Illustrator - art showing in preview but not when file opened

[calicosalsamaui]

I created a file in AI CC, which I installed recently.  Saved periodically for a couple of days.  Now when I open that file, the content visiible in AI is what I saved from the early in the creation process.  What's weird is if I look at the file using preview - the thumbnail that shows which file to open - I can see all the recent work.  I can also see the 6 artboards with the objects & text  I expect when I preview with Mac Finder, or in Acrobat.  But when I open the file in AI, only 3 artboards have objects and they are not the current work.

I have tried:

• Checking that all layers and sublayers are visible
• Saving the stunted open file to a new name, when I open that same thing not newest version. But then the preview matches only 3 artboards.
• File, Place
• Closing AI and restarting it
• Shutting down my Mac an restarting it
• Opening the file in Photoshop - this DOES show me all 6 "pages" and I can open, but of course they are converted to bitmap not editable vector
• Opening the file in AI CS6 - still only 3 artboards visible
• Giving the file to a colleague to open with their installation of AI CC; they get the same - not the current artwork only 3 artboards
• Restoring from backups Time Machine and also Dropbox Version History.  Earlier files have the same problem even though they too show more recent changes in preview.
• Following all the steps in Adobe's advice on corrupt files with the exception of changing all fills & strokes to one color and all text to one font because then what's the use?

What else should I try?

Anyone else experienced this and did anything work or did you just have to recreate the file?

Having to create all that work is a problem, but a bigger problem would be if this is a bug and it happens again.  If something about AI CC is going to be unreliable, not sure I can use it.

I would appreciate any assist, thank you!

[grackshack]

This just happened to me as well, I'm a student and extremely new to Photoshop and Illustrator so I'm not incredibly knowledgable about all of this. So far I've tried File/Place, closing Illustrator and reopening, shutting down and restarting my laptop, checking the layers, and opening in Photoshop. I can't see my recent edits ANYWHERE but in the file thumbnail in Illustrator. All of the edits were done in one Very Long sitting so practically the entire file (except for the base pdf I originally opened in illustrator as a guide for the project) is gone. Any speck of advice would be appreciated. Again, I am very new to all of this so I'm hoping there's some obvious solution I missed!

[Monika Gause]

Are the edits there when you open the file in Acrobat?

Illustrator has a very specific file structure and sometimes it happens that it doesn't get saved correctly. Most of the times it's related to crashes, saving to a network or a specific preference setting.

If you encounter this, you can do the following:

1. Make a copy of the file.

2. Open the file in Illustrator to get what is left from the original artwork.

3. Create a new file and place the copy of the file into it.

4. Release clipping masks, groups and stuff (see layers panel)

5. Copy the stuff that is not if the original file and paste it there.

Turn off "Save in background" in the preferences.

Solve issues that cause crashes.

Check your harddisk for hardware issues

Don't save to networks or USB sticks and other removable media.

Always make lots of backups.

Please see this about Illustrator files: https://youtu.be/IpDh8Y7q8yE

[silviak86719743]

The same frustrating issue just occurred to me! Come on Adobe, we are in 2023 now! 

I am absolutely certain that I had saved my file, and it even displays the updated thumbnail with my artwork. However, upon opening it, I'm greeted with an outdated version of the file. I'm in desperate need of assistance! I've lost hours of painstaking work! Can anyone please help me resolve this?

[Anubhav M]

Hello @silviak86719743,

Sorry to hear about this experience. Would you mind sharing some more details, like the exact version of the OS/Illustrator, whether the file is a cloud document or locally saved, and if it is saved locally the folder location, so we can investigate this further? Also, if it is a cloud document, kindly try reverting to an older version of it (https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/help/open-revert-cloud-document-version.html) and share your observations.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,

Anubhav