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LauraVague
LauraVague
Participating Frequently
May 17, 2026
Question

I have a bug

  • May 17, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 28 views

“Recurring .FLA Save File Deletion Issue in Adobe Animate”

Hello,

I am experiencing a recurring issue in Adobe Animate related to saving my .FLA files.

Very often, the software displays the following message:

"The file has been moved or deleted by another application than Animate. Please save it again before continuing."

After this message appears, both my project file (stored in a folder on my desktop) and the automatic backup file completely disappear. The file is removed from the recent files list, is not in the Trash, and becomes totally nonexistent.

I have tried saving the file in different locations, but the same behavior keeps happening. At some random point, the saved file disappears, and if the application closes at that moment, I lose all of my work. This has already happened to me many times.

(Usually, the only remaining file that does not get deleted is a .SWF file.)

Where should I save my .FLA files to prevent this from happening?

For reference:

  • macOS Monterey 12.7.4
  • Latest official version of Adobe Animate compatible with this macOS version

Thank you.

    1 reply

    kglad
    Community Expert
    kgladCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    May 17, 2026

    do you have av on your computer?

    LauraVague
    LauraVagueAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    May 17, 2026

    Hi, thanks for your reply,  I have CCleaner on my mac I’ll try without now and let you know

    LauraVague
    LauraVagueAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    May 17, 2026

    I tried without CCleaner, and the issue is still happening.

    After several tests, I figured out that the file gets deleted exactly at the moment I click “Save”. It happens whether I save the file on the Desktop, on a memory card, or on an external drive, and whether I use “Save” or “Save As”. I even tried from another user session on my Mac, and the same thing happened.

    Here is a screenshot of the message from Animate

     

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