unsaved

Unsaved refers to data that has not yet been written to non-volatile storage or permanently recorded. In computing, an item is considered unsaved when the current in-memory state differs from the last saved state.

In productivity software, unsaved changes occur when edits exist but have not been written to disk. Closing a document with unsaved changes typically triggers a prompt to save, discard, or cancel. Modern applications often include autosave, version history, and recovery features to mitigate data loss.

In software development, unsaved changes may describe code or configuration edits in an integrated development environment that have not been saved to disk or committed to a version control repository. Users may be prompted to save before building, switching tasks, or closing the application. Version control systems provide durable records of changes through commits rather than relying solely on in-memory edits.

In gaming, unsaved progress means recent actions have not been written to a save file. Quitting or crashing can lead to loss of progress, so many games offer explicit save points, quicksave, or autosave mechanisms.

In user experience design, forms and input interfaces may warn users about unsaved data when navigating away from a page or browser tab. The warning helps prevent accidental data loss.

Prevention and recovery strategies include enabling autosave, configuring regular manual saves, using version control for code, employing automated backups, and ensuring a reliable save or sync mechanism for applications and devices.