Save status & unsaved work — MEP Tools
What the save-status chip in a tool means, where "on this device" work lives, how it reaches your account after you verify your email, and what can delete it.
Two places your work can be
Every tool keeps your work in up to two places:
- On this device — a local copy in the browser you are using, written continuously as you edit. It exists for everyone, including guests, and needs no account.
- In your account (the cloud) — a saved project, listed on /projects and on your dashboard. This needs a signed-in account with a verified email.
The local copy is crash recovery and a staging area, not a second save location. It lives only in that browser on that device, it is never synced between devices, and — as described below — it can be swept. If work matters, it needs to be in your account.
The save-status chip
Every tool shows one chip in its header that says where the document on screen currently is. Click it to open a short explanation and, where there is something to do, an action. When something has gone wrong the panel opens on its own.
| Chip | Meaning |
|---|---|
| On this device | The work is only in this browser. As a guest the action is Sign in; with an unverified email it is Resend verification email; with a verified account it is Save. |
| Saving to cloud… | A save to your account is in flight. |
| Cloud saved | The last cloud save completed and nothing has changed since. |
| Edits pending | The project is in your account, but newer edits are only on this device. Autosave will pick them up; the action is Save. |
| Offline | A save failed because there is no connection. Your work is safe on this device and saves when the connection returns. |
| Cloud save failed | The save was refused or the request failed for another reason. Your work is safe on this device; the action is Retry. When the server answered, the panel shows a Reference for support you can copy. |
| Cloud save blocked | You are at your plan's project limit, so this project cannot be saved. The action is Manage projects. See Projects & saving. |
| Cloud save paused | Someone (or another tab or device signed in as you) saved a newer version of this project after you opened it. The action is Choose what to keep — see Save conflicts. |
| Project too large | The server refused the save because the project exceeds the maximum size for one cloud project (about 1 MB). Nothing was overwritten. Remove some content and save again. |
| Device save failed | The browser could not write the local copy — this device may hold nothing of your latest work. Save to the cloud or export now. |
| Not saved | Another tab changed this document, so this tab's local write was refused. Your version is still open here. |
| Unsaved work loaded | Work from your last visit was found on this device and opened. Keep or Discard. |
| Restored edits | Edits newer than your cloud copy were found on this device and opened. Discard reverts to the cloud copy. |
| Your work moved to your account | Work you did before verifying your email was saved to your account as a project. Open takes you to it. |
The chip is the only place the app reports save state; there is no separate banner or File-menu status line.
The File menu
Every tool's File menu has New, Load project, Save (Ctrl+S), Autosave (On/Off), Save as, and Rename. Guests see New and Sign in to save only. Tools may add their own entries below these — Plant Room Studio, for example, adds its import and export items there.
Autosave
Autosave is on by default. Once a project exists in your account, it saves about 10 seconds after you stop making changes, with a 60-second cap so a long editing session is still saved periodically. It also flushes when the tab loses focus or is hidden. Closing the tab triggers a final save attempt, but a closing tab can cancel it — the chip will read Edits pending the next time you open the project, and the edits are still on the device.
Turning autosave off in the File menu persists in this browser. It also turns off the automatic move of unsaved work into your account after verification (below); an explicit Retry save ignores the toggle.
Autosave does not run while a project is locked (over your project limit) or too large.
Unsaved work
"Unsaved work" is work that exists on this device and is not tied to a project in your account — for example, what a guest did in a calculator, or a new document you never saved. The app keeps one piece of unsaved work per tool: the newest one.
You will find it listed as Unsaved work — on this device on the dashboard and at the bottom of /projects once you are signed in, each with Continue (opens it in the tool) and Delete (permanent, with a confirmation).
Coming back to a tool
When you reopen a tool and the local copy is newer than what is in your account, it is loaded automatically and the chip announces it (Unsaved work loaded or Restored edits). Choose Keep to carry on, or Discard to drop the local copy — for a saved project, that means reverting to the cloud version.
What happens when you verify
If you did work as a guest and then create an account, that work is claimed by your new account the moment you sign in, and moved into your account once your email is verified:
- Each piece of unsaved guest work becomes a saved project, named after the work's name or Untitled project. The tool you are currently in goes first; the rest follow newest first.
- Only as many are moved as your plan has free project slots. Anything beyond that stays on the device with the state Kept on this device — project limit reached, until you delete a project or upgrade.
- Work belonging to a tool that is no longer available is skipped and stays on the device.
- A failed upload is retried automatically. The dashboard shows Your work isn't saved yet while that is outstanding; the getting-started panel inside the tool offers Retry save.
The Getting started card on the dashboard tells you beforehand how many pieces will move and how many will stay. The move only takes work you did as a guest — a document you started while signed in is yours to save explicitly, so it never spends a project slot without you asking.
Work in a tool you still have open is left alone until it has been idle for about ten seconds.
What can delete on-device work
- Retention: any local copy untouched for 30 days is removed the next time the app starts.
- Signing out removes this account's local copies from the device, including unsaved edits to a saved project. Work you did as a guest before creating the account is kept. Save before you sign out.
- Discard on the chip, and Delete on an unsaved-work row.
- Clearing site data in the browser, or using a private window that is then closed.
Deleting a saved project or deleting your account also removes its local copy.
Save conflicts
If a newer version of the project was saved to your account after you opened it — from another tab, another device, or another session — the app refuses to overwrite it and the chip reads Cloud save paused. A dialog, Someone else saved this project, offers:
- Open the newer version — discards the edits on this device and loads what's in your account.
- Save mine as a copy — keeps both: your edits become a new project.
Nothing is saved until you choose. The dialog can be closed and reopened from the chip.
Related
- Projects & saving — the project library, limits, and locked projects
- Your dashboard — where unsaved work and the getting-started steps appear
- Account & security — verifying your email