workspace: Support hot-exit for empty workspaces and single files by shfc · Pull Request #46557 · zed-industries/zed

shfc · 2026-01-11T10:47:18Z

Enables restoration of empty workspaces (without folders) that contain unsaved items like drafts or single files. Empty workspaces are now identified by workspace_id rather than paths, allowing multiple empty workspaces to coexist and be properly restored on startup. This ensures users don't lose work when closing Zed with unsaved files in empty workspaces.

Closes #15098

Release Notes:

Improved: Empty workspaces with unsaved files now restore on startup (hot-exit)

cla-bot · 2026-01-11T10:47:21Z

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shfc · 2026-01-11T10:50:00Z

@cla-bot check

cla-bot · 2026-01-11T10:50:03Z

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Enables restoration of empty workspaces (without folders) that contain unsaved items like drafts or single files. Empty workspaces are now identified by workspace_id rather than paths, allowing multiple empty workspaces to coexist and be properly restored on startup.

SomeoneToIgnore

Thank you for the attempt: it's amazing to see that now all the files I've edited in empty workspaces come back.

Yet, no unsaved changes are restored according to my testing:

no_changes.mov

I have merged main in to re-trigger the CI and fix the merge commits, but not sure how to help and fix the logic.
Do you have any clues?

shfc · 2026-01-23T08:10:46Z

Thank you for the attempt: it's amazing to see that now all the files I've edited in empty workspaces come back.

Yet, no unsaved changes are restored according to my testing:

no_changes.mov
I have merged main in to re-trigger the CI and fix the merge commits, but not sure how to help and fix the logic. Do you have any clues?

Thanks for letting me know. I've resolved the data loss when working without a worktree by adding logic to restore the missing content to the None branch, and also added a test. Could you please review again?

test.mp4

SomeoneToIgnore

Works like a charm now, amazing.

Thank you for finding a way to adjust the code, let's make it a bit more easy to approach for future changes and merge.

crates/workspace/src/workspace.rs

crates/editor/src/items.rs

crates/zed/src/zed/open_listener.rs

Now works

shfc · 2026-01-23T11:41:04Z

Works like a charm now, amazing.

Thank you for finding a way to adjust the code, let's make it a bit more easy to approach for future changes and merge.

Updated. Thanks for your suggestions, please let me know what you think now.

shfc · 2026-01-23T13:23:16Z

@SomeoneToIgnore fixed the formatting issue, please run the CI again

SomeoneToIgnore

Almost there.

SomeoneToIgnore

Great change, thank you a lot!

disbolog · 2026-01-23T23:52:09Z

Does this new functionality mean I can have Zed save non-persisted files (e.g. newly created, and not existing edited) without even having a workspace = akin to default on VSCode?

fuzenco · 2026-01-31T18:53:11Z

This is a huge update! Just now, I wished Zed would re-open unsaved files, as I had lost a document I was working on last month that wasn’t yet saved. Before scanning the release notes, I tested an unsaved file, hoping I had missed something and that the feature might have been added. To my surprise, I found out it’s actually here! I was blown away by this news. Thank you, Zed and the community, for continuing to make this editor amazing.

fuzenco · 2026-01-31T18:54:29Z

Does this new functionality mean I can have Zed save non-persisted files (e.g. newly created, and not existing edited) without even having a workspace = akin to default on VSCode?

If you mean unsaved files not in a workspace, the answer is yes. I just tested it. My prayers have been answered.

tdkl · 2026-02-02T09:49:16Z

Does this new functionality mean I can have Zed save non-persisted files (e.g. newly created, and not existing edited) without even having a workspace = akin to default on VSCode?

If you mean unsaved files not in a workspace, the answer is yes. I just tested it. My prayers have been answered.

How can you get it to work? I currently have it set to Restore On Startup: Last Session, but when I create new files and close the Zed editor, it prompts to save the files or discard them all.

fuzenco · 2026-02-02T14:05:03Z

How can you get it to work? I currently have it set to Restore On Startup: Last Session, but when I create new files and close the Zed editor, it prompts to save the files or discard them all.

I don’t know as I have never messed with my configs, besides the setting you said you have on, there are all enabled in my Zed:

When Closing With No Tabs = Platform Default
On Last Window Closed = Platform Default

bitbonk · 2026-02-03T09:29:12Z

It is probably not fully fixed yet. As #48255 demonstrates.

shfc · 2026-02-03T11:25:41Z

Does this new functionality mean I can have Zed save non-persisted files (e.g. newly created, and not existing edited) without even having a workspace = akin to default on VSCode?

If you mean unsaved files not in a workspace, the answer is yes. I just tested it. My prayers have been answered.

How can you get it to work? I currently have it set to Restore On Startup: Last Session, but when I create new files and close the Zed editor, it prompts to save the files or discard them all.

Did you use the version released after v0.222.0-pre? This feature hasn't been released on the current stable version yet.

tdkl · 2026-02-03T14:36:37Z

Does this new functionality mean I can have Zed save non-persisted files (e.g. newly created, and not existing edited) without even having a workspace = akin to default on VSCode?

If you mean unsaved files not in a workspace, the answer is yes. I just tested it. My prayers have been answered.

How can you get it to work? I currently have it set to Restore On Startup: Last Session, but when I create new files and close the Zed editor, it prompts to save the files or discard them all.

Did you use the version released after v0.222.0-pre? This feature hasn't been released on the current stable version yet.

Thank you, you're absolutely right, my bad. I was expecting it to be the part of stable release already. Now I see that it was merged only in the preview release.

tdkl · 2026-02-07T06:40:19Z

It works great now in stable, thank you again for the work. But when I had various non-saved files opened which were re-opening fine after closure, I noticed that when a new update was downloaded and I clicked on "Update Zed and restart", after restart of Zed those non-saved files were gone.

jankkm · 2026-02-09T08:15:23Z

I noticed too that it usually works well but there is at least one situation where the unsaved files get lost:
If I close the current empty workspace but not the application (red button on macOS) the window closes without a warning. This might be technically similar to what happens on update like @tdkl described.

The same is true for non-empty workspaces but in that case I can reopen the workspace and the unsaved work comes back.

shfc · 2026-02-09T11:09:12Z

It works great now in stable, thank you again for the work. But when I had various non-saved files opened which were re-opening fine after closure, I noticed that when a new update was downloaded and I clicked on "Update Zed and restart", after restart of Zed those non-saved files were gone.

Hi, could you please create a new issue for this? Since this PR is already done, it'll be easier to track that way.

SomeoneToIgnore · 2026-02-09T11:12:28Z

I believe we have one now: #48468 and it is a nice one to fix.

cla-bot bot added the cla-signed The user has signed the Contributor License Agreement label Jan 11, 2026

shfc force-pushed the hot-exit-empty-workspaces branch from 8c956ad to 3e18648 Compare January 11, 2026 15:03

smitbarmase assigned SomeoneToIgnore Jan 12, 2026

linuxct mentioned this pull request Jan 21, 2026

Serialize the unsaved changes of files not associated with a worktrees #15098

Closed

2 tasks

echuber2 mentioned this pull request Jan 21, 2026

Enable unsaved buffer persistence for worktree-less windows #44276

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SomeoneToIgnore added 2 commits January 22, 2026 17:19

Merge branch 'main' into hot-exit-empty-workspaces

3d77f1e

Post-merge fix

cbaded6

SomeoneToIgnore previously requested changes Jan 22, 2026

View reviewed changes

editor: Restore unsaved changes for files in empty workspaces

f2be4af

shfc requested a review from SomeoneToIgnore January 23, 2026 08:11

SomeoneToIgnore reviewed Jan 23, 2026

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crates/workspace/src/workspace.rs Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

crates/editor/src/items.rs Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

crates/editor/src/items.rs Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

crates/zed/src/zed/open_listener.rs Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

shfc added 2 commits January 23, 2026 22:04

Refactor editor restoration and improve error messages

1e09b0e

Clarify workspace_id handling in CLI restoration

dd1fff8

shfc requested a review from SomeoneToIgnore January 23, 2026 11:45

Fix code formatting

58e6278

SomeoneToIgnore reviewed Jan 23, 2026

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Remove fake WorkspaceId::default()

09cf92c

shfc requested a review from SomeoneToIgnore January 23, 2026 14:45

SomeoneToIgnore approved these changes Jan 23, 2026

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SomeoneToIgnore enabled auto-merge (squash) January 23, 2026 14:48

SomeoneToIgnore merged commit e1c80f4 into zed-industries:main Jan 23, 2026
27 checks passed

bitbonk mentioned this pull request Feb 3, 2026

Unsaved buffers are not restored without a workspace #48255

Closed

godruoyi mentioned this pull request Feb 5, 2026

feat: add 8 tips from Zed v0.222.2 release zed-tips/zed.tips#21

Merged

6 tasks

nikitaWebApps mentioned this pull request Feb 5, 2026

"Restore Unsaved Buffers" is not respected when closing the window on macOS #48468

Open

bitbonk mentioned this pull request Feb 9, 2026

Open recent files and open recent sub-menus #18126

Closed

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