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This guide is for a recording that never became a finished video — it was cancelled, the app or tab closed, the recorder crashed, the network dropped, or it errored out before it saved. Because it never finished, it won’t be in your library and it won’t be in the Trash either.
Looking for a video that you deleted? Deleted videos go to the Trash for 30 days — see How can I recover a deleted video?. To bring back a single clip you removed from the timeline, see How can I recover a deleted clip?. This page is only for recordings that never finished saving.

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Do these things right now

A recording that didn’t finish can almost always still be recovered — as long as the original recorded data still exists. Before you do anything else:
Don’t delete the recording. Deleting a stuck or cancelled recording is the one action that can make it permanently unrecoverable.
  • Don’t clear your browser site data, cookies, or storage if you recorded on the web app or Chrome extension. The in-progress recording data can live in your browser’s storage, and clearing it removes the source we’d recover from.
  • Keep the desktop app installed if you used the Mac or Windows app. Don’t uninstall it and don’t delete its files — the local recording on your machine is what makes recovery possible.
  • Leave the recorder open if it’s still open. Closing it won’t help and may stop an upload that’s still trying to finish.
The sooner you reach out, the better the odds — recovery depends on the source data still being present.

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Find your recording’s local files (Mac app)

The Mac app keeps the recorded files on your computer, which is what we use to recover a recording that didn’t finish uploading.
  1. Open the Tella Mac app.
  2. In the menu bar, go to Help → Open Video Folder.
  3. This opens the folder where Tella stores your recordings. Take a screenshot of this folder (or note the files inside) to send to support.
Don’t move, rename, or delete anything in this folder before contacting support — these files are the source we recover from.

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Find your recording’s local files (Windows app)

If you used the Windows app, keep the app installed and don’t clear its data. Note the approximate date and time you recorded so support can locate the recording on our end.

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Contact support as soon as possible

Reach out via the in-app chat (the ? Help button) or email support@tella.com. Recovery is most likely while the source data still exists, so contact us promptly and include:
  • The approximate date and time of the recording
  • Which recorder you used: web app, Chrome extension, Mac app, or Windows app
  • What happened (cancelled, crashed, app/tab closed, network dropped, errored, stuck uploading)
  • The recording’s rough length
  • A share link, if one was ever created
  • Mac app: a screenshot of your video folder (menu bar → Help → Open Video Folder)
See support availability for response times.
Recordings can often be recovered on our end even when they never appeared in your library. The most important things are to act quickly and to not delete the recording, clear site data, or uninstall the app in the meantime.