Migrating Files to Workspaces

With troubleshooting instructions

When Remix released version 0.11.0 about 2 weeks ago, we transitioned its filesystem to use workspaces.

To Migrate files that had been in the Files Explorer’s browser folder to a workspace, users need to click the Basic migration link on the home tab.

It is also a good idea to download the files to have a backup. The Download all Files tool will place the files in a .zip folder in your downloads folder.

Some users have experienced problems with the migration

A common problem reported

After trying to migrate with the Migrate tool (see in the link in the right side of the image above), some users have reported that the File Explorer does not contain any files.
— If this is your case, there is no need to worry, your files have not been lost. There is a shortcoming in the the migration tool that can cause this.

There have been other reported migration problems as well — and the solution that this article is covering should work for most of these issues — so give it a try.

To retrieve your files, you will need to use the Remix Plugin Restore Backup Zip. The instruction for this plugin are below. Also see this video:
https://youtu.be/NMLFYkg7oys

But let’s start by going over the migration process.

Backup your files

1. Backup your files with the Download all files tool on the homepage— see the image above. This creates & downloads a zip file containing all the files you had saved in Remix.
2. Unzip the zip file on your computer and check if your files are there. Do not delete the .zip file, keep it.
   There may be a hidden folder in the zip called ‘.workspaces’ — but you can ignore it. (On MacOS, you may not even see the .workspaces folder because directories that begin with a ‘.’ are often hidden)
   If you don’t see any files, you may already cleared your browser’s local storage or you may just not have any files.
3. Verify that the zip contains the file you want to migrate.

Try the Migrate tool

Click ‘Basic migration’ on the home tab — see in the image above.

A modal will then appear.

Click on ‘Migrate’. This should copy your old files to a new workspace. If this works you don’t need to do anything else.

If migration fails

If migration fails, make sure your zip file contains the files you want to restore.

Once you have verified you have a zip file that contains your files, you can clear the ‘local storage’

How to clear local storage on your browser

Once you have verified you have a zip file that contains your files, you can clear the ‘local storage’

First: go to the Remix home page: https://remix.ethereum.org

On CHROME/EDGE:

1. Right click anywhere, click ‘Inspect’
2. Select the ‘Application’ tab
3. Select Storage
4. Click ‘clear site data’

On FIREFOX:

1. Right click anywhere, click ‘Inspect Element’
2. Select the ‘Storage’ tab
3. Select Local Storage
4. Right click on ‘https://remix.ethereum.org/’ and ‘Delete All’

On SAFARI:

1. Click the Develop menu and choose ‘Show Web Inspector’ or right click anywhere, click ‘Inspect Element’
2. Select the ‘Console’
3. Copy paste this into the console: localStorage.clear()
4. Press Enter

Then (no matter what browser)

1. Refresh the page

You should see ‘Workspaces’ now in the File Explorers. The ‘default_workspace’ will contain some demo files.

Restoring with the Restore Backup Zip plugin

Go to Remix’s Plugin Manager and activate the Restore Backup Zip plugin.

The plugin will appear in the main panel.

You can either upload all your files at once into a workspace or select just the files you want.

By creating different workspaces, you can put these files where you want.

Before running the plugin — Workspace Prep

Before running the plugin, create a new workspace. Then delete all the example files & folders in the workspace.

Note: When importing, Remix asks for permissions to write the files, it is important to select ‘remember this choice’ and click ‘accept’.

Do not wait too long to do this. If you waited too long and the import fails, just reload the page and start again.

You can do this as many times as you like into as many workspaces as you wish.

Here’s a quick video walkthrough:

Still have Problems?

Please reach out to us on Gitter.
Make an issue on the Remix Project repo.