How to Fix "Illustrator Won't Open Files"

If Adobe Illustrator fails to open files, it can be frustrating, especially when dealing with important projects.

There are several potential causes for this issue, including file corruption, improper associations, or missing fonts and plugins.

Here’s how to troubleshoot it: First, ensure that Illustrator is up to date.

Sometimes, bugs that cause file-opening issues are resolved in updates.

Go to Help > Updates to check for the latest version.

If your software is up to date, the next step is to try opening the file with a different method.

Rather than double-clicking the file, open Illustrator first, and then go to File > Open to manually select the file.

If this doesn’t work, check if the file is corrupted by attempting to open it in another application like Adobe Photoshop or an earlier version of Illustrator.

If the file opens in Photoshop but not Illustrator, it may indicate a corruption within the Illustrator file format.

In this case, try opening the file with a different version of Illustrator, or use the File > Open As feature to select an alternative file type, such as PDF or EPS.

Another potential cause of failure is missing fonts or corrupt font files.

If Illustrator can’t find fonts used in your document, it might prevent the file from opening correctly.

To resolve this, try opening the file while holding down Ctrl (Windows) or Cmd (Mac) to disable the fonts temporarily.

If this solves the issue, reinstall or restore any missing fonts from the Adobe Fonts library or external sources.

Additionally, check if any third-party plugins or extensions are interfering with the file opening.

Disable these temporarily by opening Illustrator in safe mode (Ctrl + Alt + Shift during launch on Windows) and see if the file opens.

If the problem continues, consider reinstalling Illustrator or using the File > Open with Previous Versions feature to access backups.