Losing an AI file feels like losing a drawing. But modern recovery options are better than most designers realize. Don’t rage-restart. Go digging first.
📍 Windows: C:\Users\[YourName]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator [Version] Settings\en_US\x64\DataRecovery recover ai file
Illustrator autosaves in the background. Losing an AI file feels like losing a drawing
You’d be surprised what’s still there. recover ai file
File > Open → select the corrupt .ai → while clicking Open
In Illustrator: