Illustrator and Photoshop Files Lost

[EllieDraws]

I created a file in Illustrator and another in Photoshop, relating to the same project, and both of these have disappeared. I usually save straight to Dropbox, so assume I did with these, and yet these are the only files I've lost. Any ideas why? I created them last year.

[Doug A Roberts]

This seems a little like asking 'I put down my glasses and now I can't find them. Anyone know where they are?'

(apologies for flippance. But I'm not sure how anyone can answer this)

[EllieDraws]

I haven't misplaced them, they have disappeared frm my computer. I was wondering if anyone else had experienced this and had an answer for recovering them.

[Monika Gause · Accepted solution]

If you can't find them by name then likely they are gone.

Do you have Time Machine or the like? Then you could try and step back to the date when you last saved them.

Dropbox does versioning, but if you deleted them (maybe by accident) months ago then they are deleted permanently (also from your devices).

[EllieDraws]

Thanks for this. I definitely haven't deleted them. I don't use Time Machine because I assumed my files would be relatively safe on Dropbox. I think it could be where Adobe programs have updated and these older files have been lost. I saw it with students I teach when programs were updated and it seems ridiculous. New and old versions and files should be compatible.

[Doug A Roberts]

That isn't something one would expect from an update.

[Monika Gause]

"I don't use Time Machine because"

While Time Machine still isn't a replacement for a proper backup strategy, I would rethink this decision. I mean really - a harddsik is not expensive. And certainly even more so when you take into account the time you have to invest in order to re-make your file.

[EllieDraws]

Thank you, I didn't realise it would back up my DropBox files and therefore thought it was pointless. It's helpful to be advised without the assumption that I should already know this stuff, I appreciate your help.

[Monika Gause]

It will backup your Dropbox files only when you use the Dropbox app and synch the Dropbox files to your computer.

[EllieDraws]

Thanks so much for your advice, I'll look into doing this to avoid future issues!

[Monika Gause]

Time Machine is only a part of a backup strategy, but it has saved my rear a couple of times.

Good luck!

[italosan]

Hi, I'm sorry you lost your files but, in this case, as he said Doug_A_Roberts it's a little impossible to help you.

[Test Screen Name]

One big mistake I see over and over is saying "this is going to the cloud, now I don't have to worry about backups". Sorry, this is just wrong. Clouds are backed up to protect the cloud against disk failure; often the backup is just to have it on two disks, both live.  You are not protected against

* Cloud provider errors and bugs

* Problems syncing uploading to cloud

* You deleting or overwriting a file by accident

* Your software having a bug which overwrites files

* Loss of access to cloud service eg hacker takes over account

* Cloud service closed down

[Guiomar22625692gr4p]

I need a number to speak with somebody in English 

[Ton Frederiks]

You can try this:

https://helpx.adobe.com/contact.html?rghtup=autoOpen

[chanaart]

Please contact Customer Care: http://helpx.adobe.com/contact.html They can login to your system.

They speak English!