Illustrator 30 on macOS: Linked file extensions get truncated after reopening

I’m posting this to document an ongoing issue with Illustrator 30 on macOS and to highlight how disruptive it has become, especially given that earlier versions never had this problem and support has been unreachable for over a week through the official chat channel.

Issue Summary

Illustrator 30 on macOS intermittently truncates linked file extensions after saving and reopening a document.
For example:
image01.PNG becomes image01.PN
Illustrator then marks the link as missing, despite the file being perfectly intact and never renamed.

This problem did not exist in previous major versions (25–26). It only began after recent updates and has become a workflow-breaking issue.

Environment

• Illustrator: Version 30.x

• macOS: 26.1 (Tahoe)

• Linked file storage: Local SSD

• Affected formats: PNG, JPG

Older, stable versions are no longer available in Creative Cloud for macOS, leaving users with no practical downgrade path.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Place a raster file using File → Place and link it (e.g., image01.PNG).
2. Save and close the document.
3. Reopen it.
4. The Links panel may show the file as image01.PN, causing a broken link.
5. This is consistently reproducible.

Actual Behavior

• The last character of the file extension is removed.

• Illustrator breaks the link even though the file is unchanged.

• Relinking only works until the next save/reopen cycle.

Expected Behavior

Illustrator should maintain the exact filename of all linked assets, without altering extensions or metadata.

Troubleshooting Attempted

I have already tried:

• Storing files locally instead of NAS/cloud

• Keeping assets in the same directory as the .ai file

• Using ASCII-only filenames

• Save As instead of Save

• Packaging the document

• Disabling sync tools

• Embedding images (not viable for large files)

Nothing resolves the issue reliably.

Additional Notes

• The behavior is consistent with a metadata handling bug.

• This was not present in earlier versions but now impacts production-level work.

• The fact that older builds are no longer accessible puts users in a difficult position.

Support Concerns

I have attempted to contact Adobe Support via chat repeatedly for over a week.
The chat system never connected to an agent, leaving this issue completely unaddressed.

For a problem affecting core file linking functionality, the inability to reach support is extremely frustrating and makes it harder for users to maintain stable workflows.

Request for Community Feedback

If you can reproduce this, please share:

• Illustrator build number

• macOS version

• Storage location of linked files

• File types affected

This will help determine how widespread the issue is.

Request to Adobe

• Please confirm whether this is a known bug in Illustrator 30.

• Provide guidance, a fix, or a recommended stable build that avoids this issue.

• Restore access to older stable versions if the current release is affected.

• Address the ongoing unavailability of chat support, as users currently have no direct channel to report or resolve issues like this.