HELP -- where does Illustrator store recovery files on Mac?

[sebastian2012a]

Illy crashed and re-opened a restored file which I thought was complete -- so I saved it as my original file AND saved that as my backup.

Then I realized that half the content was in fact missing from that file; weeks of work gone...

And now, I have spent the past hour on Adobe's support who keeps telling me I should find the file where I saved it. Which is not exactly what I need. 🙂

He also claims that my recovered files are in DropBox, which I frankly don't understand since I've never used that service and I doubt that Adobe is using that platform for storage of user files, but he is not able to provide any explanation. He also told me sign out of Creative Cloud and back several times, which didn't appear to serve any purpose.

So, what I despearately need to know is this:

1. Exactly where does Illy store the recovery versions it automatically creates?
2. I there any way for me to restore any of these versions?

I found several answers on Google, but none seems to work: One page, for instance, mentions this path: /Users/<username>/Library/Preferences/Adobe Illustrator, but I don't have access to that library, and it also seems to be empty.

So, any suggestions would be extremely appreciated! 🙂

[sebastian2012a]

The link below correctly mentions that Illustrator allows users to specify a path to where backup versions are saved -- but those versions appear to be saved in a format I don't know: .aid

Does anyone know how to open those files?

https://helpx.adobe.com/in/illustrator/how-to/recover-files.html#:~:text=From%20the%20Preferences%20...

[sebastian2012a]

Okay, got the answer now:

When the Adobe supporter told me to quit Illustrator, it was literally the worst possible suggestion because it permanently deleted the recovery files I should've used.

Lesson learned...

[Monika Gause · Accepted solution]

The recovery files are stored in your user folder, the path is specified in the Preferences. Youcan change that.

BUT: The recovery file is only stored until you use it. So, you have recovered the file, you have saved it and then the recovery file gets deleted. There is no other backup, unless you created one deliberately by saving your file.

[sebastian2012a]

Thank you Monika, I just realized that.

[Monika Gause]

Are you on a Mac?

Is perhaps Time Machine running? Then you can try if it saved a previous version.

[sebastian2012a]

Thank you, but I've always assumed that regular backup copies, which I'm obsessive about, were enough...

The paradox is that I lost a lot work today because I saved what I mistakenly assumed were a correct version of a previously restored .AI file -- AND then even backed up that wrong file just to be sure, haha. Argh. 🙂

[Monika Gause]

That's the reason why after any software recovered any file I always (!) save them under a new name. I never overwrite what might be left of my original file.

[sebastian2012a]

Yeah, but that's just because you're so smart.

🙂

Seriously though, I learned the lesson now.

And to top it all off, when I tried to UNDO my backup, the old original file simply vanished from the backup drive.

So, if you regularly copy a file from your primary drive to a backup disk, but one day change your mind and undo the operation in Finder, the old version of your file literally disappears from your backup drive without a warning...

[Monika Gause]

That's only because I'm super cautious about my files.

So in your case several incidents made it only worse. What a nightmare. Hope you can rebuild that.

[sebastian2012a]

Haha yeah, the one word that just kept popping up in my mind all day long like a mantra was indeed nightmare.

Thank you for the empathy, really appreciated.

[phildlight01]

I know this is an older post, but it's the first Google result for this search and I thought the below might help others, or at least point out a flaw with the autosave process.

I just had a crash. I used the Adobe prompts to "reopen ai" and it told me there were recovery files. I chose to reopen the recovery files, which it did, and then promptly crashed before I could re-save the files. Now they're gone forever. We need a better system.

[Monika Gause]

I know this is an older post, but it's the first Google result for this search and I thought the below might help others, or at least point out a flaw with the autosave process.

 We need a better system.

By @phildlight01

You need to set up a backup strategy. Save copies of your files and different version. No automatic methods can save you from doing that.

[phildlight01]

I understand, and I do that, normally. However, on the rare occasions where we slip up and do a bunch of work while forgetting to manual save, the autosave shouldn't auto-delete itself. Or, there should be an option to retain all autosave data.

What's odd in my case, and this could be a memory lapse, is I was fairly certain I manually saved several times, but when it crashed, the autosave was from this morning. I have a feeling the app had crashed earlier but continued to function and "saved" when I manually saved, but it actually wasn't. To be fair, this seems to have coincided with some odd network behavior/internet connectivity issues.

[Monika Gause]

You are saving over the network? Illustrator has always had issues with that.

Also: uncheck "Save in background" in the preferences 

[phildlight01]

I am so sick of hearing this. Yes, I have to save over a network. So that the files are backed up on a RAID array every 15 minutes and backed up offsite every 30 minutes.

I'm not going to work off the internal HD on the mac. That's insanity. Is Illustrator a professional tool or not?

Why can't Adobe make a professional tool that works on a network like a professional tool should?

No offense to you. I'm just so tired of hearing "oh, ai doesn't work across networks or off NAS well." As if that just excuses the problem. The solution to the problem is not working off a HD on the workstation and risk losing the files when the HD exits stage left. It's ridiculous that illustrator can't function properly across a network.

[Monika Gause]

---

@phildlight01  schrieb:

No offense to you. I'm just so tired of hearing "oh, ai doesn't work across networks or off NAS well." As if that just excuses the problem. The solution to the problem is not working off a HD on the workstation and risk losing the files when the HD exits stage left. It's ridiculous that illustrator can't function properly across a network.

---

There are solutions available where the NAS synchronizes with the harddisk.

Network traffic is out of Illustrator's control. 

[phildlight01]

Explain how ai wiping autosave files once they're opened has anything to do with network traffic.

The issue is that they've designed the autosave files to wipe as soon as they're used. That's a problem if ai crashes while trying to open an autosave file. That has absolutely nothing to do with network traffic as the same behavior could occur when accessing a local file.

Working off the hard drive is not an option. I don't have to do that with other software that works perfectly fine over a network. Again, I shouldn't have to modify my workflow because a piece of software has never been optimized to work over a network. That's absurd.

[Monika Gause]

There is no autosave for AI files in Illustrator. It's recovery data. And when Illustrator (or your computer) crash while saving it, then there is nothing.

If you want to complain somewhere, please do it over there: https://illustrator.uservoice.com

The developers do not read this forum. This forum is 95% volunteers. We cannot change the software. Only explain it and recommend workflows.