Automatic Save Recovery Data NOT working

[Sedawk]

I have been working for about an hour and had a crash.  However,  Illustrator did not attempt to recover the file I had been working on.

Automatically Save Recover Data Every:  2 mintues is selected.

Turn off Data Recovery for completex documents was also selected, but this document consisted of about 100 rectanges, 20 lines, and 30 text elements - is that complex?

Also it give the folder as "/Users/...ences/Adobe Illustrator 22 Settings/en_US/DataRecovery.

Three stupid things about this:

1) The directory is truncated so I have no idea where to find it.  Make this a text field that can scroll so I can actually read the path.

2) If I click"Choose" it does not select the current Auto Record folder - if it did, then I could at least find it. 

3) I am using Adobe Illustrator 24.1.2 on the Mac (OS version 10.15.4).  Why does it have "Adobe Illustrator 22 Settings" in the Data Recovery path?

The Adobe Illustrator 22 folder does not exist on my computer.  I searched my computer for a "Adobe Illustrator 24 Settings/en_US/DataRecover" folder and found that.   And its empty.

Does auto recovery / saving acutally work in Illustrator or do I need to put my Apple Watch on a repeating 10 mintue timer reminding me to save?

[Monika Gause · Accepted solution]

The default folder is in your preferences folder inside your user folder.

File Recovery is NOT a backup solution. It's a last straw option. And it might fail.

If you can't remember to make a backup or save your file regularly, take a look at the plugin Autosaviour, which  can do that for you. It will save an AI file. There is a free version of that plugin available, that provides 1 backup for your file. The paid version can make a few more backups.

[Sedawk]

Thank-you Monika,

I just wanted to reply in hoping the developers see this message.

First of all, the folder is still messed up as it is not using the right version - there is an error there and perhaps this is why the recover file was not written.

Secondly, having a "might fail" when saving recovery information is crazy.  OK - so the last 2 minute recovery file got corruppted on the crash - what about the one that was saved 4 mintues ago?  You should at least be also to recove that one.

And having a 3rd-party auto save plugin is just lazy.  Please walk across the hallway and see what the After Effects team has done with their auto-save.  This is what I was expecting from Illustrator.

[Monika Gause]

If you want to talk to developers, post to http://illustrator.uservoice.com

Not having your own backup procedure is lazy. It is you and you alone who is responsible for your files. A power outage or a bad drive or messed up user privileges might affect all automatic solutions in a very bad way, so *don't* *ever* rely on it. It's good when it's working and it might give you back the things you have made in the file during the last few minutes, but don't ever rely on it for the work you have done in the last few hours, days or weeks.

And yes, I'm speaking from experience. But I've learnt my lesson with bad drives years ago.

[CrystalWhitlow]

I am downright angry! What is the point of this feature!? It has never worked for me and this is so stressful and disappointing. Of course, I know to save, but I also don't expect a crash out of the blue! I expect better!

[Sedawk]

And Illustrator has been SUPER crashy lately.  

[Queenie5D95]

I completely agree with that! since iupdate the latest version the recovery is not working anymore even if you set the recovery folder it DOES NOT RECOVER. this is craZy, what is the purpose of the recovery if it DOES NOT WORK!!! Very annoying!!! and STRESSFUL!!!!

[robert_nield]

It also hasn't worked for me. Upon opening C:\Users\-----\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator 26 Settings\en_US\x64\DataRecovery I found NO recovery files. None. After using Illustrator for years, while having the "Automatically save recovery data ... " option checked, it hasn't saved one file. Not one. This is beyond frustrating. The steady decline of Adobe products continues ... 

[Monika Gause]

The recovery function doesn't save any files. It is not a backup solution.

[robert_nield]

Looking at the Adobe Help site theres a whole section of documentation on Manage autosave and recovery settings. Perhaps Adobe should rewrite the documentation as it is profoundly misleading/incorrect.

[Monika Gause]

Autosave is something different. But it works only for Cloud documents. You did only mention Recovery.

Recovery is meant to try and save you up to the last 30 minutes. PLease describe what was the cause for losing your file. Illustrator crashed? Does it do that regularly?

[robert_nield]

Hi Monika - just to clarify I am referring to recovery exclusively, considering the topic of the initial post. Yes, illustrator crashes, every couple of weeks, although the cause is unknown - seems at random. Last crash was down to using the 3D effect and Materials >  Extrude and Bevel effect on a relatively simple layer. After Effects is buggy too. Other non-Adobe apps work fine. I've read the official Adobe documentation yet nothing helped - I lost half a day's work. This feature seems to never work, and it's not only effecting myself (see other posts) - perhaps Adobe should remove the feature - Let's face it, it wouldn't change much.

[Monika Gause]

If you want to propose something to Adobe, please use Uservoice. http://illustrator.uservoice.com

I'm not staff, as about 95% of people on this forum.

I've been in this business for so long and at the beginning of my career learnt it the hard way that if you want to save your files, then do it yourself. Your computer won't do it. And before you do something that might affect your file, it's better to save the file yet again.

Works for me.

On top of that I can use whatever function the software offers and hope that it works. So far, the recovery feature has on some occasions saved me a few minutes. But if it hadn't done so I would have been prepared.

[robert_nield]

So - to conclude - Data recovery may or may not work. Save and hope. Thankfully the Autosavior plugin you mentioned is completely free. Thank you for being so responsive Monika

[Monika Gause]

You're welcome.

But since 3D and materials crashes Illustrator, you should really investigate that. Either your objects aren't that simple or your computer just isn't that powerful.

[toddguate]

Your comments are hurtful and your matter of fact statements are completely devoid of any empathy. Very sad to find people like you in the forums. I logged in just to comment this. Goodbye. 

[Mukesh27119163g5hv]

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[fady zaky]

SERIOUSLY you have to get a plugin to have a decent auto save. THis says way to much about how Adobe is turning great working software into unusable ones. 

[Bobby Henderson]

No piece of computer software or hardware is perfect. The same goes for computer users. Stuff happens. All anyone can do is work in a manner to be prepared for trouble as best as possible. Anyone who uses computers long enough will learn, often through painful experience, to adopt strategies to protect their data. It can be as simple as manually saving an open document before trying a really complex pathfinder operation that very well might crash Illustrator. Astute Graphics' Autosavior is a great (and free) plug-in that can automatically make back-ups of projects while you're working on them. All hard drives fail eventually. If the file isn't saved on two physical volumes (preferably in two different physical places) it isn't saved.

I disagree with the notion that software today is more buggy than it was in the past. People often look at history through rose-colored glasses. Crashes happened just as often 20 or more years ago as they do today. But back then the crashes were more likely to take down the entire computer system rather than just one application. Graphics software today does a lot more "heavy lifting" than its more primitive versions from back in the good old days.

Yeah, a full Creative Cloud subscription is fairly expensive. But this isn't consumer-grade software. It's for professional use. And you get a lot for the money. It surpasses what came in a Creative Suite Master Collection box that cost over $2000. The Adobe Fonts service on its own is worth a fortune.

[Bobby Henderson]

Whatever. Keep doing what you're doing. I suppose you just want to vent rather than trying to find a solution to a problem. In that case it's just as productive to step outside and shout at the sky. Griping in a public forum just for the sake of griping is liable to invite responses you may not like.