relinking multiple instances of the same link in Illustrator

The Apply to All checkbox is back in Beta 28.8.0.43:

https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657-illustrator-desktop-feature-requests/suggestions/48498587--apply-to-all-checkbox-or-replace-all-button-ar

This is very annoying. They've removed the replace all option. The only solution now is to move the original and create a new one in a new directory but with the same filename as the previous. Not good.

The easiest way is to open the AI file in Notepad and replace all instances of the currently linked filename with the new one, save it and reopen it in Illustrator.

Surprisingly (?) this is still an issue in 2024. Here is a ChatGPT script that works wonders. It will list all links in the file grouped by file name, ask you to choose one, ask you to choose a new file, and automatically replace all links with the same name.

/**
 * This script replaces all linked files with the same name at one time in Adobe Illustrator.
 * It allows the user to select the link to replace from a list of current links using a drop-down menu
 * and then choose the new file from a dialog.
 */

function replaceAllLinksWithSameName() {
    var doc = app.activeDocument;
    var placedItems = doc.placedItems;
    var linkNames = [];

    // Collect all unique link names
    for (var i = 0; i < placedItems.length; i++) {
        var placedItem = placedItems[i];
        if (placedItem.file) {
            var fileName = placedItem.file.name;

            // Check if the fileName is already in linkNames
            var isUnique = true;
            for (var j = 0; j < linkNames.length; j++) {
                if (linkNames[j] === fileName) {
                    isUnique = false;
                    break;
                }
            }

            if (isUnique) {
                linkNames.push(fileName);
            }
        }
    }

    if (linkNames.length === 0) {
        alert("No linked files found in the document.");
        return;
    }

    // Create a dialog for link selection
    var dialog = new Window("dialog", "Select Link to Replace");
    dialog.orientation = "column";

    var dropdown = dialog.add("dropdownlist", undefined, linkNames);
    dropdown.selection = 0;

    var okButton = dialog.add("button", undefined, "OK");
    okButton.onClick = function() {
        dialog.close(1);
    };

    if (dialog.show() != 1) {
        return;
    }

    var oldFileName = dropdown.selection.text;
    var newFile = File.openDialog("Select the new file to replace " + oldFileName);

    if (newFile) {
        var count = 0;

        for (var k = 0; k < placedItems.length; k++) {
            var placedItem = placedItems[k];
            if (placedItem.file && placedItem.file.name === oldFileName) {
                placedItem.file = newFile;
                count++;
            }
        }

        alert(count + " links have been replaced.");
    } else {
        alert("Operation cancelled or no file selected.");
    }
}

replaceAllLinksWithSameName();

THANK YOU SO MUCH!
This works.. surprisingly!

I can understand the issue of having super big file when you have just copies of the same instance.
But for the replacement issue, I dont understand why you don't just replace te original file instead of relink each instance inside Illustrator.

I absolutely hate this. When working on multiple sketches of a design in the same doc the whole file becomes super big just because I'm using an image. Every time I copy the design, it copies another instance of the image instead of just using the same instance.

Hi,

I was dealing with the same issue a long time and I finally found a way to do it. It is really simple. Once you have your linked instances in a document, save it and then, if you want to change all instances at once, just move original instance to another folder. Illustrator will tell you, that some links are missing and if you want to re-link them. Hit yes button and then Illustrator will show a box where you can re-link or ignore it. Click a little checkbox on the left to change it all at once.

Now all your linked instances should be changed.

This is a separate forum platform for your suggestions for future releases.

You can transfer your thoughts to this section if you want to come to life in future versions.

Illustrator Future Forum