Along with ensuring that you're working locally and don't have your files synced with the cloud (i.e., Dropbox), you'll also want to check to see you don't have a large number of backups in your temporary folders.
You can check it by pasting this in your Windows Explorer: %appdata%\Articulate\Storyline
Give it a shot and let us know if the error goes away!
Thanks Ren. I fail on both counts. I'm using Dropbox though not for this project folder. However there is a lot in that file location. Can I just delete them all?
If you're comfortable with deleting those files to make more room, clearing those temp files should help resolve that error. However, I err on the side of caution there. Storyline saves temp files, so you can restore a project if needed.
With your permission, I'd like you to work directly with our support engineers to investigate what's happening with your temp files. You can reach them privately by clicking here.
I ran into this error today on Storyline 3. The presentation was working fine yesterday but today I receive this message when trying to save. I tried to clear out the %appdata%\Articulate\Storyline directory as suggested but I'm not seeing much in there, just two directories "3" and "Themes".
I removed the workspace.xml in the 3 directory but that did not resolve the issue.
I've also tried saving a new copy with a new name and saving in different locations with no luck.
EDIT: I also just noticed that all images from the project are now missing. Text is still present and formatted but all images are gone. However, they still appear in the thumbnail view on the left.
That is definitely not expected behavior so I've opened a support case on your behalf. From here, our Support Engineers will troubleshoot this error with you! Keep an eye out for an email with next steps.
I have just experienced the same exact behavior including the disappearance of the images on the slides (they still appear in the thumbnails and timeline). The only difference is that I am using Storyline 360. I deleted two XML files from the temporary folders. There was hardly anything else in there. I also use Dropbox but attempted to try and save locally to no avail.
Was there any progress or solution on the issue above that can be shared?
Actually I've also seen that disappearing image issue but by closing down re-starting etc. managed to overcome it....I'll post a description if it happens again.
Were you also prevented from saving? If so, was your updated work saved
when you shut down and reopened? I have not shut down the file yet because
I am afraid I will lose the work I had done.
Hi everyone, I have just run into the exact issue described above; cant save, there was an error generating the XML document, no pictures, just thumbnails.
I can't find a solution in this thread, and am worried to lose my work. Has there been any progress/ solutions you can offer? Thanks, best, Syta
I'm so sorry you're running into this snag! We are here to help.
I've started a case on your behalf with our Support Engineers. If you can upload the file to us, even if it's an older version, that should be a great starting point. We'll continue the conversation via email in your support case.
Hi, I've gotten this error three separate times with Storyline 360, all with different files. Is there something that can be done to prevent this error, because I keep losing all of my progress if I don't save every 5 minutes. I just lost an hour and a half of work because of it.
I'm sorry to hear about this error. Let's get it sorted!
We can help find a fix in real-time since you have live chat access with our Engineers. When you're ready to connect, click the link below and then click the Live chat support option on the right-hand side:
Hi, Im receiving this same error and I only have worked on two projects so far, its over 8 hours of work and I'd hate to lose it because I have deadlines. I was trying articulate because of a client but after reading all of the errors on this post I'm starting to wonder if maybe it was a bad idea.
Sorry to hear that you ran into a similar issue. Happy to help!
If you're already working locally when editing and publishing your project files, and your folders are not being synced to a network location, reach out to our support engineers by opening a support case so we can take a closer look at what's happening. If you're willing to share copies of your project files there, we'll be able to test if the behavior is file specific, or related to your installation of Storyline 360.
Hello - having a similar issue - since updating today, one file on a shared drive I havent been able to open, so I copied it to a local drive, and this one is having trouble saving - that said, when I try to save it with a new title, I get the error message, but can see a file of the right size is saved - so maybe it worked anyway?
Thanks for reaching out! I understand you were having an issue saving a file. I see you've opened a support case and were able to get the issue resolved. I'm happy to hear that!
If there's anything else you need, don't hesitate to ask!
I'm having the same issue. Been using the software for all of two days. This is my first file. Has this really been going on since 2015 at least? I'm using the free trial while I wait for my company to activate my license, which costs a lot of money. Based on this issue and reading this and earlier threads on the same topic, I'm reconsidering buying this software.
Unfortunately, I'm accustomed to docs autosaving, which Articulate doesn't, so I just realized I haven't saved in several hours. Can you please publish the fix?
To add: the issue I'm seeing is error in generating the XML file, and I also see my images are gone but they appear in the thumbnails.
Common causes of this behavior are working directly on a network drive and saving your project file to a local directory that gets synced to an online location such as OneDrive. In both cases, we recommend transferring your project file to a local directory such as 'My Documents' or 'My Computer' to correct the behavior. If you need to store your project files to a network location, you can transfer them there after working on them locally.
You'll also want to make sure that Storyline 360 has proper access to your temp folders as mentioned by my colleague Ren here. If you're already working locally and are still experiencing this issue, ask your IT staff to perform a repair of your Storyline 360 installation to see if this fixes the behavior. If the issue persists, please open a case with our support team so we can take a closer look at what's happening.
There is a small fix that I stumbled upon. So I previewed one slide and then from that preview I clicked on the save button and it saved lol! Totally weird but it worked after 3 hours of whether I should or should restart the laptop :). See if this works because anything is better than restarting and losing work.
24 Replies
Hi John,
Along with ensuring that you're working locally and don't have your files synced with the cloud (i.e., Dropbox), you'll also want to check to see you don't have a large number of backups in your temporary folders.
You can check it by pasting this in your Windows Explorer: %appdata%\Articulate\Storyline
Give it a shot and let us know if the error goes away!
Thanks Ren. I fail on both counts. I'm using Dropbox though not for this project folder. However there is a lot in that file location. Can I just delete them all?
Hello John!
Thank you for those clues.
If you're comfortable with deleting those files to make more room, clearing those temp files should help resolve that error. However, I err on the side of caution there. Storyline saves temp files, so you can restore a project if needed.
Let us know how you go!
OK...but some appear to over 12 months old....I guess if Storyline crashed it sometimes fails to delete a TMP file? Is the the situation?
Interesting find, John. I appreciate the update.
With your permission, I'd like you to work directly with our support engineers to investigate what's happening with your temp files. You can reach them privately by clicking here.
Hello.
I ran into this error today on Storyline 3. The presentation was working fine yesterday but today I receive this message when trying to save. I tried to clear out the %appdata%\Articulate\Storyline directory as suggested but I'm not seeing much in there, just two directories "3" and "Themes".
I removed the workspace.xml in the 3 directory but that did not resolve the issue.
I've also tried saving a new copy with a new name and saving in different locations with no luck.
EDIT: I also just noticed that all images from the project are now missing. Text is still present and formatted but all images are gone. However, they still appear in the thumbnail view on the left.
Hi Derreck!
That is definitely not expected behavior so I've opened a support case on your behalf. From here, our Support Engineers will troubleshoot this error with you! Keep an eye out for an email with next steps.
I have just experienced the same exact behavior including the disappearance of the images on the slides (they still appear in the thumbnails and timeline). The only difference is that I am using Storyline 360. I deleted two XML files from the temporary folders. There was hardly anything else in there. I also use Dropbox but attempted to try and save locally to no avail.
Was there any progress or solution on the issue above that can be shared?
Thanks!
Actually I've also seen that disappearing image issue but by closing down re-starting etc. managed to overcome it....I'll post a description if it happens again.
Were you also prevented from saving? If so, was your updated work saved
when you shut down and reopened? I have not shut down the file yet because
I am afraid I will lose the work I had done.
Hi Evelyn,
Thanks for contacting our support team as well and working with Ronaziel directly. I'm glad that she was able to help you get back up and running.
What a coincidence, I was just in the middle of updating my post when I saw
your response. Thank you!
Great minds, Evelyn 😊
Hi everyone, I have just run into the exact issue described above; cant save, there was an error generating the XML document, no pictures, just thumbnails.
I can't find a solution in this thread, and am worried to lose my work. Has there been any progress/ solutions you can offer? Thanks, best, Syta
Hi Syta!
I'm so sorry you're running into this snag! We are here to help.
I've started a case on your behalf with our Support Engineers. If you can upload the file to us, even if it's an older version, that should be a great starting point. We'll continue the conversation via email in your support case.
Hi, I've gotten this error three separate times with Storyline 360, all with different files. Is there something that can be done to prevent this error, because I keep losing all of my progress if I don't save every 5 minutes. I just lost an hour and a half of work because of it.
Please and thanks! -Alex
Welcome, Alex!
I'm sorry to hear about this error. Let's get it sorted!
We can help find a fix in real-time since you have live chat access with our Engineers. When you're ready to connect, click the link below and then click the Live chat support option on the right-hand side:
Hi, Im receiving this same error and I only have worked on two projects so far, its over 8 hours of work and I'd hate to lose it because I have deadlines. I was trying articulate because of a client but after reading all of the errors on this post I'm starting to wonder if maybe it was a bad idea.
Hi Sontonio,
Sorry to hear that you ran into a similar issue. Happy to help!
If you're already working locally when editing and publishing your project files, and your folders are not being synced to a network location, reach out to our support engineers by opening a support case so we can take a closer look at what's happening. If you're willing to share copies of your project files there, we'll be able to test if the behavior is file specific, or related to your installation of Storyline 360.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Hello - having a similar issue - since updating today, one file on a shared drive I havent been able to open, so I copied it to a local drive, and this one is having trouble saving - that said, when I try to save it with a new title, I get the error message, but can see a file of the right size is saved - so maybe it worked anyway?
Hi Adam,
Thanks for reaching out! I understand you were having an issue saving a file. I see you've opened a support case and were able to get the issue resolved. I'm happy to hear that!
If there's anything else you need, don't hesitate to ask!
I'm having the same issue. Been using the software for all of two days. This is my first file. Has this really been going on since 2015 at least? I'm using the free trial while I wait for my company to activate my license, which costs a lot of money. Based on this issue and reading this and earlier threads on the same topic, I'm reconsidering buying this software.
Unfortunately, I'm accustomed to docs autosaving, which Articulate doesn't, so I just realized I haven't saved in several hours. Can you please publish the fix?
To add: the issue I'm seeing is error in generating the XML file, and I also see my images are gone but they appear in the thumbnails.
Hi Karen,
Sorry to hear that you ran into this snag.
Common causes of this behavior are working directly on a network drive and saving your project file to a local directory that gets synced to an online location such as OneDrive. In both cases, we recommend transferring your project file to a local directory such as 'My Documents' or 'My Computer' to correct the behavior. If you need to store your project files to a network location, you can transfer them there after working on them locally.
You'll also want to make sure that Storyline 360 has proper access to your temp folders as mentioned by my colleague Ren here. If you're already working locally and are still experiencing this issue, ask your IT staff to perform a repair of your Storyline 360 installation to see if this fixes the behavior. If the issue persists, please open a case with our support team so we can take a closer look at what's happening.
There is a small fix that I stumbled upon. So I previewed one slide and then from that preview I clicked on the save button and it saved lol! Totally weird but it worked after 3 hours of whether I should or should restart the laptop :). See if this works because anything is better than restarting and losing work.