Illustrator File Recovery May 2026

Search your entire computer for *.tmp and sort by "Date Modified." Look for a file that is roughly the same size as an Illustrator document (usually several MBs). Rename the extension from .tmp to .ai and try to open it. This is the oldest trick in the book, and it works 80% of the time. By default, when you save an .ai file, you have the option to "Create PDF Compatible File." If you (or your past self) left that checkbox ticked, you can recover the vector data via a PDF reader.

Don't reformat your hard drive just yet. Here is your ultimate guide to Illustrator file recovery. If you are on Adobe Creative Cloud (version 22.0 or later), you have a safety net you might not know about. Adobe finally introduced Autosave .

Unlike the old "File Recovery" that only triggered after a crash, Illustrator CC now saves incrementally.

Illustrator crashes are a rite of passage. Losing the file permanently is a tragedy. Go set your autosave timer to 5 minutes right now .