Illustrator won't open my file no matter what I do

[cream__soda]

I tried restarting my computer, Illustrator, changing the name of the file, changing the predetermined program associated to .ai files but nothing works. When I try to open it, it says "Reading illustrator files" but nothing happens after that.

[Monika Gause]

Which version and system is it?

Where did you save the file?

Did Illustrator crash when you last saved it?

What's in the file?

[cream__soda]

It's version 30.0. I'm not sure if you're asking about my operating system but it's Windows 10

File was saved on my desktop

Kind of? I had multiple files opened and one of them (not this one) showed a black screen and straight blue dotted lines, couldn't do anything about it but I was still able to see and work with the other files normally. I restarted it and that "damaged" file is working fine now, but the one that didn't have any issues is the one I can't open.

They're all designs for Instagram posts, so it's mainly typography, colors and some images.

[Bobby Henderson]

Have you tried doing any hard disc cleanup operations, like optimize and/or defragment the hard drive? If the file was saved on the Desktop (and thus in the Desktop folder) it would be stored on the boot hard disc, whatever kind of disc that may be, either solid state or old fashioned magnetic platters.

[cream__soda]

Honestly I don't know how to do that and I'm scared I'll mess up and delete/do something I shouldn't have. But I'll look into it and report back

[Bobby Henderson]

In Windows File Explorer you can right-click on the C: drive and select Properties in the fly-out menu. In the Properties dialog box click the Tools tab. In the Tools tab you'll see a button for Error Checking and another button for Optimize and Defragment Drive. It helps to run both, especially if neither option has been performed in a long time.

[Monika Gause]

Does the file still open in Acrobat?

Also: if the option "Save in background" is still turned on the the Preferences > File Handling, turn it off.