"Expected a dict object" and accidental deletion of pages !!!

[Gosquatkey]

Hi there, I have been working for 2 days on a lengthy and complex document review of c. 705 pages involving lots of highlighting of text and comments bubbles. Text is OCR recognised. I was up to about page 148 when the highlighting started going wonky (ie not highlighting the lines of text that I wanted it to) and a message came up "expected a dict object". I clicked ok and the message went away. I then deleted the wonky highlighting on the page (right clicked so the highlighting was highlighted, then selected delete) I was working on to start again highlighting the page. I then saved the document.  After I saved it, I saw that Acrobat deleted the previous 147 pages that I had been working on and finished!!! I thought there may be a glitch in the programme as it so often freezes, so I shut down the document and reopened it but have the same issue.

Does anyone know a way of retrieving the deleted pages???? I have tried looking in the Acrobat temp files folder, but it's empty (probably because I closed the document).  Also nothing in my PC recycle bin

Acrobat is the worst programme known to humankind and I just want to cry. I am now going to have to re-do 2 days work with a deadline of tomorrow so if anyone does have any tips that would be so much appreciated. 

[Gosquatkey]

I should add, I have the latest version of DC. 

[try67]

Are you using Acrobat or Reader? Because Reader can't delete pages, only Acrobat can, and you posted in the Reader forum.

Regarding the issue: Are the pages themselves gone, or only your comments?

Did you enable the option to save the file to the cloud? You should check your account's page and see if it appears there: https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/documents/files/

If so, download it and see if it has at least some of your work. If not, and you never made any backup copies of it, then your work might be lost.

If you could share the file with us, though, we could use more advanced tools to see what can be recovered from it, though.

[Gosquatkey]

Apologies, I am new to the Forum and it's not the best user experience getting questions to the right place, I must say.  

To answer your questions:

• I'm using the latest version of DC. 
• The pages themselves are gone. Page 1 of the document is what was previously page 148 or so... 
• I haven't enabled saving to the cloud as I can't due to information security obligations.
• Unfortunately I can't share the file, again for information security reasons. 

[Gosquatkey]

I ought to add, I saved the document every 10 minutes or so as I worked on the document. I guess Acrobat isn't like MS Word where you can go back and find previous versions of the same document? 

[try67 · Accepted solution]

FYI, both are called DC... But I assume you have Acrobat from your description.

No, Acrobat doesn't have such a feature, but your OS might. In Windows right-click the file and select "Restore Previous Versions". On a Mac I think it's done via the Time Machine app. Worth a try...

[Gosquatkey]

Thank you, I will give it a go. Nothing ventured...

[Gosquatkey]

Try67, you are a genius - it worked!!!!!!  Thank you so much.  You have saved my bacon. Gold star to you! 

[try67]

Glad to hear it! I would strongly recommend making regular back-up copies from now on.

Also, the (original) file might be corrupt, so keep an eye out for other issues.