How to Recover Unsaved/Overwritten/Deleted Files in InDesign

Updated on Nov 11, 2023 | by Jeremy

Quick Navigation:

Part 1. How to Recover Unsaved InDesign Files
Part 2. How to Recover Overwritten Files in InDesign
Part 3. How to Recover Deleted Files in InDesign
Step 1. Download and Install InDesign Recovery Software
Step 2. Select File Types to Scan
Step 3. Select Hard Drive to Scan
Step 4. Recover InDesign Files

InDesign has an autosave feature, but it's not enabled by default. To enable autosave, go to Edit > Preferences > File Handling, and select "Save Auto-Recovery Info Every" and choose a time interval. This will help prevent data loss in case of a crash. If InDesign does crash, you can try to recover your file by going to File > Recover and selecting the autosave file. If you don't have an autosave file, you may be able to recover your file using InDesign's built-in recovery feature, but this is not always successful. To minimize the risk of losing your file, it's a good idea to save your file regularly and to work on a copy rather than the original.

When working on InDesign files, there's always a risk of system crashes, power outages, software crashes, or accidental deletions, which can lead to permanent loss of unsaved changes. However, there's still hope for recovery, and this article will explore three ways to recover InDesign files.

Part 1. How to Recover Unsaved InDesign Files

InDesign has a built-in AutoSave feature that helps recover unsaved files in case of a crash, shutdown, or computer restart. If you haven't saved your InDesign file and it was lost due to one of these events, you can try to recover the unsaved file by following the recovery steps.

Step 1. When you reopen InDesign after an unexpected shutdown, a pop-up will appear asking if you want to save the file with the version last saved. This is an automatic file recovery process that InDesign launches to help you recover your work.

Step 2. To recover an unsaved InDesign file, go to "File" and select "Save Project As" to save a copy of the automatically recovered file. This allows you to preserve the work done on the project, even if it was not saved previously.

Step 3. If you don't see a file automatically open when relaunching InDesign, check the recovery folder. The folder is located in your user account's App Data > Local > Adobe > InDesign > Version > en_US > Caches > InDesign Recovery. Look for a draft and open or save it as a project. If unnamed, save it as a new project.

Part 2. How to Recover Overwritten Files in InDesign

If you've made changes to an InDesign file and want to recover overwritten files, I recommend making a copy of the project before making any changes. If changes have already been made, try using the Undo feature or checking the InDesign preferences to see if the autosave feature was enabled, which may have saved a previous version of the file. This can help you recover the original file. Additionally, you can also try using third-party software or plugins that can help recover overwritten files in InDesign.

To undo the most recent change, choose Edit > Undo
To undo all changes made since the last save, select File > Revert (InDesign) or File > Revert Content (InCopy), save the reverted version, and you're done.

Part 3. How to Recover Deleted Files in InDesign

If InDesign software shuts down unexpectedly, you can recover unsaved files on a Windows PC. However, if you've deleted InDesign files, whether due to transfer issues or a computer system reset, data recovery software can help you recover them. In such cases, Deep Data Recovery is a reliable option for recovering deleted InDesign files.

Deep Data Recovery is a professional and trustworthy data recovery software that can help you recover various types of data lost due to deletion, virus attack, computer reset, system crash, or software errors. It works seamlessly on both Mac and Windows PCs, making it a reliable tool to recover lost InDesign files on either platform. You can rely on Deep Data Recovery to recover your deleted InDesign files, providing a solution when you need it most.

Step 1. Download and Install InDesign Recovery Software

To recover deleted InDesign files on your Windows PC, click the DOWNLOAD link to get the latest version of the InDesign recovery software, choosing the correct version for your computer system. The steps are similar to those on Mac. DOWNLOAD the software and follow the instructions to recover your deleted InDesign files.

Step 2. Select File Types to Scan

Launch the software on your computer and click "Next" from the start-up window to proceed.

Step 3. Select Hard Drive to Scan

To recover deleted InDesign files, select the hard drive where the files were located before deletion, click "Scan" to start the recovery process, and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the file recovery.

Step 4. Recover InDesign Files

When the scan is complete, you can filter file types in the left panel, select files to preview on the right side, and once you find the target InDesign files, select them and click "Recover" to save them on your computer.

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