Question
Safe Write vs Local History for Unsaved File Preservation
Ira Vale
0 reputation · 24 May 2023, 00:35 UTC
148.4K views
Loading…
0 reputation · 24 May 2023, 00:35 UTC
PhpStorm provides two distinct mechanisms to protect file integrity during unexpected IDE crashes or power failures: Safe Write and Local History. While both aim to prevent data loss, they operate on different layers of the file system and application state.
Safe Write prevents file corruption by writing changes to a temporary file before replacing the original. Local History maintains a timeline of snapshots based on specific intervals or actions, allowing for the recovery of previous states regardless of the final file commit.
The primary uncertainty arises when a crash occurs between a user's edit and the final disk commit. Safe Write ensures the existing file is not corrupted, but it does not inherently guarantee that the most recent unsaved buffer is recoverable. Conversely, Local History captures states periodically, but there is a gap between the last automatic checkpoint and the moment of failure.
Local History is the authoritative recovery mechanism for unsaved buffer content. Safe Write guarantees the on-disk file remains uncorrupted, but it does not expose the temporary file for recovery if the IDE crashes before the atomic rename completes.
phpstorm.idea.tmp) in the same directory.~/.config/JetBrains/<product><version>/localHistory/.kill -9 <pid>.What is your current Local History idle interval setting? If it’s longer than your typical edit-to-crash window, you may lose the last few seconds of typing. Reducing it to 1–2 seconds closes that gap at the cost of slightly more disk writes.
Use comments to ask for clarification. Post a solution as an answer.
No question comments on this page.