Missing Layers

[defaultfkowtoaij38d]

I was working on a document with a lot of layers and I saved my file, copied and collapsed all layers to a new layer, moved that object around the artboard, and I thought I saved my file again with all the  other layers still there without accidentally deleteing anything. I closed the document and later when I reopened it, all the layers were gone except my layer that I had copied and collapsed all the other layers on to. I did not back up the document to cloud so I can't recover an earlier version of the psd file. Is there a way to recover those lost layers or the previous psd file?

[defaultfkowtoaij38d]

I think that when I saved the second time I may have accidentally saved as a photoshop image

[jane-e]

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@defaultfkowtoaij38d wrote:

I was working on a document with a lot of layers and I saved my file, copied and collapsed all layers to a new layer,

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When you say you "collapsed" your layers, do you mean that you merged them into one layer?

Unfortunately, if you accidentally saved your file with the layers merged, then it's too late to get them back. Undo and the History panel only work while the file is still open.

If you need to do this again, use the Stamp Layers feature to create a new layer while keeping the others. Details here: 

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/layers.html

Stamp multiple layers or linked layers

When you stamp multiple selected layers or linked layers, Photoshop creates a new layer containing the merged content.

• Select multiple layers.

• Press Ctrl+Alt+E (Windows) or Command+Option+E (Mac OS).

To stamp all visible layers, do the following:

• Turn visibility on for the layers you want to merge.

• Press Shift+Ctrl+Alt+E (Windows) or Shift+Command+Option+E (Mac OS).

  Photoshop creates a new layer containing the merged content.

Check your layers panel one more time to see if there is a filter hiding some of the layers, but if they are gone and you do not have a backup of the file, then they are gone. Some people will make daily backups with filename001, filename002, etc. I like to use the date. Eventually you can delete the older backups.

Jane

[Theresa J]

Saving the file as a Photoshop image is what you want to do. Photoshop files can have layers. Saving as a jpeg would be bad because a jpeg can't have layers. Unfortunately if you deleted, or flattened layers before closing and saving the file to a hard drive, there is no way to get them back.