How to Restore Lost AI Files After Adobe Illustrator CC Crashes

Adobe Illustrator Keeps Crashing When Closing on Windows 10/11

"This morning, I was using Adobe Illustrator CC 2019 on my PC to edit a graphic. Suddenly, the program crashed and stopped working when closing. Then I tried to relaunch Illustrator but failed. In this way, I lost the unsaved graphic, which was editing on AI. So do you have any idea to recover lost AI files and fix Adobe Illustrator that keeps crashing on Windows 10?"

Have you ever met that Adobe Illustrator suddenly keeps crashing or not responding when opening or saving without any signal? Or have you encountered data loss of the Illustrator files? If you are troubled by Adobe Illustrator 2019 keeps crashing issue and are looking for practical solutions, you can follow the solutions offered below to fix Adobe Illustrator CC's crashing error on Windows 10  and restore lost AI files with ease now.

Why Does Illustrator Keep Crashing

Adobe Illustrator is unable to identify the cause of the crash. There are several possible reasons as listed below.   

• The old versions of Illustrator, like CC 2017/2018
• Third-party plugins
• Corrupted fonts
• Network issue when you open and save files 

How to Fix Adobe Illustrator Keeps Crashing on Windows 10/11

If the Adobe Illustrator keeps crashing when opening or closing, there will be a great inconvenience. To troubleshoot, try the solutions here. 

1. Restore Lost AI Files After Adobe Illustrator Crashes

The unexpected Illustrator crash may cause the on-editing file loss; you can try to recover the unsaved file first, then fix the crash issue in time. Here you have two options to restore lost AI files, and you can selectively follow either way to get lost AI files back now.

Option 1. Restore Unsaved AI files from AutoSave

If you've turned on the Data Recovery feature in Adobe Illustrator, you can restore unsaved AI files with below tips:

Step 1. Go to "Preference" > click on "File Handling & Clipboard" > check "Automatically Save Recovery Data Every" (set data backup frequency 2 minutes for example) and uncheck "Turn off Data Recovery" for complex document > click "OK" to keep all changes;

Step 2. Force to quit Adobe Illustrator and re-open Adobe Illustrator again > click "OK" > save the recovered file as a new file on your PC. In this way, your unsaved AI files will be restored. If you don't find lost AI files, follow the below guidelines to restore AI files.

• Navigate to the below path and open the Preference file: ​C:/Users//AppData/Roaming/Adobe/Adobe Illustrator Settings/en_US*/x64/Adobe Illustrator Prefs;
• Open the "Preference" file with a text editor and navigate to: /aiFileFormat {/PDFCompatibility 1enableATEReadRecovery 0 /enableContentRecovery 0/enableATEWriteRecovery 0/clipboardPSLevel 3};
• Change "enableContentRecovery" value from 0 to 1 and save the file. If you don't find the enableContentRecovery configuration in /aiFileFormat, add /enableContectRecovery1 in the folder and save all changes.
• Click "OK" to save the file on your PC then.

Option 2. Restore Lost Adobe Illustrator Files with Adobe File Recovery Software

If you accidentally deleted or lost AI files on your PC, don't worry. You may directly restore lost Adobe Illustrator files from Windows PC within three steps by using professional hard drive recovery software - Deep Data Recovery.

• Free Download
• Windows 11/10/8/7, 100% Secure

This software allows you to thoroughly scan and find all AI files in Windows 10 with its Quick Scan and Deep Scan modes. If you prefer a simple way to find lost Adobe Illustrator files, download Qiling Adobe file recovery software for free and follow the below steps to get lost AI files back now. Except for AI files, this tool also enables you to restore lost PSD files in any tough situation, like formatting, mistaken deletion, virus attack, and more. 

Step 1. Select file types and click "Next" to start

Launch Deep Data Recovery software. Select file types and click "Next" to start.

Step 2. Choose the location and start scanning

Hover on the SD card, camera, or hard drive partition where you deleted/lost pictures, then click "Scan".

Step 3. Select the pictures you want to recover

Once the scanning completes, select "Pictures" in the left panel. If you want to locate the lost photos, click "Lost" on the top list. Then, you can find photos according to the devices, types, and dates.

Step 4. Recover lost photos

After the preview, click "Recover" and choose another location to save the desired pictures.

2. Update Adobe Illustrator to the Latest Version

Since crash on Adobe Illustrator CC 2017/2018 happens very often, you can update the program to the latest version 2019.

Step 1. Open Adobe Creative Cloud desktop app.

Step 2. Click the three vertical dots icon at the upper-right side of the app and choose "Check for APP Updates".

Step 3. Then, you will see the checking result. If it displays an Update button next to Illustrator CC, please press that button to update the software.

After updating Adobe Illustrator, you can re-open it to see whether the Adobe Illustrator keeps crashing issue disappears. If the problem persists, you need to try the following method.

3. Fix Crashed Adobe Illustrator in Safe Mode on Windows 10/11

Here are some detail steps that you may need to follow and repair corrupted AI if your Adobe Illustrator crashes on your PC:

Step1. Restart PC and relaunch Adobe Illustrator CC 2017/18/19 on Windows 10.

Step 2. Check and update Adobe Illustrator CC to the latest version.

Step 3. Click on "Run Diagnostics" > select to launch Illustrator in "Safe Mode" > click on each item in the list that cause AI crash error (such as corrupted fonts, plug-ins or out-of-date drivers, etc.).

Step 4. Check the troubleshooting tips for each item and follow tips to correct problems.

Step 5. Select Enabled when Illustrator is relaunched when all problems have been fixed > click "Enable on Relaunch". When all problems have been fixed in Adobe Illustrator, Illustrator will launch in Normal Mode, and it will work normally again.

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