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inco_1184
Participant
July 27, 2025
Question

Urgent Adobe Illustrator File Recovery on Creative Cloud Free Trial

  • July 27, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 200 views

I'm contacting you regarding my Adobe Creative Cloud free trial account.

It is extremely important for me to recover or access all Adobe Illustrator (.ai) files associated with this account since it was opened, whether they are currently visible, deleted (but still within the retention period), or older versions.

The account was used by another person, and it is absolutely essential that I retrieve all Illustrator files created or stored via Creative Cloud cloud storage from the very beginning.

Could you help please?

Thank you

1 reply

A
Community Manager
Anshul_NautiyalCommunity Manager
Community Manager
July 28, 2025

Hi @inco_1184,

 

Thanks for reaching out. As checked, you have an active Teams plan associated with the Adobe ID you used to post this query.

Based on your message, it appears you are looking to recover or access all Adobe Illustrator (.ai) files associated with the account where the Illustrator license is entitled. Please confirm if this is the request you need assistance with.

In the meantime, you can follow the steps below to try and recover your files:

Accessing files on your account
Sign in to Creative Cloud:
Go to https://adobe.ly/4m8ub5q and sign in using the credentials of the account associated with the Illustrator license.

Check ‘Your Files’ and ‘Deleted’ folders:

  • Click on “Files” in the left panel to view all current files.

  • Check the “Deleted” or “Trash” folder. Adobe retains deleted files for a limited period (usually 30 days for free and trial accounts), after which the files are permanently deleted and cannot be recovered.

  • For each file, you can right-click to restore or download it.

To view version history:

  • Select a file and check if a “Version History” or similar option is available. This allows you to view or restore previous versions, if supported for .ai files on your plan.

Additionally, you mentioned that the account was used by another person and it is essential to retrieve all Illustrator files created or stored via Creative Cloud from the beginning. Could you please confirm whether you shared the account credentials with someone else? This will help us better understand the situation and assist you more effectively.

Awaiting your response.

Regards,
^AN

I
inco_1187
Participant
July 28, 2025

Thank you very much for your response.

I can confirm that I was sharing account credentials with another person. Unfortunately, several critical files were deleted and permanently removed by emptying the trash folder as well.

Given the urgency of our situation, we would greatly appreciate your assistance with the following:

File Recovery:

  • Recovery of the deleted files, if possible
  • Information about who performed the deletions (including IP address data, if available)

Version History:

  • Access to previous versions of the deleted files from the version history

AI-Generated Content:

  • Access to any files created using AI features, as credits from our account were utilized

We understand this is a significant request, but we are facing a time-sensitive situation that requires immediate attention. Any assistance you could provide would be invaluable to resolving this matter.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

 

A
Community Manager
Anshul_NautiyalCommunity Manager
Community Manager
July 28, 2025

Hi @inco_1184,

 

Thank you for confirming the details and explaining the situation clearly.

Files that have been permanently deleted from the trash folder are generally unrecoverable through the Creative Cloud interface. Deleted files are retained in the Trash for up to 30 days, after which they are permanently removed. Unfortunately, once this retention period has passed, we are unable to restore them. You can check more information here: https://adobe.ly/456QyRT

As you mentioned, the files have been removed from the Trash, Adobe is unable to recover them or access their version history. Once files are removed from both the main folder and the Trash, all related version history is also permanently deleted.

If you still have any Illustrator files present in your "Your Files" section, you may check their version history and recover earlier versions, if supported for that file type and plan. However, this applies only to files that have not been deleted.

For AI credits usage and AI-generated content, such as assets created via Adobe Firefly or similar tools, the resulting files are saved as .ai or asset files in your storage. If these were also deleted and removed from the Trash, they cannot be recovered.

We recommend contacting the second user who had access to the account. They may still have local copies or backups of the files.

Please also note that sharing your Adobe account credentials with others is not permitted as per Adobe's terms of use.

Regards,
^AN

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