Data folder not saving to the same drive as the .aup file

We have been using Audacity for years and this has never happened to us before. When we save the Audacity recording only the .aup file is seen, the data folder saves to a another location. (I’m not referring the temp folder prior the saving)
We are able to open-play-edit the saved .aup file so we know the date folder is on the computer somewhere.
We have Windows 10 and Audacity 3.0.2

What we’ve tried so far:

  1. Save-as of the saved recording - date folder is saved to another location
  2. Searched every drive on the computer by the saved project name - only the .aup file is shown
  3. Did an Audacity reset from preferences - no change in issue
  4. Searched the internet and this forum - so far have not found a solution
  5. Added the drive we save these files to in Audacity Preference directory - data file still saves to another hidden location.

Since we work on different computers we will save the data folder+aup file on a thumb drive, this flow works great, we now cannot do this.
We are constrained using only one computer and cannot delete the date folder after completing the project (so it has to be using up space).
Can Anyone Help!!!

Audacity 3.0.2 doesn’t have a _DATA folder. Everything is in the AUP3 file. You may note the AUP3 file is significantly larger than any of your older AUP files.

Koz

Projects will open forward, but not back. AUP3 and legacy AUP files will both open in Audacity 3.0.2. Audacity versions earlier than 3.0.0 will not open an AUP3 file.

Koz

Oh my goodness…I had not noticed the increase in the aup file size. I will check the version on the other computer. Thank you all for the help!

Have a read of this page in the Manual: https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/updating_from_audacity_2.x_to_audacity_3.html

WC