File lost??

[Mariam Shafik]

Hi, 

I had a file and now I can't find it, and it gives this message :

"This file is not bound. it does note xist or you don't have access"> I tried signing in with all my accounts, and it still doesn't work. I don't know how to restore it. 

Please help. It's a very important work file.

[draw.io Q&A]

I completely understand how stressful that message is — let’s go through what it means and what you can do.

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🔍 What the message means

“This file is not bound. It does not exist or you don’t have access.”
This means draw.io (diagrams.net) can’t find or open the original file in the connected storage. The app doesn’t store files itself — it only opens diagrams saved in your cloud drive (Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, etc.) or locally.

So one of these is happening:

1. The file was deleted, moved, or renamed in the connected drive.

2. You’re signed into a different account or storage provider than the one that owns the file.

3. Your browser session lost access (expired OAuth token).

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🧭 Step-by-step recovery 1. Check your storage directly

Go to the storage you originally used:

• Google Drive: search for .drawio or .xml files. Also check the Trash and Recent folders.

• OneDrive: search for .drawio and check Recycle Bin.

• Dropbox / local folder: look in your usual save location and any backups.

If you find it there, open it from that drive (not from draw.io’s “Recent Files” list).

2. Try the Recent Diagrams list

In app.diagrams.net

[draw.io Q&A]

• Choose File → Open Recent.

• If the file still appears, hover → note the full path or link shown. That tells you which account/drive it belonged to.

3. Verify login / permissions

• If it was in Google Drive or OneDrive, make sure you’re logged into the same account that owns the file, not a shared one.

• Try opening from a private browser window and reconnecting the correct account when prompted.

4. If it was on Confluence / Jira Cloud

• Go to the Confluence page that contained the diagram.

• Open the Page Attachments list — the diagram should appear as a .drawio attachment.

• If missing, check the page history or recycle bin (Confluence Space Settings → Content Tools → Trash).

5. Local unsaved work (if it was desktop app)

If you were using the desktop version, look for drafts here:

• Windows: %APPDATA%\draw.io\IndexedDB

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/draw.io/IndexedDB
  Recent drafts can sometimes be recovered from these folders.

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🚑 If you still can’t find it

If you can tell me:

• Which platform you were using (Confluence, Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, or desktop), and

• Whether it was shared or personal,

I can give you exact recovery steps for that environment.

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✅ In short: the file isn’t inside draw.io itself — it’s almost always recoverable from your connected storage or Confluence attachments once we pinpoint where it was saved.