If you go looking for your DaVinci Resolve project file in Finder, you won't find one. Resolve saves projects into a project library (a database), and the timeline you spent a week on exists as rows in that database until you export it. So backing up Resolve takes two steps that most editors only do half of: get the project out of the database as a file (a .drp export, a .dra archive, or Resolve's own timed Project Backups), and then copy that file and your media to a second drive or the cloud.
Resolve's built-in features handle the first step well. None of them handle the second.
TL;DR: Resolve stores projects in a database, not as files. Turn on Live Save and Project Backups in Preferences → User → Project Save and Load, and point the backup location at a folder you control. Export a .drp for a small, timeline-only copy, or a .dra archive when you need the media bundled too. Then copy that folder and your media folders to at least one other drive or cloud destination, because every Resolve backup lands on your Mac by default.
Where does DaVinci Resolve save projects on a Mac?
Resolve saves projects inside a project library. On a single Mac that's usually a local disk library, a folder of database files that only Resolve reads. Teams sometimes use a PostgreSQL library on a server, and Blackmagic Cloud libraries live online for collaboration.
To see where yours is, open the Project Manager and show the project libraries panel. Each library lists its location, and you can open it in Finder from there. Don't copy files in and out of that folder by hand while Resolve is running. It's a live database, and a copy taken mid-write isn't guaranteed to open.
What the library does not hold is your media. Clips, audio, graphics, and stills are referenced from wherever they sit on disk. The project knows where A001_C003.mov was. It doesn't contain it. Render cache, proxies, and optimized media live in your working folders, separate from the project too.
Which Resolve backup protects you from what
Resolve has five ways to save a copy of your work, and they cover different failures. Mixing them up is how people end up with a crash-safe project and no copy of the footage.
| Method | What it saves | Includes media? | Where it lands | Protects against |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Live Save | Every change, continuously, into the library | No | The project library | Crashes, forgetting to save |
| Project Backups | Timed copies of the project (every few minutes, hourly, daily) | No | Your chosen backup folder | Bad edits, a corrupted project |
| Export Project (.drp) | One project, as a single file | No | Wherever you save it | Library corruption, moving to another Mac |
| Export Project Archive (.dra) | The project plus its media, optionally proxies and cache | Yes | Wherever you save it | Losing media, handing a job over |
| Library backup | A whole project library | No | Wherever you save it | Losing the library itself |
Read the "Where it lands" column again. Every one of these defaults to your Mac or a drive attached to it. A dead internal SSD takes the library, the timed backups, and any .drp you saved to the desktop with it.
How to turn on automatic project backups
Open DaVinci Resolve → Preferences → User → Project Save and Load.
- Turn on Live save. Resolve writes every change to the library as you work, so a crash costs you seconds, not the last 20 minutes.
- Turn on Project backups. Set how often Resolve takes a backup and how many hourly and daily ones it keeps. The defaults are a reasonable start for most editors.
- Set Project backup location to a folder you'll actually back up, for example
~/Movies/Resolve Backups. This is the setting that matters most for everything after Resolve, because it turns the project into files in a known folder.
Live Save and Project Backups protect you from yourself and from crashes. They don't protect you from a drive failure, because both still live on the same Mac.
How to recover a DaVinci Resolve project after a crash
With Live Save on, relaunch Resolve and open the project. It's usually where you left it.
If the project won't open or you need an earlier state, go to the Project Manager, right-click the project, and choose Project Backups. Pick a backup by its timestamp and load it. Resolve opens it as a copy, so the damaged version stays untouched until you decide what to keep.
If the whole library is damaged, you need a .drp you exported earlier or a library backup. A timed backup only helps while Resolve can still read the library it belongs to.
When to export a .drp and when to export a .dra archive
A .drp is the project alone: timelines, edits, grades, Fusion comps, and Fairlight mixes, with media still referenced from its original location. It's small, so you can export one at the end of every day without thinking about disk space. Right-click the project in the Project Manager and choose Export Project. To open it on another Mac (or after reinstalling), use Import Project and relink the media.
A .dra archive is the project plus copies of the media it uses, packed into one folder. Use Export Project Archive when a job is finished and you want one self-contained thing to put on an archive drive, or when you hand a project to another editor. You can include or skip render cache and proxies. Skip them for archives, since Resolve can regenerate both and they can be as big as the footage. Bring it back with Restore Project Archive.
One limit catches people at the worst moment: a project exported from a newer Resolve version generally won't open in an older one. Before you archive, note the Resolve version in the folder name.
Getting your Resolve backups off the Mac
Once Project Backups point to a folder and you export .drp files to a known place, the rest is ordinary file backup. You need the backup folder, your .drp or .dra exports, and the media folders, copied to at least one more drive and ideally one offsite.
Time Machine covers this if the backup folder and media live on your internal drive, since it backs up your home folder. It ignores external drives by default, and most Resolve media lives on external drives.
Carbon Copy Cloner or ChronoSync can mirror a media drive to a second drive on a schedule. They work well when one footage drive maps to one backup drive.
Tusk is for when footage is spread across several drives and you want each project's files on more than one destination. You make the Resolve backup folder one project and each job's media folder another, then add destinations, for example an external SSD and an Amazon S3 bucket. Tusk copies new and changed files to all of them, verifies each copy with a BLAKE3 checksum, and shows per-file status even when a drive is unplugged. Two honest limits: Tusk doesn't read Resolve's database, so back up the timed backups and .drp exports, not the live library folder. And it doesn't relink media inside Resolve. If you move footage, Resolve's own relink still does that job.
What you can skip
Not everything in a Resolve setup needs a backup:
- Render cache and optimized media. Resolve regenerates them from the source footage. Backing them up can double your storage bill.
- Proxies, unless you made them on a shoot where the camera originals aren't available. Then treat them as media.
- The live project library folder. Back up the timed backups and exports instead, since those are files Resolve has finished writing.
What you can't skip: camera originals, audio, graphics, and any asset you can't download again. Those are the files a .drp points to and can't replace.
FAQ
In a project library, a database Resolve manages, not as separate project files in Finder. The Project Manager's project libraries panel shows each library's location. To get a project out as a file, export it as a .drp (project only) or a .dra archive (project plus media), or turn on Project Backups with a backup location you choose in Preferences → User → Project Save and Load.
Yes, if Live Save is on. It's in Preferences → User → Project Save and Load. Live Save writes every change to the project library as you work. Turn on Project backups in the same panel too, which keeps timed copies (every few minutes, hourly, and daily) in a folder you choose, so you can roll back a bad edit, not just survive a crash.
In the folder set as Project backup location in Preferences → User → Project Save and Load. You can load one from the Project Manager by right-clicking the project and choosing Project Backups. Because that folder sits on your Mac by default, copy it to an external drive or cloud destination as part of your regular backup.
A .drp is a single exported project: timelines, edits, grades, and audio work, with media still referenced from its original location. A .dra is a project archive: the project plus copies of the media it uses, optionally with proxies and render cache. Use .drp files for frequent, small backups and .dra archives for finished projects you want stored in one self-contained folder.
Export Project (.drp) does not. It only saves the project, and you relink media when you import it. Export Project Archive (.dra) copies the media into the archive folder alongside the project. Either way, back up the camera originals separately, because a project with nothing to link to can't be rebuilt.
Usually not. Projects saved or exported from a newer Resolve version generally won't open in an older one. Record the Resolve version you used when you archive a project (in the folder name is easiest), and keep the matching installer if you might need to reopen it years later.
Not on its own. A Blackmagic Cloud library stores projects online so several editors can work on them, but it doesn't store your media unless you sync it separately, and a change made in the project changes it for everyone. Keep exporting .drp files or archives, and keep your media on at least two drives or a drive and a cloud bucket.