Storyline file corrupted. How to fix and avoid?

Hi Mark and welcome to Heroes! 

The most often cause of file corruption is working off a network or shared drive as described here. You will want to work on local project files.  You'll also want to check that the file name and file path are well below the 260 character limit and don't include any special characters, accents, etc. 

You could also try to import your existing project into a new  project within Storyline, to resolve any corruption issues. 

You mentioned the overall file size as well, and you may want to see if this file is causing issues because of it's overall size and the memory available on your computer. You'd want to close out non-essential programs while working on the file. Another known cause of odd Storyline behavior is using a DPI setting of anything other than the recommended 96 DPI. 

Ashley, I had tried to open Mark's file as well and ran into similar issues. I only run projects off my local drive and DPI settings are fine. The slide thumbnails just kept on 'blinking' (see attached video), I have never seen this 'effect' before.

Thanks Michael for the video - I can honestly say I've never seen that before. Where did you access the file? I didn't see it linked here in the forums. 

Ah, well that would make sense.  

If you or Mark would like to share the file with us, we're happy to take a look too. If you'd prefer to share privately, you're also welcome to connect with our Support engineers or I can send along directions on how to share with me directly. 

Thanks Ashley and Michael for your support. I've received permission from the client to send you a copy of the file.

Please let me know how I can share the file with you. Please keep in mind that it is 100MB and so can't be emailed. I do have it posted on a Google drive though which I can share with you.

Hi Mark,

If you already have a Google drive link for it, that may be the easiest way to share it. You can provide the link here in the forums, send along to me as a private message, or even open a support case.   I'll also send you directions on how you can open a support case and have it assigned to me directly. 

Another way possibly to get the best version of the file that still worked would be to right click on the file, go to properties and then click previous versions. Possibly this could help? 

I just ran into this same issue. How did you resolve it?

Hi Laura and welcome to Heroes!

I'm sorry to hear that you've run into an issue with a corrupted file. You can try importing the file into a new project following the directions here to resolve any odd behavior, but it may not solve everything as once a file is corrupted there is not always a way to save it.

To prevent corruption on future Storyline files, you'll want to follow these guidelines here for working on your project files:

• Work on your local drive (your C: drive).Working on a network drive or a USB drive can cause erratic behavior, includingfile corruption, loss of audio, and other unexpected behavior.
• You should also make sure the directory pathto your project files and your published output is less than 260 characters(for example C:\Articulate).
• Avoid using special characters, accents orsymbols in your file names.
• Confirm you're using the DPI setting of 96 DPI