Learn how to recover your Illustrator files after a crash.
After a crash, follow these steps immediately:
Restart Illustrator. If Illustrator doesn't respond, force quit it from the Activity Monitor (macOS) or the Task Manager (Windows) and restart.
When you restart, Illustrator initiates the auto-recovery process and opens all the unsaved files with the Recovered suffix. The files might undergo some data loss.
Save the recovered files using File > Save As.
Even if you close the recovered files by mistake, you can get them back 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.
Select Go in the menu bar and then select Go to Folder.
Type ~ /Library/ and press Return.
Navigate to Preferences/Adobe Illustrator <version> Settings/<locale>/DataRecovery
Open the files with the .aid extension in Illustrator to recover the content.
Type %AppData% in Windows Search. You'll get the Roaming folder in your Windows user profile.
Navigate to Adobe\Adobe Illustrator <version> Settings\<locale>\x64\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 the future.
Navigate to:
In the File Save Options section, select the auto-backup and recovery settings as needed.
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Automatically Save Recovery Data Every |
This option, turned on by default, lets Illustrator automatically back up your work at regular intervals. In the drop-down, select an appropriate time interval for the backup. The backup files will not overwrite your original files.
Tip:
If you select a time interval that's too short, it may interrupt your flow as you work, especially when working on large or complex files. If you select an interval that's too long, it may increase the risk of data loss during a crash. Select an interval that works best for you. |
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Folder |
If you don't prefer to save the backup data in the default location, select Choose, and then select a different location.
Note:
Ensure that you have read and write permissions on the folder and it's not network mounted. |
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Turn off Data Recovery for complex documents |
This option is turned on by default. Otherwise, Illustrator may pause when backing up large or complex files, and slow down or interrupt your workflow. |
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Automatically Save Cloud Documents Every |
This option is turned on by default. Select a time interval after which the Illustrator cloud documents must be autosaved. |
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