Illustrator won't open my file no matter what I do

Forum|Forum|5 months ago
November 30, 2025
1 reply
348 views

I tried restarting my computer, Illustrator, changing the name of the file, changing the predetermined program associated to .ai files but nothing works. When I try to open it, it says "Reading illustrator files" but nothing happens after that.

Bug

Monika Gause

Community Expert

Which version and system is it?

Where did you save the file?

Did Illustrator crash when you last saved it?

What's in the file?

C

cream__sodaAuthor

Participating Frequently

It's version 30.0. I'm not sure if you're asking about my operating system but it's Windows 10

File was saved on my desktop

Kind of? I had multiple files opened and one of them (not this one) showed a black screen and straight blue dotted lines, couldn't do anything about it but I was still able to see and work with the other files normally. I restarted it and that "damaged" file is working fine now, but the one that didn't have any issues is the one I can't open.

They're all designs for Instagram posts, so it's mainly typography, colors and some images.

B

Bobby Henderson

Community Expert

Have you tried doing any hard disc cleanup operations, like optimize and/or defragment the hard drive? If the file was saved on the Desktop (and thus in the Desktop folder) it would be stored on the boot hard disc, whatever kind of disc that may be, either solid state or old fashioned magnetic platters.

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