HELP! Links keep disappearing in Illustrator

Hi @Melanie35326997y7z5,

Thanks for all the details you've shared so far. I just wanted to check one more thing, could you please confirm if any remote or network location is involved in this workflow? I noticed in the image path that some files seem to be coming from a temporary or non-local location. As the expert mentioned, working from temporary locations is not a recommended way to bring images into Illustrator. The recommended approach is to first save the image to your local drive and then place it into Illustrator.

If you try saving an image locally and then placing it into the AI file, and you still see the images disappearing, please share a packaged version of the affected file using File > Package, so I can test it further on my end. If the file is confidential, you can send it via DM using any public cloud sharing service like Google Drive or Dropbox.

Let me know if you have any further queries. 

Abhishek

See if this is what you are experiencing:

https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/601447-illustrator-desktop-bugs/suggestions/49703918-images-disappear-or-become-corrupted-after-drag-an

How do you place your images? Drag and drop has been an unreliable way of getting your images into Illustrator.

It can change your document color profile and lead to missing images.

Resetting your Preferences can solve the missing files problem, but it is no guarantee, it can come back.

Place using File > Place is the safe way to get your images into Illustrator.

Hi @Melanie35326997y7z5,

Thanks for sharing the screenshots. I tested this on my end on Windows 11 using Illustrator 30.1, and the links behaved normally for me, so I'd like to narrow down what's different in your setup. Could you please confirm your exact operating system version and also make sure you are on the latest Illustrator 30.1 build and test again?

If it still happens after updating, please check whether GPU Performance is enabled under Preferences > Performance and try toggling it on or off and testing once more to see if it changes the behavior. If the issue continues, a short screen recording showing your full workflow from opening the file to the links disappearing would be really helpful, along with one affected sample file if you can share it. If the file is confidential, you can send it via DM using a cloud link.

Please let me know how it goes.

Abhishek