Skip to main content
M
Michael28312949xsko
Inspiring
September 5, 2025
Question

Illustrator saving artboards as multiple ai files instead of a single file, even when not selected

  • September 5, 2025
  • 2 replies
  • 136 views

So, I am just trying to save a file and instead of saving a single AI file, it is saving the artboards as multiple files. It is unselected as an option in the second dialogue box.  In the first dialogue box that specifies location, I also see an option but it is greyed out and checked. I am totally stumped.

2 replies

Abhishek Rao
Community Manager
Abhishek RaoCommunity Manager
Community Manager
September 9, 2025

Hi @Michael28312949xsko,

 

Thanks for sharing the details and the screenshots. Could you confirm if what you’re seeing looks similar to the behavior discussed in this thread: https://adobe.ly/4mWI3kn? If yes, please try updating Illustrator to version 29.7.1 or later and check if that resolves the issue.

 

Looking forward to hearing how it goes.

Abhishek

creative explorer
Community Expert
creative explorerCommunity Expert
Community Expert
September 8, 2025

@Michael28312949xsko try saving to the local hard drive versus to the cloud. It's likely the cloud service may lock the original file as it attempts to sync it. Illustrator, needing to save changes, detects this lock and creates a new, separate file for each artboard to ensure the data is not lost. This results in the "save each artboard to a separate file" option being grayed out and selected, as the program is essentially forced into this behavior. Honestly, working and saving locally is generally the most consistent fix for this specific problem.

m
    Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
    Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices