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Recover Illustrator files after crash

Learn how to recover your Illustrator files after a crash.

Restart Illustrator to auto-recover files

When Illustrator crashes, the rule of thumb is to restart the app. If the app doesn't respond, force quit and then restart it. On restarting Illustrator, app auto-recovery process gets initiated and opens up all the unsaved files with the Recovered suffix. 

Restart Illustrator to recover unsaved files.
Save the recovered file

Save the recovered file using the File > Save As option. This recovered file might undergo some data loss during the recovery process.

Closed the recovered file or Illustrator without saving up?

Even if you close the file with the Recovered suffix or Illustrator by mistake, you can still recover it from the Illustrator autosave (data recovery) folder:

Windows

  1. Type %AppData% in Windows Search.

  2. Navigate to Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator [version] Settings\en_US\x64\DataRecovery

  3. Open the file with the .aid extension in Illustrator to recover the content.

macOS

  1. Select Go in the menu bar and then select Go to Folder.

  2. Type ~ /Library/ and press Return.

  3. Navigate to Preferences/Adobe Illustrator [version] Settings/en_US/DataRecovery

  4. Open the file with the .aid extension in Illustrator to recover the content.

 In case you chose to autosave files in a different location from Illustrator Preferences, navigate to that location to recover your unsaved file.

Note:

Autosave is enabled by default in Illustrator. If you can't find your unsaved file in the data recovery folder, ensure that you enable autosave from Illustrator Preferences for future backup and recovery. 

Manage settings for autosave and recovery

By default, autosave (auto-recovery) is enabled for all Illustrator files.

Adobe Illustrator deeplink

Try it yourself
Set up File Save Options in a few simple steps.

To manage autosave settings, navigate to Preferences > File Handling & Clipboard or press Ctrl/Cmd+K.

Manage settings for autosave and auto-recovery
Autosave settings on Illustrator

In the File Save Options section, specify the following:

Automatically Save Recovery Data Every

Ensure that this check box is selected.

In the time interval drop-down next to this check box, select an appropriate time interval after which Illustrator should save a backup of your work. The backup files will not overwrite the original one.

Folder

If you don't prefer to save backup data in the given default location, click Choose and select a different location.

Note:

Ensure you've read/write permissions on the folder and it's not network mounted. 

Turn off Data Recovery for complex documents

By default, this check box is disabled. Illustrator may pause when backing up large or complex files and slows down or interrupts your workflow.

Automatically Save Cloud Documents Every

By default, this check box is enabled. You can control the autosaving of cloud documents through this check box. Select a time interval after which the Illustrator cloud documents should be autosaved.

Note:
If Illustrator crashes between the specified recovery time intervals, you may notice some data loss. Auto-recovery preferences are automatically turned off if Illustrator crashes during the data recovery. In that case, re-enable data recovery from Preferences.

Tips

  • Setting a time interval that's too short may interrupt your flow as you work, especially if you're working on large or complex files. 
  • Setting a time interval that's too long may increase the risk of data loss if Illustrator crashes. Choose a value that works best for you.

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