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?

[sergitoca]

The file should autosave every 2 minutes, but it just doesn't. As I know how bad Illustrator works on my computers (by reading your experience I will assume for the moment that is  something that happens only to me) my backup strategy is to save manually as soon as it comes to my mind but as you can imagine this is not a very reliable method and every day I get to loose an amount of work when Illustrator crashes, depending on my last manual save.

You mention that I need to come up with a strategy for this. Do you have a better one?

[Monika Gause]

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@sergitoca  schrieb:

my backup strategy is to save manually as soon as it comes to my mind but as you can imagine this is not a very reliable method

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A better strategy would be to train yourself to save. 

And no, I cannot imagine that, because accepting your own responsibility for your own files is an important learning process. 

And again: recovery is NOT autosave.

If you cannot remember to save your files, you can check out the free plugin Autosaviour (there is also a paid version, which has more functionality). But still: get into the habit, because not all software has such a plugin.

Automatic functionality will not work when you most need it. That is Murphy's Law. So do it yourself. Have many copies of your file. Get an additional hard disk - it will be cheaper than having to rebuild your file.

Also: Mac OS has Time Machine. Use it.

[sergitoca]

Hi, thanks for sharing the plugin, I’ll check it out. That said, it’s honestly frustrating that after paying for an expensive subscription, we're expected to rely on third-party paid plugins to cover for Illustrator’s broken features.

To clarify: I’m specifically asking why AutoSave stopped working, and why no recovery files are found on the DataRecovery folder.

Suggesting that I need to “take responsibility” or save more often manually completely misses the point. This isn’t about user error, this is about a feature that is failing. Time Machine is irrelevant here, and having multiple versions of my files doesn't relate to this case.

If Illustrator’s Auto-Recovery system is broken, then that should be acknowledged. Why no one from the support team is helping with this?

[Anubhav M]

Hello @sergio_1349,

I completely agree that Illustrator should Autosave your work regularly to avoid loss of data. However, there could be multiple reasons for this to happen like permissions for the folder location where your files are stored, if there are any interfering applications like cloud-sync services such as Google Drive etc., and others like an Antivirus software or 3rd party plugins, which need to be individually addressed.

Our team is aware of this problem and are continuously working on improving this functionality in future versions of Illustrator. We will share more info here as we get updates from the team.

I understand that this is not ideal, and I apologize for the inconvenience. Would you mind also creating a UserVoice for this feature request (https://adobe.ly/42gqxzD) and adding your comments there? Doing this will help us prioritize this request, and you will be notified of any updates.

For help with crashes, kindly try the suggestions shared here (https://adobe.ly/3E7HZx2) and let us know if they help.

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Anubhav

[Anubhav M]

Hello everyone,

Our team has made some improvements to file saving, which should also help with recovering files after a crash in the latest Illustrator (beta) release. Please try out the latest Illustrator (beta) (https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/global/creative-cloud-beta.html) and share your feedback.

Anubhav

[plmy38829434yjng]

your team did what??

I will tell you. You asking people to update to newer versions but basic functions doesnt work. all my work just pfffhh - dissapear. thank you. thank you for taking my money my time and my job.

[profanity removed by moderator]

[Anubhav M]

Hi @plmy38829434yjng,

I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble. Could you please provide more details, such as the version of your OS and Illustrator, a description of your workflow, and specifics about the issue? If possible, a screen recording would be very helpful.

Looking forward to your response.

Anubhav

[tayanc]

I am having the same issue. MacOS Sequoia 15.3.1, Adobe Illustrator 29.3.1. Simple pentool work and sudden crash. I keep restarting Illustrator and every time it states that the file is recovered (Untitled-1.ai) however, it neither opens automatically nor is found under recovered files. (See attached image). I understand that saving the file manually is my responsibility however when other applications' (Photoshop, Premiere etc.) recovery features are working with no issue having a problem like this with this specific app is frustrating.

[Anubhav M]

Hello @tayanc,

If Illustrator is unable to automatically recover your work, the file is likely lost. We understand this may not be the ideal outcome, and we apologize for any inconvenience.

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.

Additionally, our team has made some improvements to file saving, which should also help with recovering files after a crash in the latest Illustrator (beta) release. Please try out the latest Illustrator (beta) (https://adobe.ly/4meCGwM) and share your feedback.

Feel free to reach out if you have more questions or need assistance. We'd be happy to help.

Anubhav

[StarAG​]

I have reverted to the previous version which is working amazing. This latest release is buggy.

[StarAG​]

I just lost 8 hours of work and nothing can be recovered. Even after the automatically crash recovery was enabled, I am seeing nothing.

I did got the recovery dialog box after the restart from crash but the recovered documents had nothing. It was just the last save.

All I am seeing is .aishm formats in data recovery folder of %appdata%

Can anything be done? I just lost a big effort.

I am at v29.5 and I am seeing more crashes on this version.

[Monika Gause]

The only people that might have a very slight chance to help you are staff. I assume that Anubhav has notifications for this thread turned on, so you can only hope that he sees your post soon. But it's the weekend.

Since you experience a lot of crashes, you should address that, since that is not normal. Did you already reboot the system and reset the preferences. Maybe clean up your font folder. Check if you really need all the applications that are currently running in the background. You can try if the crashes also happen when you run the computer in Safe Mode (note: this is just a test, not a permanent solution).

But then also: make a backup strtegy. 8 hours without saving is just not a good idea. And neither is 8 hours without a backup of the file.

The recovery function is meant to be the icing on the cake of a real backup strategy. It is not meant as Autosave. And will never be, since a crash in the middle of any saving operation will ruin any file.

[jacob_6549]

Same issue here. 

[StarAG​]

It's a known issue as I have found a thread on reditt too. They need to give an immediate update or else people will continue to loose their work.

Sadly, I have re-work on the whole last night as my deadline was near.

Those .aishm files in the recovery folder are good for nothing.

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @StarAG,

I totally understand how frustrating it must've been to lose that much work, especially when you were relying on the recovery feature to kick in. I've shared a further action plan with you via DM on the community, so please check it when you get a moment.

Also, thanks for sharing your experience so clearly.

Looking forward to hearing back from you on DM so we can look into this further together.

Abhishek

[jesus_9689]

After hitting "okay", these files usually open by themselves but isn't doing it now for some reason. I noticed some other people had this issue but saw no real solve for beside an Adobe employee using the AID files in /DataRecovery to try to recover your files for you. If an adobe Employee sees this is able to help me that would be great, here's a drive link to everything the data recovery folder (reminder trying to recover files named above): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ONDeGeJzDZWVB3tiZNl_HUle6n-wcQSK?usp=share_link. 

[Anubhav M]

Hello @jesus_9689,

Thank you for sharing the file with us. Despite attempting to recover from the file, regrettably, there was nothing left to salvage. 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.

Additionally, were you experiencing crashes in Illustrator when this issue occurred? If so, we suggest trying the troubleshooting steps outlined in this help article (https://adobe.ly/3ENsMl1) to see if it resolves the problem.

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

[jesus_9689]

Hi @Anubhav M, 
It was saved on a network/could-synced folder called Egnyte. Likely why wasn't able to recover them properly.

[herpetology_8196]

My computer shut down and I lost several documents. I open adobe illustrator repeatedly and it will say "The following documents were recovered:...." and I click ok and nothing happens, it stays on the homescreen. I try to go to the recovered docs folder and there are just a bunch of Images folders with .aishm files (e.g. 

Library/Preferences/Adobe\ Illustrator\ 29\ Settings/en_US/DataRecovery/f8G3ixw5L6/Images/111.aishm). Is there a way to recover the files?

[Monika Gause]

If it crashes while saving, then those files are lost most of the time. That's why saving is important. And also making backups.

[TessBerger]

Illustrator (v29.3.1 on a Mac, updated this morning) froze and crashed on me. When it reopened this time, the recovered files window came up and I clicked "ok" to reopen them like usual, but Illustrator wouldn't open the files and just stayed on the "Welcome to Illustrator" screen. I could create a new file or open a file from my browser just fine. I tried force quitting and rebooting and the recovered files window came up again but same issue.

I tried creating a new file to get the workspace window open, went to the DataRecovery folder, and attempted to open an .aid file from there – it disappeared like it opened but nothing did. I tried opening another one (not sure why) and it crashed Illustrator again and now the recovered files window isn't popping up anymore.

[Anubhav M]

Hello @TessBerger,

Would you mind providing some details about the circumstances under which these files were saved or edited and the location of the files where they were stored?

Also, kindly share the AID files after uploading them to Dropbox/Google Drive/etc. so I can check them on my end. Although I cannot guarantee a successful recovery, I will try my best to do so.

Additionally, for help with crashes, please try the suggestions in this help article (https://adobe.ly/4bXMNkQ) and share your observations.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav

[Robin_Carter]

If they werent saved before the program crashed how can they be recovered? I am having the same issue and need to recover Untitled-5. I select okay and it takes me to the welcome screen without opening any files.

[Anubhav M]

Hello @Robin_Carter,

Could you check if you have the files still present in the DataRecovery folder location (https://adobe.ly/3ErCbOX)?

If yes, kindly upload them to a file-sharing service, and share a public link here, so I can check it on my end. Although I cannot guarantee a successful recovery, I will try my best to do so.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav

[ANA-TEODORA301907632ck8]

Hello! I have the same problem here. My illustrator crashed as i was working, and i did not have some files saved. The recovery panel pops up but as i press ok nothing happens. I beg of you, help me recover my files.