acrobat pro dc deleted source files

[wendyw96849110]

combined multiple files (two jpgs from my desktop) into a pdf. was not paying attention to settings and did not see that "delete source files" option was checked

cant find these source files anywhere-not in my recycle bin, not in cloud or cloud deleted files folder.  searched my entire c drive...nothing

where are these files and is there a setting within acrobat to redirect deleted files

tia

[try67]

Where did you see such a setting?

[JR Boulay]

[try67]

I guess this is a new "feature". A very bad one, if you ask me, especially if it deletes the files for good (!).

[Handsumguy]

Agreed.  This has happenned to me twice and the first time, I just thought it was brain malfunction on my part.  However, today it happenned again with photos from a vacation 3 days ago and I caught it and repeated the process to be sure.  Only then did I find the added "delete source files" feature which was checked by default.

[Tricia351098819rot]

I had this happen to me as well.  However, I did change it next time I combined files.  Then later in the day, I was combining another set of files and it had repopulated that box by itself!!  If this is going to continue, I need another program!

[Test Screen Name · Accepted solution]

If they are deleted, they are gone. You must use your own backups to recover lost files. 

[Handsumguy]

Backups do not magically occur with every stroke of a key much less run every moment before you use Acrobat's combined files.  There is simply no opportunity to run a backup.  This is a new feature inserted into Acrobat and if you have been using Acrobat for eons and combining files, user beware.

[Kayla Wilck]

Hi, I am having the same issue, my source files were deleted after using the 'combine files' function, however, I never saved the file once they were combined. Basically, I wanted to combine these two files so I started doing so and added the two files, I then changed my mind and decided I was no longer going to make a PDF so I closed the tab and made sure to select 'do not save file' upon exiting. I assumed that because the file wasn't actually created, or at least saved as a combined file, I wouldn't lose the source files, but now I cannot find them! So I don't have the files at all anymore, neither separate nor combined 😞 Is it possible for me to access them somewhere?

[m_6148]

When this happened to me, I looked at every file on the drive (created during the period I started the combine, and aborted the combine) to see if there was a temp file or similar that could be the aborted/unsaved "binder.pdf' file, but could not find anything. Definitely a bug (or poor design).

[m_6148]

I can confirm that this bug still exists in the latest version November 2024 (OS = Windows 11)

I actually turned on the feature to 'Always Delete Source Files After Combining', and purposefully did not complete the combine (as I wanted to do a check), but the files were deleted anyhow. They did not appear in the recycling bin. Tried file recovery using a third party app, and again using deep scan, and nothing recovered. 

This is really disappointing not only because this is a long standing bug, but it just indicates to me that Adobe don't care, or lack the organisation to address this issue. 

What should have happened is that the files used in the aborted combine should not have been deleted. 

At the very least, if the files were deleted by Acrobat in error, those 'deleted' files should exist in the recycling bin, giving the user the option to restore them. 

I do not agree with the accepted answer of "If they are deleted, they are gone. You must use your own backups to recover lost files" - no offence intended to the poster, but I find this answer to lack any relevance. 

[Radiant_glamour6888]

Just FYI it's 2025 ... 5 years later... and adobe has done nothing to resolve this problem.  Thanks a lot adobe.  Love deleting months of work with a single click because your advice is just to back up files - as if your hindsights 20-20 solution is worth anything at all.  No adobe - we the users should not duplicate or triplicate every file we ever encounter on the off chance it gets deleted by an app run astray.   You should take some responsibility for the error - given that the users upon whom it's inflicted without consequence all PAY for the service you are supposed to provide.   There's no world in which deleting everyones files without a trace or any possible way to cmd z undo drag and drop out of the trash .... is a luxury service that users are all raving to pay top dollar for.   It's more like the kind of egregious bug and total apathy that leads to class action lawsuits against your company for the reckless and indifferent behavior.  When people operate on the assumption that you have to delete something twice to delete it - because that's the way it works in case you've never used a computer.... you can't just plop a "accidental self destruct" button where people are pretty likely to hit it.  Especially given how often combining pdf files requires trying once and trying again because your service can't handle performing it with hundreds of files at a time without stalling out and taking forever or crashing entirely.  But in the end... you delete those hundreds of files .... and then say next time back it up - as if the act of merging the documents to create a duplicate portfolio containing all of them WASNT the literal act of attempting to create a duplicate copy.    Next time hire someone other than David Blane to design your service features you freakin losers.