No reliable AutoSave - Cloud files constantly falling out of sync

Forum|Forum|14 days ago
July 31, 2026
4 replies
48 views

When I work on a new project, sometimes the AIC file simply stops autosaving. For whatever reason, it falls out of sync - which, for me, is not the issue. I guess it's understandable that sometimes files get corrupted, or are too big, or something in the sync fails. I don't understand the technicalities behind it, but I can understand it happens.

My issue is, the fact that there is no BIG pop up alert that disables my screen and lets me know "Your file has stopped autosaving, if something crashes now you will lose all progress", is crazy. For some reason the File Recovery feature doesn't work with AIC files that have fallen out of sync, it only works with local files. And that also depends on whether it managed to save a recovery before crashing. So essentially, if I use the cloud, and something crashes (which lets be honest can happen often even on my quite powerful PC), I am sure to lose progress - and with it time and money.

This, along with the fact there is no longer an AutoSave feature on local files, which I learned from support today, but remember it existing before the cloud was introduced, makes it so Adobe Illustrator is a program with essentially no reliable AutoSave feature.

In 2026, honestly I can't see how solving this issue wouldn't be at the VERY TOP of the priority list for feature development? What's more frustrating (and costly) than losing progress and having no reliable way to protect myself against that, that doesn't involve putting a reminder to manually save every 10 minutes?

I am using the latest version of Illustrator on Windows 11.

Dave Creamer of IDEAS

Community Expert

I would not depend on saving to any cloud-only service. Save locally and let the cloud-connected software back up later (OneDrive, Google Drive, DropBox, Box, etc.). These services also offer a version history.

Also, I would not depend on auto-save either to a cloud service or locally. Make the Cmd/Cntl-S a habit you do without thinking.

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)

G

Gon266844337xqhAuthor

Participant

I cannot say for certain whether it's the workflow or the update, but it's definitely something that's happened to me for the first time this year, probably around February for the first time, and happened about 6 times since then.

I had the guess before that it either has to do with projects that are too big (although they really aren't THAT big), or a project that uses a lot of gradients. But honestly today's project didn't really have either, and it still fell out of sync.

But again, my issue isn't that this happens, as much as that I get no dialogue box telling me that it has, so I will know for sure to not proceed working before taking care of it. It would also be nice if even if it crashed, there would at least be a local file to recover from, but since there isn't, if it falls out of sync and I didn't notice - any crash would lose all progress I've made.

And the alternative - not using the cloud, is also not very helpful, because saving locally does not have auto save, my guess is because Adobe wants to encourage me to use the cloud...

Anubhav M

Community Manager

Hello @Gon266844337xqh

That does seem troubling. Would you mind providing some details, such as whether this happens with certain types of workflows/files, or whether it started happening more frequently after a recent update/change, so we can check this with the team?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav

G

Gon266844337xqhAuthor

Participant

Just noticed my comment was not in reply to your message - hope you’re able to see it now

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