How do I recover files after a crash that simply didn't open?

[vincentd6087485]

i was working in illustrator (beta) 29.3.0 when it crashed. upon reopening it, i got a popup that it recovered the two opened files. i hit 'confirm' to open the recovered files, then nothing happened. can i recover them manually somehome?

[Anubhav M]

Hello @vincentd6087485,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. Would you mind confirming if the file was saved locally on your computer and in which directory?

Also, please check if your file is still available in the recovery folder as an AID file. If yes, please share a link to the file after uploading it to a file-sharing service so I can check it. Although I cannot guarantee a successful recovery, I will try my best to do so.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav

[vincentd6087485]

thank you. it was. after posting this i read i should 'open the .aid file in illustrator,' so i tried to. it did nothing, other than make the only .aid file dissapear from the datarecovery folder. 

illustrator just crashed again, with the same issue. said it recovered my files upon reboot, but did not load them. the datarecovery folder doesn't have a .aid file this time. still missing since yesterday. there are only .aishm files from today in any of the subfolders.

[Monika Gause]

Beta versions can be unstable. That's why they are betas.

The recovery function is not a backup. You need to save your work regularly. Particularly when using a beta version.

[Anubhav M]

Hello @vincentd6087485,

Thank you for sharing the details. If the AID files cannot be opened, chances are the file is lost. We understand this may not be the ideal outcome, and we apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Could you confirm if the file was saved on a network, removable drive, or a cloud-synced folder like Google Drive or Dropbox? Storing files in such locations can sometimes lead to corruption issues. To prevent this from happening in the future, we recommend saving your work locally first and then manually copying it to your desired backup location.

To avoid similar situations in the future, we advise saving multiple copies of your active work locally or saving them as cloud documents.

Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any further questions or need assistance. We're here to help.

Anubhav

[KÜN Kurumsal İletişim]

@Anubhav M
Hello, for no apparent reason the Adobe_illustrator(version 2025_29.3) program has closed (I have been experiencing this frequently lately). The file I was working on for about 2 hours yesterday suddenly closed and when I reopened it, it did not recover again. I have been looking for recovery files since yesterday but only .aishm files are available.
I just saw your answer and I would like to say that the file I was working on is on a removable SSD disk. After today I will copy it to the local file and work there and then save it back to disk. Unfortunately it's an unsolvable situation, Adobe should improve this issue. Thanks for the answer though.

Quote from you: “Can you verify if the file is saved to a network, removable drive, or a cloud-synced folder such as Google Drive or Dropbox? Storing files in such locations can sometimes lead to corruption issues. To prevent this from happening in the future, we recommend that you first save your work locally and then manually copy it to the desired backup location.”

[Anubhav M]

Hello @KÜN Kurumsal İletişim,

Although Illustrator supports working across networks, removable media, and cloud-synced folders (Google Drive / Dropbox / OneDrive, etc.), and is vigorously tested across multiple configurations, not all configurations, including different software, hardware, settings, and access rights, have been tested. Therefore, your configuration can cause errors, crashes, or unexpected behavior. You may learn more about this here: (https://adobe.ly/4hHL2dN).

I understand this is not ideal, and I apologize for the inconvenience. Additionally, for help with crashes, kindly try the suggestions shared in this help article (https://adobe.ly/432a1nE) and check if they help.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav

[Tanzeel37357132c5ol]

I have just experince loosing my files and with no data recovery files in sight. Adobe should relook at the 29.3.1 version. 

I can only see the .aishm. Does anyone know if these files would hold any of the recovery data?

[ShikoMT]

I just lost 7 hours of work, I was putting the finishing touches on an illustration and was using the node merge tool and at one point the program crashed and closed and there is no solution to recover files. Beautiful morning, isn't it? :c

[SteveClayton]

I too am only seeing these garbage .aishm files. Why is this? Seems like anither essential feature that Adobe has messed about with and broken. Autosave is also set to upload to the cloud, gut suprise, suprise - there are no files showing there either.

[Monika Gause]

Are you talking about Autosave for Cloud files?

Or about File recovery?

[KÜN Kurumsal İletişim]

I think you are working in an external hard disk. I had the same problem, copy it to your computer and work there.

[SteveClayton]

No, this was not on an external HDD.

[ANNA38191843kf7l]

Did you recover it?

[ShikoMT]

I just lost 7 hours of work, I was putting the finishing touches on an illustration and was using the node merge tool and at one point the program crashed and closed and there is no solution to recover files. Beautiful morning, isn't it? :c

[s_2193]

Recovery Tuto speak about aid Files... but it seems now in the Recovery Files we got aishm fiiles... ok why not but why we can open these files in illustrator ? loool like all of you lost 5 hours of work... Fix this Adobe please

[Monika Gause]

Recovery is not a backup solution and should not be used as such. The files are not meant to be just opened.

That apart: sometimes the Illustrator team can actually save something from your files. @Anshul_Saini can you please try?

Nevertheless you need to come up with a trusty backup routine. Save your files early, save often, save different versions on different harddisks. Turn on Time Machine if on a Mac. Get a backup solution if on Windows.

Illustrator recovery is the icong on the cake.

[s_2193]

That's not the issue, and there's no point in repeating "get into the habit of saving" when we're deeply focused on our work. Everyone forgets to save sometimes, especially when working on something that requires a lot of attention to detail. The question here is: what are these new formats aishm... and why aren't they working? Personally, I checked the file management settings, and autosave is enabled every 2 minutes... Despite that, it didn't change anything, whereas with the old Illustrator, if this happened, it would instantly recover my recent file

[Monika Gause]

File recovery is not Autosave.

If Illustrator crashes while saving, then there will be nothing to recover.

Yes, I know that you can totally forget to save. It's part of a professional workflow to make it a habit to save often and to make backups often. Because saving often won't help when you only copy gets destroyed by a crash while saving. 

You might want to investigate the reason of the crashes. Maybe I'm just lucky or just have sufficient RAM, but Illustrator only crashes once in a blue moon.

[s_2193]

File recovery is not Autosave... when we crash illustrator re open the last Saved no?
i'm on MacBookPro M4 puce lol you can have a NASA computer you're not SURE to have no bugg...even to you it can happen... ^^

[Monika Gause]

Right. It can happen to me. That's why I save my work and don't neglect that. Because I do not want to rely on anyone doing that for me.

[s_2193]

same, Cmd S has become a habit ^^but WTF is aishm... and why it hasn't worked since they implemented this format...

[Anshul_Saini]

Hi everyone,

I’m really sorry to hear about the time and effort lost due to these crashes. I completely understand how frustrating it is to lose hours of work, especially when you’re deeply focused on a project.

I recognize that the new .aishm recovery file format has caused confusion, and I understand your concerns about it not working as expected. I’ll contact the product team for more clarity on this backend change and will share any updates as soon as I have them.

In the meantime, if you experience another crash, I recommend the following steps to maximize your chances of recovering your work:

1. Submit a Crash Report: This helps our team investigate the root cause. You can find the steps here: Crash Report Guide

2. Wait 2-3 Minutes Before Relaunching Illustrator: After a crash, Illustrator may process data for a while, and the crash reporter might take time to appear. Waiting a few minutes before reopening Illustrator can increase the chances of accessing the recovered file.

I know this doesn’t undo the frustration many of you have faced, but I really appreciate your patience while we investigate this further. Your feedback is crucial in helping us improve Illustrator.

Thanks again, and I’ll keep you posted.

Best,

Anshul Saini

[Goleq]

Is there any update on this? Changing the auto-save recovery function to the point where it doesn't work is beyond ridiculous.

[Anubhav M]

Hello @Goleq,

Our team is actively working on improving Autosave and you will see improvements in future versions of Illustrator. We will update this thread as we have more info.

For now, I would advise saving multiple copies of your active work locally or saving them as cloud documents.

Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any further questions or need assistance. We're here to help.

Anubhav