diff --git a/AppDataStorage.Test/AppDataTests.cs b/AppDataStorage.Test/AppDataTests.cs
index 81e927d..8e5b12a 100644
--- a/AppDataStorage.Test/AppDataTests.cs
+++ b/AppDataStorage.Test/AppDataTests.cs
@@ -441,6 +441,24 @@ public void TestLoadOrCreateHandlesCorruptFile()
 		Assert.AreEqual(string.Empty, appData.Data, "Data should be default if loaded from corrupt file.");
 	}
 
+	[TestMethod]
+	public void TestLoadOrCreateArchivesAnUnreadableFileInsteadOfDeletingIt()
+	{
+		using TestAppData original = CreateTestAppDataWithContent("years of user settings");
+		original.Save();
+		AbsoluteFilePath filePath = original.FilePath;
+		string unreadable = AppData.FileSystem.File.ReadAllText(filePath).Replace("{", "{,", StringComparison.Ordinal);
+		AppData.FileSystem.File.WriteAllText(filePath, unreadable);
+
+		TestAppData appData = TestAppData.LoadOrCreate();
+
+		Assert.AreEqual(string.Empty, appData.Data, "Data should be default if the file could not be read.");
+
+		string[] archived = AppData.FileSystem.Directory.GetFiles(filePath.AbsoluteDirectoryPath.ToString(), $"{Path.GetFileName(filePath.ToString())}.corrupt.*");
+		Assert.AreEqual(1, archived.Length, "The unreadable file must be kept, not deleted.");
+		Assert.AreEqual(unreadable, AppData.FileSystem.File.ReadAllText(archived[0]), "The archive must hold the original content.");
+	}
+
 	[TestMethod]
 	public void TestLoadOrCreateHandlesNullJsonFile()
 	{
diff --git a/AppDataStorage/AppData.cs b/AppDataStorage/AppData.cs
index 14c1df4..e440925 100644
--- a/AppDataStorage/AppData.cs
+++ b/AppDataStorage/AppData.cs
@@ -220,19 +220,32 @@ private static bool TryRestoreFrom(AbsoluteFilePath candidate, AbsoluteFilePath
 
 		// Archiving rather than deleting keeps the recovered content for inspection, and moving it
 		// out of the way is what stops a candidate that turns out to be unreadable from being
-		// promoted again on the next attempt: LoadOrCreate deletes a file it cannot deserialize and
+		// promoted again on the next attempt: LoadOrCreate archives a file it cannot deserialize and
 		// reads again, which would otherwise restore the same bad content forever.
+		_ = Archive(candidate, string.Empty);
+		return true;
+	}
+
+	/// <summary>
+	/// Moves <paramref name="filePath"/> aside under a unique timestamped name, so its content
+	/// survives without being read again in its place.
+	/// </summary>
+	/// <param name="filePath">The file to archive.</param>
+	/// <param name="label">A suffix naming why the file was archived, such as ".corrupt", or empty.</param>
+	/// <returns>The path the file was archived to.</returns>
+	internal static AbsoluteFilePath Archive(AbsoluteFilePath filePath, string label)
+	{
 		string timestamp = DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyyMMdd_HHmmss");
-		AbsoluteFilePath archived = candidate.WithSuffix($".{timestamp}");
+		AbsoluteFilePath archived = filePath.WithSuffix($"{label}.{timestamp}");
 		int counter = 0;
 		while (FileSystem.File.Exists(archived))
 		{
 			counter++;
-			archived = candidate.WithSuffix($".{timestamp}_{counter}");
+			archived = filePath.WithSuffix($"{label}.{timestamp}_{counter}");
 		}
 
-		FileSystem.File.Move(candidate, archived);
-		return true;
+		FileSystem.File.Move(filePath, archived);
+		return archived;
 	}
 
 	/// <summary>
@@ -581,9 +594,11 @@ public static T LoadOrCreate(RelativeDirectoryPath? subdirectory, FileName? file
 			}
 			catch (JsonException)
 			{
-				// file was corrupt or could not be deserialized
-				// delete and try load a backup
-				AppData.FileSystem.File.Delete(newAppData.FilePath);
+				// The file could not be read as T, whether from corruption, a hand edit or a model
+				// change in an app update. It is usually the only copy of the user's data, since a
+				// successful save removes the backup, so it is archived rather than deleted. The
+				// retry then finds it missing and falls back to a temp or backup file, or defaults.
+				_ = AppData.Archive(newAppData.FilePath, ".corrupt");
 				return LoadOrCreate(subdirectory, fileName);
 			}
 		}