Hey all. So I migrated a project from UE4.26 to 5.0 and liked 5.0 so much I just kept using it. At some point I realized the project wasn’t showing up in the recent projects list but just kept rolling with it.
Now, after coming back to it after a few months and upgrading it o 5.1 I’m not only annoyed that it doesn’t show up, but I’d also like to rename the project file. Unreal seems very particular about random things and I’m concerned that simply renaming the file will cause everything to explode.
So my questions are, how do I get it show up in my recent project list so I don’t have to keep browsing for it, and is it safe to rename my project file? Or are there steps to take to ensure nothing blows up? Or am I stuck with it how it is?
Thanks.
The image below shows how my Recent Projects list is empty and how I need to browse to find my project that has a name I don’t like anymore.
Hey there @Durghan! Welcome back to the community! After browsing to the project once it should show up in your recent projects, that’s definitely unintended. Is the project itself on a different drive? Is the library inside the Epic launcher also completely blank even after the browsing?
Hey, yeah, even after loading the project, working on it for a few hours, saving several times, and the closing it, once I go to load it again the recent projects list is still empty and I have to browse to the project file to load it.
The project is on a different drive. In fact, it’s in my OneDrive. Unreal Engine is installed on Drive E: while my OneDrive is on drive K:.
It does show up under My Projects in the Library tab of the Epic Launcher. I never even thought to look there. That seems to be loading the project fine so I guess that’s one way around the problem. Thanks! Would still be nice to know how to fix it though, if possible.
Ahhh Onedrive could be causing some issues there. Syncing folders and UE (or any game engine for that matter) have issues when binaries are being synced and things need accessing. Onedrive used to cause all sorts of issues especially if you sync files constantly between two rigs. If possible I’d recommend using some other form of source control, unless the nature of OD has changed since I had to fight binary problems.
That said, my projects are a different drive from UE but it’s not an external. I’ve seen issues with external drives not registering immediately, so when the engine checks it’s last known location for it, it fails and the list get’s cleared. Is your drive an external?
It is external, yeah. Okay, I’ll try moving the project to a different drive.
Speaking of source control, what options are there for a guy whose just trying to learn stuff and has no budget to throw at something, and will allow 100+ GB of data, and isn’t ridiculously complicated? Like I mentioned, I’m just learning and though I’ve a tried a few times, I just can’t wrap my head around how GitHUB works. OneDrive is great because it’s a lot of storage, it acts like just more folders on another drive like I’ve been doing for decades, it’s part of a larger package deal, and it’s only $11 a month. But that $XX per month multiplied by a dozen or more different subscriptions adds up very quickly so any option that is super cheap, or doesn’t cost anything, is a bonus.
Understand! Source control in general is a bit of a pain to learn if you’d never worked with it before, but it does have a visual client that makes it far easier to work with. All source control that handles massive amounts of data will have a cost due to being able to store 100gbs+ always requires server space.
I personally use Git, Github Desktop, Git Large File Storage, and Github as once you have the basics down spinning up a repo is quick and easy. When I was in your position, I used to use sub repos to handle large projects, but this isn’t industry standard or optimal. Basically had a Gitignore on the main project that ignored content, and had a Gitignore on the second repo that ignored everything but large files. This allowed me to constantly push tiny code changes to the main one and that project stayed small, and large content changes to the sub. This get’s messy later when you have to merge it all though.
Perforce has the most integration for UE but is also mostly made for teams, as a solo developer having a whole server for source control is less fun unless this is your job. Though if you’re going to be working with a massive project, sometimes it’s worth it.
Depending on how you can access your Onedrive space, you might be able to use it if you can disable it’s autosyncing features. Though I’m definitely not up on OD usage these days.
To get your project to show up in the Recent Projects list, you can try the following:
Go to the Unreal Engine launcher and select “Library” from the top menu.
Locate your project in the list of installed projects and click the “Add to Favorites” button. This will add the project to your Recent Projects list.
As for renaming the project file, it is generally safe to do so as long as you follow some guidelines. Here are some steps you can take to ensure that nothing explodes:
Make a backup copy of your project before renaming the file. This will ensure that you have a copy of your project in case anything goes wrong.
Close Unreal Engine before renaming the project file.
Use a file explorer to rename the project file, rather than renaming it within Unreal Engine.
Make sure that all the files of the project are in the same folder, you must not move the files or folders around after renaming.
When you open Unreal Engine again, use the “Open Project” button and browse to the new location of the project file.
It’s always a good idea to be cautious when making changes to your project, so following these steps should help to ensure that everything goes smoothly.
Thanks for the reply. I’m not seeing an Add to favorites button. And the right click options don’t have it either. I also quit and reloaded the launcher in case there was an update I’d missed but nothing changed. What am I missing?
And it seems renaming the project has worked fine.
