diff --git a/src/picongpu/include/plugins/common/txtFileHandling.hpp b/src/picongpu/include/plugins/common/txtFileHandling.hpp
index a307562fc3..e5f61d7724 100644
--- a/src/picongpu/include/plugins/common/txtFileHandling.hpp
+++ b/src/picongpu/include/plugins/common/txtFileHandling.hpp
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /**
- * Copyright 2015 Axel Huebl
+ * Copyright 2015 Axel Huebl, Richard Pausch
  *
  * This file is part of PIConGPU.
  *
@@ -34,7 +34,8 @@ using namespace boost::filesystem;
     /** Restore a txt file from the checkpoint dir
      *
      * Restores a txt file from the checkpoint dir and starts appending to it.
-     * Opened files in \see outFile are closed and a valid handle is opened again.
+     * Opened files in \see outFile are closed and a valid handle is opened again
+     * if a restart file is found. Otherwise new output file stays untouched.
      *
      * \param outFile std::ofstream file handle to regular file that shall be restored
      * \param filename the file's name
@@ -46,28 +47,42 @@ using namespace boost::filesystem;
     bool restoreTxtFile( std::ofstream& outFile, std::string filename,
                          uint32_t restartStep, const std::string restartDirectory )
     {
-        if( outFile.is_open() )
-            outFile.close();
-
+        /* get restart time step as string */
         std::stringstream sStep;
         sStep << restartStep;
 
+        /* set location of restart file and output file */
         path src( restartDirectory + std::string("/") + filename +
                   std::string(".") + sStep.str() );
         path dst( filename );
 
-        copy_file( src,
-                   dst,
-                   copy_option::overwrite_if_exists );
-
-        outFile.open( filename.c_str(), std::ofstream::out | std::ostream::app );
-        if( !outFile )
+        /* check whether restart file exists */
+        if( !boost::filesystem::exists( src ) )
         {
-            std::cerr << "[Plugin] Can't open file '" << filename
-                      << "', output disabled" << std::endl;
-            return false;
+            /* restart file does not exists */
+            log<picLog::INPUT_OUTPUT> ("Plugin restart file: %1% was not found. \
+                                       --> Starting plugin from current time step.") % src;
+            return true;
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            /* restart file found - fix output file created at restart */
+            if( outFile.is_open() )
+                outFile.close();
+
+            copy_file( src,
+                       dst,
+                       copy_option::overwrite_if_exists );
+
+            outFile.open( filename.c_str(), std::ofstream::out | std::ostream::app );
+            if( !outFile )
+            {
+                std::cerr << "[Plugin] Can't open file '" << filename
+                          << "', output disabled" << std::endl;
+                return false;
+            }
+            return true;
         }
-        return true;
     }
 
     /** Checkpoints a txt file