Illustrator error "An unknown error has occurred"

Forum|Forum|9 years ago
November 10, 2016
45 replies
190420 views

I am working in an .ai file that I have saved frequently before. Suddenly when I try to save the file, I get an error that reads "an unknown error has occurred" and the file won't save at all, anywhere. I have not seen this error message before and have had no issues opening or saving the file up until this point.

I need to have the file as an .ai file (not .eps or any other format). I am working in Illustrator CC (2015.3) and using macOS Sierra.

Correct answer Ashutosh_Mishra

Hi All,

Sorry to hear about this experience. In addition to the suggestions given in earlier responses, we'd recommend you to update the app to the latest version. Steps are shared here.

If the issue still persist, you could check a few more things:

Is the file being saved on network drive/shared folder/external HDD? If yes, try saving it locally & see if it helps.
Is the issue related to a specific file? If yes, please follow the steps shared in this help article (https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/kb/troubleshoot-file-issues.html) to troubleshoot file related issues. You may also try copy-pasting the content to a new file & see if that works.

If nothing works, please try the suggestions given in this community post (https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator/resolve-slow-performance-and-unexpected-behaviors-in-illustrator/td-p/11561981) & let us know how it goes.

Regards,

Ashutosh

Show previous replies

I

I. M. Tired

Participant

I'm having the same issue. Though I did try turning off hidden layers and it was able to save. Not ideal, but seems a fix is in the works?

FFI

Participant

Try hiding the objects rather than the whole layer. It let me save when I did that. I had all the locks turned off, too, just in case. Haven't tried the locked layers with hidden objets yet. :/

V

Vhonani

Participant

This worked perfectly for me, thank you.

Monika Gause

Community Expert

An issue is already being investigated which locked and/or hidden layers.

If some of your layers are locked/hidden, then this might occur. Can you check that?

Kevin Stohlmeyer

Community Expert

Also check your disk permissions to make sure they are all set properly.

L

Lovepop Registrations

Participant

My disk permissions seem fine. I can read/write to the file.

L

Lovepop Registrations

Participant

After some testing, hidden layers have something to do with it. If doesn't happen for all layers, but when I hide certain top level layers and then attempt to save it throws the unknown error.

For context, I am on a Mac, running OS X El Captian Version 10.11.4