AutoCAD is a design and drawing software developed by AutoDesk to create professional 2D or 3D files. This computer-aided design program can automate the execution process, so users can create, edit and manage designs efficiently. The native files created in AutoCAD is saved in DWG format, and you may spend days or hours to meticulously work on a project, so whenever your AutoCAD DWG files are left unsaved, deleted or corrupted, that would a disaster.
Yet, it is lucky that we have reliable solutions to recover a corrupted, unsaved, or restore deleted AutoCAD DWG file on Mac, Windows, even external USB device.
Best Data Recovery for Windows and Mac
Free Download Windows 11/10/8/7
Free Download macOS 10.9 or later
To find and recover a AutoCAD DWG file on Mac or Windows, even from external devices, the easiest and quickest way is to use a piece of dedicated dwg recovery software. Because it can scan your drive deeply, then identifies, extracts and copies the recoverable data to a designated secure location on a device.
Cisdem Data Recovery is a Windows & Mac program to restore files lost under different situation. It allows users to restore files from both internal and external hard drive, that’s to say, you can not only recover deleted dwg files from your Mac or Windows, but also from other external storage devices, like SD card, USB, etc. There is also a filter tool built in this program to quickly locate a DWG file. It allows users to preview the AutoCAD file, if the preview is not available, your DWG file may be corrupt, Cisdem can repair and recover damaged AutoCAD files as well.
Free Download Windows 11/10/8/7 Free Download macOS 10.9 or later 
Struggling to open your AutoCAD DWG files? Often, it is simply because the file is corrupted or damaged for some reasons. If such a disaster strikes, you can try to repair a corrupted CAD file in AutoCAD or online free.
It is much likely that you have installed AutoCAD on your device, then you should try the repair tool within AutoCAD program if cannot open the file due to corruption.
If the auto repair tool in AutoCAD doesn’t help, you can restore a damaged DWG file online and free. There are 2 recommendations.
Recovery Toolbox offers both desktop and web tools to recover damaged AutoCAD DWG drawings, if you have just one or several files to be restored, you can do it online without installing any software. However, you should pay attention to these disadvantages:
If you fail to recover corrupted DWG files in recovery toolbox, there is an alternative to repair the damaged AutoCAD files online and free: using OnlineFile. Repair. This repair kit is designed to fix corrupted DWG files, it also repair other projects, including CorelDraw, Photoshop, llustrator, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.
Like using Recovery Toolbox, the uploaded file will be saved on the server for some time, it is also uncertain if this online tool can repair your file or not, and it often take a long time to finish the repairing online.
If you left an AutoCAD project unsaved, don’t panic, its Auto Save may have saved your work, also there are 2 other ways to restore an unsaved DWG file.
You may have realized that lots of professional programs add a feature of Auto Save, allowing users to auto save files every 5 or 10 minutes to a preset location, like Adobe Photshop, Micorsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and AutoCAD is no exception.
With AutoCAD’s Auto Save feature, you can recover unsaved DWG files on Mac and Windows PC too. But first of all, you need to make sure you have enabled this feature (click the app button, then go to Options and check if AutoSave is enabled).
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AutoCAD embeds rich features for better user experience, including the one “Create backup copy with each save”, which allows you to recover an unsaved AutoCAD DWG file with backup .bak file. If you have enabled this feature, you can follow the steps to recover your unsaved AutoCAD DWG files.
You can also go to Temp folder to check if the unsaved AutoCAD DWG files are there, if above 2 methods failed to recover your unsaved AutoCAD DWG files.
For Mac users
For Windows users
So you’ve deleted an AutoCAD file by mistake, or you just cannot find some DWG files, they are gone for unknown reasons. Now, you need to know how to recover them.
You’ve got several options to do the recovery, range from simple free to advanced, including the quick solution of using Cisdem that we mentioned in the beginning. Here we will talk about 2 simple and free solutions.
You should check the trash bin first when you realize your files are deleted or lost, it is much likely they will be moved there and wait for putting back, if you didn’t empty the trash bin.
For Mac users
For Windows users
If you have the habit of backing up files on your Mac or Windows to an external storage device, you can recover a deleted or lost DWG file even easier.
For Mac users
For Windows users
We will feel stressful when mistakenly deleting a file or realizing a document get lost, even damaged, if you have a backup, you can recover data such as AutoCAD DWG, photos, videos and others super easily. But most of times, we don’t have a backup. Whereas, with some patience and right tools, we can still recover an unsaved, corrupted or deleted AutoCAD DWG, like Cisdem Data Recovery.
Connie has been writing for Mac productivity and utility apps since 2009. Each review and solution is based on her practical tests, she is aways energetic and trustworthy in this field.
Timothy P. Catalan
An import project file is missing from my Mac, I don't know why, I never thought about starting over, so I came to your guide and finally get the file back, thanks for your clear and concise solution.
Chester Dickey
Sweet! Exactly what I needed. Fast and simple! The first option worked for me. Thanks for laying it out so simply and easy to follow.
Shannon Gebo
The online tools did't fix my damaged dwg files, it just stuck there, have you ever repaired your files successfully online? But Cisdem did helped me find some missing dwg files.