My user defined swatches and symbols are missing

Forum|Forum|6 months ago
September 23, 2025
1 reply
131 views

I created new swatch libraries and symbols libraries and saved them in the appropriate place. For months I've been using them successfully from the "User Defined" menu. Today that menu is grayed out and the libraries are somehow deleted from my hard-drive. HELP! I've searched my harddrive thinking they were moved but they're just gone. Has anyone else experienced this?

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Bobby Henderson

Community Expert

Did your installation of Illustrator go through any major, full version upgrades lately? User defined swatches usually only get removed if a new version of Illustrator is installed and previous versions are removed. I'm a bit paranoid about some of the swatch files I use so I keep copies of them backed up in other locations just in case a full version upgrade or maintenance patch does something to the swatch files.

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evoncassierAuthor

Participant

I've been using cc illustrator for years and my updates are automatic so idk if there was a major upgrade or patch fix. Most likely these libraries are lost BUT I too have a backup copy. I just don't always backup the backup when I make changes to my library. Lesson learned.

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Bobby Henderson

Community Expert

I didn't pay much attention to backing up swatch files until the fiasco with Pantone took place. Some custom swatches can take a bit of work to replace with newly re-created ones.

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