Drive, because syncing can corrupt files. Keep working files on the Mac's own drive.

Where extensions go

Install extensions with Extensions > Extension Manager: SketchUp's help says to click Install Extension there and choose the .rbz file. The Extension Manager can also update, disable and uninstall extensions, which is the first thing to try when one misbehaves.

If you copy files by hand, they go in the Plugins folder for the matching year, usually as a .rb file plus a support folder of the same name. Quit SketchUp first.

If an extension stops SketchUp from starting at all, quit it, move that extension's .rb file and its folder from Plugins to your Desktop, and relaunch. Moving is reversible; deleting is not.

A new SketchUp year

Each year has its own Plugins folder, so extensions do not appear in a new release by themselves. SketchUp's help describes the supported route: the bundled Extension Migrator prompts you the first time a new version runs, or you can run Extensions > Migrate Extensions. It also offers Migrate Preferences, which carries your settings across and is in the File menu if you skipped it. Extensions bought outside the Extension Warehouse may need reauthorising.

Backing up and moving to a new Mac

Back up your .skp models with their ~ backups, plus whatever the Files settings list for components, materials, styles and templates. On the new Mac, install SketchUp, open it once, then reinstall extensions from the Extension Manager or copy your year's Plugins folder into place with SketchUp quit. Time Machine covers ~/Library/Application Support unless you excluded it, but recovered files are deleted on a clean exit, so do not count on them being in a backup.

Why a normal search misses these

Spotlight and Finder searches leave out ~/Library, so Plugins and RecoveredFiles do not appear in normal results. Backups sit next to your models, so they do show up, but with a ~ in the name that is easy to miss.

Finding them later

When you do not know which year's folder an extension landed in, type its .rb file name into Everywhere, or type RecoveredFiles or Plugins to see every copy across each SketchUp year, each with its folder. Typing a model's name lists the model and its ~ backup together. Application Support is not a protected folder, so it is covered without Full Disk Access, while models in Documents or Desktop need it. It matches names only, not model contents.

Common questions

Where is the SketchUp Plugins folder on a Mac?

In ~/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 20xx/SketchUp/Plugins, with your SketchUp year in place of 20xx. The path comes from SketchUp's community forum, confirmed there for SketchUp 2022.

Where does SketchUp save backups on a Mac?

In the same folder as your .skp model, with a ~ added to the file name, according to SketchUp's help. The backup is the previously saved version and appears only after the second save.

Where are SketchUp auto-save files on a Mac?

SketchUp's help says they are temporary files that appear as Recovered in the Welcome window after a crash and are deleted on a normal exit. Forum posts give ~/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 20xx/working/SKETCHUP/RecoveredFiles for 19.3 and 2020.

Why did my extensions disappear in a new SketchUp version?

Each SketchUp year has its own Plugins folder. Run Extensions > Migrate Extensions, which SketchUp bundles, or reinstall them from the Extension Manager.