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rigoliarts
rigoliarts
Inspiring
September 20, 2016
Question

Possible to recover Indesign files after a crash?

  • September 20, 2016
  • 4 replies
  • 21558 views

InDesign crashed and when I re-opened it, I only gives me older versions of files that I did save. I've just lost hours of work. Is there any way to recover the more recent versions of the files before the crash??? Help! I'm on a deadline. This is not good!

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4 replies

jane-e
Community Expert
jane-eCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 4, 2017

rigoliarts  wrote

InDesign crashed and... I've just lost hours of work.

I know it's too late for you for this time, and I do wish you the best with the recovery efforts, but please don't work for hours without a regular Save. Saving every 5-10 minutes is a better idea—or every time you complete a "section", whichever comes first.

    Derek Cross
    Community Expert
    Derek CrossCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 4, 2017

    Yes, and a Save As with an incremental file name occasionally plus an external save from time-to-time. Belt and braces!

      E
      Community Expert
      Eugene TysonCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      September 20, 2016

      As it says in the help files - you can't really do anything with these.

      If there was a document to recover it would be in there. If it's not then it's lost.

      Do you use Time Machine?

      By the way - it doesn't show up because it's a hidden folder. http://lifehacker.com/5711409/how-to-search-for-hidden-packaged-and-system-files-in-os-x

      rigoliarts
      rigoliartsAuthor
      Inspiring
      September 20, 2016

      So even though it says backup, it's not really a backup?!? Oh well, I guess I'll have to recreate the files. Sure does not give me a very confident feeling moving forward though.

      If there were recovered files in that folder, what would they look like?

      Yes I use Time machine but I only backup once a day so those hours of work are gone.

      Thanks for your suggestions and tips, much appreciated.

      mathsn64367954
      mathsn64367954
      Participant
      November 21, 2016

      I had exactly the same problem.

      What you have to do is reinstall the CC indesign 2015,

      then the old program will find and recover your files.

      Simple if you know the trick.

      E
      Community Expert
      Eugene TysonCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      September 20, 2016

      As per the notes

      • Mac OS X: Users/[User Name]/Library/Cache/Adobe InDesign/Version[#.0]/InDesign Recovery

      Note:

      The information contained in the above folders is in encrypted format. You can't use it to recover the document using a third-party tool or force InDesign to recover the data for you.

      While on the Desktop - Hold the Option key on your keyboard, and click the Go menu at the top of the screen. With the Go menu open, you'll notice that pressing and releasing Option will display or hide the Library choice in this menu. Select Library from the Go menu (while holding down Option) to access the hidden folder.

      Then follow the thread to Cache/Adobe/InDesign/Version/InDesign Recovery

        rigoliarts
        rigoliartsAuthor
        Inspiring
        September 20, 2016

        Okay, so now I finally found the folder (thanks), though I still don't understand why a keyword search did not help me in the finder. Inside the InDesign Recovery folder are 3 files named: DBTmp, DBSharingShield, and RecoveryData (with the word "Backup" on the icon). While this looks promising, I am unable to open the file. When I try to open it I get this message "Cannot open the file "RecoveryData". Adobe InDesign may not support the file format, a plug-in that supports the file format may be missing, or the file may be open in another application."

        Now what?

        How do I access this backup document?

        Help?

        rigoliarts
        rigoliartsAuthor
        Inspiring
        September 20, 2016

        Note: this was not a system crash, just a program crash. I'm on a Mac OS 10.10.5, InDesign version CC. Also, I'm sure I had saved the file and yet upon re-starting, I only have the 3.5 hours old version. I've never had this happen. I'm hoping I can recover the file but I don't know where to look?

        E
        Community Expert
        Eugene TysonCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        September 20, 2016

        Sure - there's a help section for this Recover InDesign documents

        Let me know if you get stuck.

        rigoliarts
        rigoliartsAuthor
        Inspiring
        September 20, 2016

        Thanks for this link, Recover InDesign documents 

        I did look at this page yesterday and tried to find my files, but the peculiar thing is that I cannot find an InDesign Recovery Folder anywhere on my computer. I searched for the following words in the finder and got nothing. "Recovery" "Recovered files" "Recovery folder" "dbt" and nothing. So, do you know where the folder "lives" on my hard drive so I can look there? Any help would be appreciated.

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