Where Are My Clips after formatting my PC?

If you’ve recently reformatted your PC and are unable to locate your clips on Medal, here’s what you need to know:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Where Are My Clips after formatting my PC?
  • Why can’t I find my clips?
  • How does Medal handle local and cloud clips?
  • What might have happened to my clips?
  • What can I do now?
    • If your clips were uploaded to the cloud:
    • If your clips were stored locally:
    • If you don’t have a backup:
  • Quick Tips to Prevent Data Loss in the Future
  • Still need help?

Why can’t I find my clips?

When you reformat your PC, all locally stored files, including your Medal clips, are erased unless you backed them up beforehand. If your clips weren’t uploaded to the Medal cloud before the reformat, unfortunately, we cannot recover them.

How does Medal handle local and cloud clips?

• Uploaded Clips: These are stored in the cloud and can be accessed from any device by logging into your Medal account.
• Local Clips: These remain on your computer and are not automatically uploaded to the cloud unless you choose to.
• Free Up Space Automation: Once a clip is uploaded to the cloud, Medal can automatically delete the local version to save space. However, if the clip was not uploaded, it remains only on your local drive.

What might have happened to my clips?

1. Reformatted Computer: If the local files weren’t backed up, they are likely lost.

2. Medal Reinstallation: After reinstalling Medal, it may no longer detect your local clips. However, if the files weren’t deleted during reformatting, they might still be on your computer.
3. Moved Local Folders: If the clip files were manually moved to another location, Medal might not detect them, but the files should still be recoverable if located.

What can I do now?

If your clips were uploaded to the cloud:

• Simply log back into your Medal account. Your uploaded clips will appear in your library.

If your clips were stored locally:

• Check your backup: If you backed up your files before reformatting, you can reimport them into Medal. Follow this guide: How to Upload to Medal.

• Locate local files: Search your computer for any remaining clip files. Common locations include:
  • Default Medal capture folder
  • Custom folder paths you may have set up
• Reimport clips:
  • Open Medal and navigate to Settings > Recorder > External Recorder.
  • Set the folder containing your clips as the external recorder location.
  • Copy and paste the clips into this folder. Medal will recognize new files added here.

If you don’t have a backup:

Unfortunately, if the files were deleted during reformatting and no backup exists, there’s no way to recover the local clips.

Quick Tips to Prevent Data Loss in the Future

1. Backup Regularly: Store your clips on an external drive or cloud storage before reformatting or making major changes to your computer.
2. Enable Cloud Sync: Use Medal’s cloud storage feature to ensure your clips are always available, even if your local files are lost.
3. Organize Your Files: Keep your clips in a dedicated folder to make backup and recovery easier.
4. Backup before formatting: Follow our Support Article "How to Backup Clips before formatting your System OS"

Still need help?

If you have additional questions or need further assistance, feel free to reach out to us by creating a ticket here. We’re here to help!