If Illustrator crashes, restart it. If it doesn't respond, force quit and restart. When you restart Illustrator, the auto-recovery process is initiated, and it opens all the unsaved files with the Recovered suffix.
- Illustrator User Guide
- Get to know Illustrator
- Introduction to Illustrator
- Workspace
- Workspace basics
- Create documents
- Learn faster with the Illustrator Discover panel
- Accelerate workflows using the Contextual Task Bar
- Toolbar
- Default keyboard shortcuts
- Customize keyboard shortcuts
- Introduction to artboards
- Manage artboards
- Customize the workspace
- Properties panel
- Set preferences
- Touch Workspace
- Microsoft Surface Dial support in Illustrator
- Undo edits and manage design history
- Rotate view
- Rulers, grids, and guides
- Accessibility in Illustrator
- View artwork
- Use the Touch Bar with Illustrator
- Files and templates
- Tools in Illustrator
- Tools at a glance
- Select tools
- Navigate tools
- Paint tools
- Text tools
- Draw tools
- Modify tools
- Generative AI (not available in mainland China)
- Quick actions
- Illustrator on the iPad
- Introduction to Illustrator on the iPad
- Workspace
- Documents
- Select and arrange objects
- Drawing
- Type
- Work with images
- Color
- Cloud documents
- Basics
- Troubleshooting
- Add and edit content
- Drawing
- Drawing basics
- Edit paths
- Draw pixel-perfect art
- Draw with the Pen, Curvature, or Pencil tool
- Draw simple lines and shapes
- Draw rectangular and polar grids
- Draw and edit flares
- Trace images
- Simplify a path
- Symbolism tools and symbol sets
- Adjust path segments
- Design a flower in 5 easy steps
- Create and edit a perspective grid
- Draw and modify objects on a perspective grid
- Use objects as symbols for repeat use
- Draw pixel-aligned paths for web workflows
- Measurement
- 3D objects and materials
- Color
- Painting
- Select and arrange objects
- Select objects
- Layers
- Expand, group, and ungroup objects
- Move, align, and distribute objects
- Align, arrange, and move objects on a path
- Snap objects to glyph
- Snap objects to Japanese glyph
- Stack objects
- Lock, hide, and delete objects
- Copy and duplicate objects
- Rotate and reflect objects
- Intertwine objects
- Create realistic mockups
- Reshape objects
- Crop images
- Transform objects
- Combine objects
- Cut, divide, and trim objects
- Puppet Warp
- Scale, shear, and distort objects
- Blend objects
- Reshape using envelopes
- Reshape objects with effects
- Build new shapes with Shaper and Shape Builder tools
- Work with Live Corners
- Enhanced reshape workflows with touch support
- Edit clipping masks
- Live shapes
- Create shapes using the Shape Builder tool
- Global editing
- Type
- Add text and work with type objects
- Reflow Viewer
- Create bulleted and numbered lists
- Manage text area
- Fonts and typography
- Identify the fonts used in images and outlined text
- Add basic formatting to text
- Add advanced formatting to text
- Import and export text
- Format paragraphs
- Special characters
- Create type on a path
- Character and paragraph styles
- Tabs
- Preview, add, or replace missing fonts
- Arabic and Hebrew type
- Fonts | FAQ and troubleshooting tips
- Creative typography designs
- Scale and rotate type
- Line and character spacing
- Hyphenation and line breaks
- Spelling and language dictionaries
- Format Asian characters
- Composers for Asian scripts
- Create text designs with blend objects
- Create a text poster using Image Trace
- Create special effects
- Web graphics
- Drawing
- Import, export, and save
- Import
- Creative Cloud Libraries in Illustrator
- Save and export
- Printing
- Prepare for printing
- Printing
- Automate tasks
- Troubleshooting
Learn how to recover your Illustrator files after a crash.
Restart Illustrator to auto-recover files
Save the recovered files using the File > Save As option. The files might undergo some data loss during the recovery process.
Closed Illustrator or the recovered files without saving up?
Even if you close Illustrator or the files with the Recovered suffix by mistake, you can still recover them from the auto-backup location by following these steps:
As we transition to an improved crash recovery experience in upcoming releases, these steps won't work in newer versions. They still apply to Illustrator 29.1 and earlier.
Windows
-
Type %AppData% in Windows Search.
-
Navigate to Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator [version] Settings\en_US\x64\DataRecovery
-
Open the files with the .aid extension in Illustrator to recover the content.
macOS
-
Select Go in the menu bar and then select Go to Folder.
-
Type ~ /Library/ and press Return.
-
Navigate to Preferences/Adobe Illustrator [version] Settings/en_US/DataRecovery
-
Open the files with the .aid extension in Illustrator to recover the content.
If you chose a different location for the auto-backup of unsaved files, go to that location to recover them.
Auto-backup of unsaved files is turned on by default. If you can't find your unsaved files in the auto-backup location, ensure that you turn on the settings for future backup and recovery.
To manage auto-backup settings, navigate to Preferences > File Handling & Clipboard or press Ctrl/Cmd+K.
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. |
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.
Have a question or an idea?
If you have a question to ask or an idea to share, come and participate in Adobe Illustrator Community. We would love to hear from you and see your creations.