Illustrator corrupts all links after a crash while editing an open link (AI file)

[Dan Haard]

I have a file with many links (to .AI and .PSD files). 

Often I will have both that master file and some of the links open, editing them.

Lately some of the AI links began crashing whilst working on them.

When this happens, the screen goes blank until I force-quit Illustrator.

The real problem is that upon relaunching illustrator, the master file has all its links corrupted. Not just broken, but somehow corrupted. Instead of asking for a named file to relink, it asks for (empty) "".  After dismissing that dialogue box, it is found that all links are gone from the doc and listed only as (?) icons in the links panel, effectively corrupting the file without recourse.

Has anyone else seen this? If so, is it a known issue and/or is there a reasonable workaround to prevent lost work? Thank you.

[Srishti Bali]

Hi there,

Sorry about this trouble. I am hopeful that your issue is resolved by now. We've recently released an update for Illustrator 2021 (v 25.2.3) which contains some stability fixes. If you are not already on v25.2.3, then we recommend you to update to latest version.

If it still shows the same behavior, you may also try the suggestions shared on this page ( https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator/resolve-slow-performance-and-unexpected-behaviors-in-illu...) and share your observations with us.

Regards,

Srishti