Illustrator crashed - all layers merged into one

[Lewis266846707er1]

Hi,

Illustrator crashed on my PC and although I recovered my work, all my hundreds of layers have merged into one, and most have lost their names. Is there any way to fix this?

Also, I had the option for my work to be saved on the cloud every 5 minutes, but it hadn't even saved once in multiple hours. 

Thank you

[Monika Gause]

This looks like Illustrator could only import the PDF which is embedded in your file.

Saving not once while working on a project for several hours is not the best idea - was this an AIC file? A cloud file? Or did you rely on the Recovery function?

If you cannot remember saving your file, install the plugin Autosaviour. There is a free version available.

[Lewis266846707er1]

It was an AI file saved on my PC. I also have saved it to my creative cloud, however, when I access my creative cloud files, it says it was last saved 3 hours ago. When I go into my settings though, I have it so it's supposed to save automatically every 5 minutes. Am I missing something? 

[Lewis266846707er1]

Everywhere I read online said you just needed to reopen the file to recover it, I also checked the DataRecovery folder and it's empty  

[Monika Gause]

The saving of Cloud files preference setting does refer to AIC files. This is different from AI files saved to the Creative Cloud folder.

The recovery feature is not autosave and most of the time gets turned off for complex files. Also: when you experience a crash whilöe saving your recovery file most probably gets affected as well.

If you want to have a secure workflow, then you have to save your files. Don't ever rely on any software to do that for you. A power outage and your file is in danger. Save early, save often, save different versions. Whatever happens automatic can be a nice bonus, but it's always better to take care of it yourself.

[Ton Frederiks]

If you go to your Creative Cloud files folder you should be able (right click) to open the file on the website and restore a previous version.

[Anshul_Saini]

Hi @Lewis266846707er1,

I'm sorry to hear about the issue you've experienced with Illustrator. I can understand how frustrating it must be to have your work lost or damaged due to a software crash.

Unfortunately, once the layers have merged into one, it can be challenging to reverse the damage in the recovery file after the crash.

Regarding your issue with saving to the cloud, it's possible that the file wasn't saved due to a connection issue or some other technical problem. It's also possible that the recovery feature was turned off in your Adobe Illustrator preferences, which can happen when Illustrator detects that the file is complex.

We appreciate Monika's suggestion to save manually and, create backups & install the Autosaviour plugin, which can automatically save your work at regular intervals, as well as Ton's recommendation to restore previous versions of the file in Creative Cloud.

If you need further assistance or have any other questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Thanks,

Anshul Saini