How to Recover Unsaved/Overwritten/Deleted Files in InDesign  

How to Recover Unsaved/Overwritten/Deleted Files in InDesign


InDesign has an autosave feature that saves a copy of your file every 10 minutes, which can be found in the "File" menu under "Save a Copy". However, if your file keeps crashing, it's likely due to a corrupt file or a plugin issue. To recover previous versions of your file, you can try using the "Recover" feature in InDesign, which can be found in the "File" menu under "Recover". You can also try using the "File" menu under "Open Recent" to see if there are any older versions of your file that can be opened. If you're still experiencing issues, it's a good idea to save your file frequently and consider using a cloud-based storage service to automatically save multiple versions of your file.

When working on important InDesign files, accidents can happen such as system crashes, power outages, software crashes, or accidental deletions, resulting in permanent loss of unsaved changes. However, there are ways to recover or restore overwritten InDesign files, and we'll explore three methods in this article to help retrieve previous versions or recover lost data.

Quick Navigation
Part 1. How to InDesign Recover Unsaved File
Part 2. How to Restore Overwritten InDesign File
Part 3. How to Retrieve Deleted Files in InDesign

Part 1. How to Recover Unsaved InDesign Files

1. Check if the AutoSave feature is enabled in InDesign. To do this, go to Edit > Preferences > File > Auto Recovery.

  1. When you reopen InDesign after an unexpected shutdown, it will automatically launch a file recovery process, prompting you to save the file with the last saved version or not.
  2. recover overwritten indesign file
  3. To save a copy of the automatically recovered InDesign file, go to "File" and select "Save Project As" to preserve the recovered file. This process allows you to restore the original file saved over.
  4. If InDesign doesn't automatically open a file when you relaunch it, you can find the AutoSaved file in the InDesign Recovery folder, which is located in the App Data folder on your Windows PC. To access it, go to "Users" > your user name > "App Data" > "Local" > "Adobe" > "InDesign" > "Version" > "en_US" > "Caches" > "InDesign Recovery". From there, you can preview or open the draft, which will be labeled as "Untitled Project1" if you haven't named your project. To save it, go to "File" > "Save project as" and choose a location on your computer.

Part 2. How to Restore Overwritten InDesign File

To recover overwritten files in InDesign, make a copy of the project before making any changes. If you've already made changes, try using the "Revert to Saved" feature or the "Undo" feature to go back to a previous version. Alternatively, you can also try using the "Recover" feature in InDesign, which may be able to recover some or all of the overwritten data. However, it's always best to make a copy of the project before making any changes, to avoid losing important work.

Part 3. How to Retrieve Deleted Files in InDesign

If InDesign software shuts down unexpectedly, you can recover unsaved or overwritten files on a Windows PC. However, if you've deleted InDesign files, whether due to a transfer or a computer system reset, you'll need the help of data recovery software to get them back. In such cases, Deep Data Recovery is a good option to try.

Deep Data Recovery is a professional and trustworthy software that can recover deleted data due to various reasons, including deletion, virus attack, computer reset, system crash, and software errors. It works on both Mac and Windows PCs and can be fully depended upon to recover lost InDesign files. To recover deleted InDesign files, you can use Deep Data Recovery, which can help you get back your lost files.

  1. Download and Install InDesign File Recovery Software
  2. To recover InDesign files on your Windows PC, click the DOWNLOAD button to get the latest version of the Qiling software. Choose the right version according to your computer system, and follow the steps to recover your InDesign files. The process is similar for both Mac and Windows PC users.

  3. Select Hard Drive to Scan
  4. In the next window, select the hard drive where the InDesign files were before they were deleted. Click "Scan" to recover the deleted files.

    recover unsaved indesign file
  5. Recover InDesign Files
  6. After the scanning process is complete, you can filter file types in the left panel and select files to preview on the right side. Once you find the target InDesign files, select them and click "Recover" to save them on your computer.

    recover indesign file

Related Articles


Is this information helpful?     

What can we do to improve this information? (Optional)
Refresh Please enter the verification code!