Affinity Publisher 2.4.2 - Document Corrupted

[GrannyWeatherwax]

Windows 10 Pro
Affinity Publisher 2.4.2
File saved locally while working. Stored on a WD SSD Portable External Storage drive to transfer between a laptop and a desktop both running Windows 10. 
Error:
Failed to Load Document : 2023-24 Project
The document appears to be corrupted.
The document must now be closed.

Unfortunately I did not leave a copy of the file on my local drives and I cut and paste the file into the external storage drive between sessions so my recycle bins are no use either.  The only existing copy is the one on the external storage drive, but I can't open it without the corruption error on either the Laptop or Desktop.  I tried creating a new blank document and importing pages from the file as suggested in some of the other posts, but it didn't import the file in any useable way (though it didn't give me an corrupted error message either.) 

I can't upload the file to a public forum because my client asked that the publication remain confidential/not shared online, so I'm hoping there is an Affinity support option that might rescue the last week of work I put into it. Honestly, I'd be happy if I could even salvage some of the layouts.  

It's my first time running a project in Affinity and I was really happy with how easy and intuitive it has been compared to Adobe, but it's been a long time since I've needed to manually save multiple versions of a file as backup, so I think that's definitely my number one lesson learned!  Thanks in advance.

[Komatös]

Hi @GrannyWeatherwax and welcome to the forums.

Try with creating a new document and then placing the damaged document in it.
 

[Lee D]

@GrannyWeatherwax Try @Komatös suggestion of using Add pages from file on a new document. If that doesn't work, can you provide a link to your file to help us try to identify a possible cause and limit this happening in the future. 

[GrannyWeatherwax]

Hi - yes, I did try the new document and adding pages into it - it did not work unfortunately.  I also can't upload my file on the public forum because the contents are for a client who requested confidentiality, so I was hoping to find a way to send the file privately without linking it in the forums.  Thank you!

[Lee D]

@GrannyWeatherwax You can send me a DM with a download link to the file to keep it private. 

If you can also include the following information in the DM as it may be useful.

• Is the local location you've been loading/saving the file to while working set to be synced to any cloud services?
• Do you have any Anti-virus or Malware apps running, if so which?
• If you start a new document, can you save it to the same location as the other?

[GrannyWeatherwax]

Thanks - sorry for the slow reply, but wanted to make sure my client was OK with me sending the file and they ended up just opting to have me start over because of confidentiality.  So - it's a loss.  

For information's sake:  No cloud syncing, no cloud services.  Antivirus is Webroot on both PC and laptop.  I can start and save a new document to the same location.   

I'm going to start over and maybe work in smaller sections saving new files as I go and assembling a large file at the end by combining the smaller sections and hopefully no issues that way (or at least no big loss of work.)  Thank you!