Hi everyone, I’m a solo indie developer working on a horror game in UE5 and I’ve made a serious mistake. Hoping someone experienced can help me recover.
What happened
I renamed my project files/folders directly in Windows Explorer. Now when I open the project, I get 600+ errors saying objects are unknown, and the Message Log shows 22+ entries like:
“Skipped package /Game/ナマズ/BP_Namazu has a valid, mounted, mount point but does not exist either on disk or in iostore. The uncooked file would be expected on disk at ‘C:/Users/…/Desktop/Content/ナマズ/BP_Namazu.uasset’. Perhaps it has been deleted or was not synced?”
Multiple assets affected: Blueprints, Megascans foliage, materials, static meshes, etc.
Current state
Engine: Unreal Engine 5 (Blueprint-based, no C++ as far as I know)
The .uproject file and Content/Config/Saved/Intermediate folders are currently scattered on my Desktop (not in a clean project folder structure)
There are multiple .uproject files and multiple potential Content folder candidates on the Desktop
I have NOT saved the project since the issue occurred (so the .uasset files on disk should still be intact)
No version control - lesson learned
Autosaves exist in Saved/Autosaves/
I’ve already made a full backup copy of my Desktop to another drive
What I need help with
How to identify which .uproject file is the “correct” one
How to properly reorganize the scattered Content/Config/Saved folders back into a working project structure
Steps for Fix Up Redirectors and cleanup after reorganization
If anyone is available for a screen share session, that would be a huge help
I can share screenshots of the Desktop state, the Message Log errors, and any folder contents needed.
See below. The first option will remove redirect references. The second, likely the one you need, will update references to what they should be. Use them in order. Though, I can’t guarantee positive results depending on how many things you’ve renamed.
Thank you so much for the quick response! Before I try these options,
I want to make sure I understand my situation correctly, because I
think it might be more severe than typical rename issues.
In my case:
I didn’t just rename assets in the Content Browser
I renamed the PROJECT itself and moved files around in Windows
Explorer
As a result, the project’s Content/Config/Saved folders are now
SCATTERED across my Desktop, not in a clean project folder
The errors say files don’t exist at expected paths like
‘C:/Users/…/Desktop/Content/ナマズ/BP_Namazu.uasset’
I’m worried “Resave All” might lock in the current broken state
(missing references) permanently
Questions:
Would “Update Redirector References” still help if the actual
.uasset files are physically misplaced (not just renamed)?
Is “Resave All” safe to use when many references are currently
broken? I’m afraid it will permanently save the “missing” state.
Should I first reorganize the scattered folders back to proper
project structure before trying these options?
I attached screenshots of my Desktop state and the Message Log errors.
Any guidance would be hugely appreciated. Thanks again!
Unfortunately this sounds like a serious problem. I can offer some hints:
Make a folder with the same name as your project (the same name as the .uproject file).
Put that folder somewhere else than your desktop. E.g., C:/MyProject/MyProject.uproject. The path should be short. Unreal doesn’t like long paths.
Copy the folder Content and Config next to your .uproject. If this is not a C++ project it should not have Source and Binaries folders. In any case, you do not need the Intermediate or Saved folders.
Only make changes to this copied project, so that you don’t make things worse.
About the .uproject files:
You can just open them using notepad or any other code editor of your choice. They are just .json files and are human readable. If you have multiple of them, they are most likely identical. Otherwise you need to decide which one to use.
About the .uassets:
Unreal references assets by name and content folder path. When you have renamed and/or moved the assets in the Windows explorer you need to rename or move them back to their original location using Windows explorer too. The errors, as the one you posted, give you hints about which assets are missing at which location. But don’t make any changes in Unreal. Close Unreal again and try to fix the issue in Windows. You need to restore them one by one. Be careful about redirectors. They are like imposter assets (Asset Redirectors in Unreal Engine | Unreal Engine 5.7 Documentation | Epic Developer Community). If you have redirectors in your project than means that you will see the same .usasset file multiple times. If the size of an .uasset file is very small it is most likely a redirector. You need to restore all these redirectors too, so don’t delete them.
