HELP! Indesign files are reverting to previously "Saved aAs" documents

[bro5150]

I recently created a 10 page document based on an existing file and did a save as. I spent hours on this document. Once i closed it and reopened it an hour later, it opened up as the old original document is was based on!! I went to open other documents that were created in this way and they all were old files!! what the heck. This is a HUGE problem.

[Derek Cross]

Sounds like you overwrote your previous document. It's important to double check your document before doing too much work on it and incremantally naming and saving it regularly so you can revert to an earlier version if necessary. Also, save copies externally, as well as locally, so you can access your files if something happens to your computer. Belt and braces.

[bro5150]

I didn't. I actually opened the document i based it on, and saved it with a new name. Infact i opened passed docs that I created this way, and they all reverted to the intial document. 

[Derek Cross]

Which version of InDesign and OS?
Have you tried resetting the InDesign preferences?

[bro5150]

Mac OS Big Sur v 11.5.2

Adobe InDesign v 16.4

[bro5150]

i actually found others (see link below) that are having the same issue as me!

https://indesign.uservoice.com/forums/601180-adobe-indesign-bugs/suggestions/39640816-suddenly-my-do...

[bonniet_scubadiva]

The exact same thing is happening to me. I am on Mac Big Sur OS 11.6, running the latest CC InDesign. This morning, I opened the file and it was the OLD file I originally started with. I totally rebuilt the file, saved it; was having some spinning wheel issues, restarted -- it SHOWS the file was saved right before I restarted -- but the OLD file from yesterday opens up!!!! This is a MAJOR issue for me as well.

[bro5150]

I completely agree! This bug can potentially wipe out hundreds of files i have created based on others i have "Saved As". This is a MAJOR MAJOR flaw that needs immediate attention before it does major harm.

[Ashutosh_Mishra]

Hi there,

Sorry to hear about your experience. Do you still see similar behavior with the app?  Are these files saved on a network drive? Have you tried resetting preferences? If not, then please try doing that & let us know if that helps.
If it doesn't, Would it be possible for you to share the device information & preference files with us? This information would help us assist you accordingly.

We are looking forward to your response.

Regards,

Ashutosh

[margaretc85967665]

This just happened to me as well. 5.5 hours working on detailed proposal edits. Saved it, left it open overnight and went to bed. Woke this morning all my work was completely gone and the file was reverted to an older version of the file. I'm working/saving locally, not to the Cloud. I have no idea how CC/InDesign can take so much control of my computer to do this - otherwise it seems like a virus because I cannot figure it our or risk losing work like this.

[SaraUGP]

Hey if anyone finds a solution for this, please share. This just happened to me on a 48 paged book with 8 hours of work put into it that I have to completely redo. 

I guess the only thing I can do is hardcore save a ton of versions of it to protect my work. 

This is an issue that shouldn't actually exist two years after the original post. 

[Derek Cross]

It's always wise to incrementaly save versions of your work – name1a.indd, name1b. indd and so on. Also, keep copies externally as well as locally (in case something happens to your computer).

If you've been working on a document for a long time, occasionally save it as an IDML file to clear out the crud that builds up and that can cause a document corruption. 

[rob day]

Also if you work out of your User>Creative Cloud Files folder, the files you save to that folder will automatically sync to your web cloud account. The cloud account keeps incremental saves of a file in the Timeline, so you can retrieve any saved version of the file for the past 30 days. I just saved this example 3 times and the 3 versions are accessible from my account:

[YIFAN26395861xla8]

Just happened to me too! This is so frustrating, especially it happen right before deadline. I finished my work long time ago and now it's almost blank. I manually save my file every 30 min, still did not prevent this from happening. This is not acceptable.

[Derek Cross]

No back-up copies?

[Robert Tkaczyk]

What is the FULL name of the folder you've saved your file in? 

Which platform / full version of the OS? 

Do you use any kind of synchronisation software? 

[SaraUGP]

This happened to me this morning. Yesterday I had over a quarter of the work completed and this morning it was all blank. 

But I was able to do this to get it back. I know that this option doesn't always work, but I'm very thankful that it did this morning. 

I went to file and found the Revert button and I got everything back! 

[Robert Tkaczyk]

So the problem is with Mac platform only?

Then it has nothing to do with InDesign... 

[SaraUGP]

No, actually, I'm using a windows. And it has happened to me twice so far while using windows. There are a few other people in my department who use Macs and it has happened to them as well. 

[Robert Tkaczyk]

Never had this problem... 

Where those affected files are stored? Locally or remotely? Can you show full path? 

And do you make backups of your files? 

At least, at the end of the day, after you close InDesign - select your INDD file, hit Ctrl+C then Ctrl+V - Windows will take care of the incremental number of the copy. 

The best, of course, would be to copy it to a different folder - especially on a server.

And if you do a lot of changes during the day - do this copy&paste more often. 

And then, how often are you doing Save As with a new name - to clean up the file, get rid of the inaccessible undo history?