Adobe has patched its Creative Cloud apps after a glitchy update caused the software to delete Mac files without permission from users.
When Adobe updated its Creative Cloud to version 3.5.0.206 the online data storage service Backblaze noticed that that Creative Cloud was accessing user’s hard drives and deleting the first folder that appeared in alphabetical order.
Adobe issued a fix for the issue on Sunday.
Hidden system folders or data backup files for some users were deleted as a result of the bug due to the file-naming conventions on Macs.
“We’ve encountered an issue on the Mac where Adobe Creative Cloud (version 3.5.0.206) appears to be removing the contents of the first hidden folder at the root of the drive, in alphabetic order. By happenstance, the first hidden folder on most Backblaze customer’s internal drive is the .bzvol folder,” said a Backblaze blog post on the bug.
Computers without Blackblaze software may have had a different folder deleted instead.
Video: Adobe Creative Cloud deleting Backblaze files
“If you do see empty folder and have a local backup, or another backup system, you may be able to restore that data from them. If not, you may want to contact Adobe for any help on this issue,” Backblaze said.
There was backlash from consumers in the creative industries who went to social media to vent their frustration with the glitch:
Pulled entire @creativecloud subs from my company thanks to @adobe making a mess of our studio by deleting our files. Not even an apology…
— Sparky uk (@sparkyuk11) February 15, 2016
SO glad I abandoned Adobe tools now. How the #@^! is it OK to delete user files, let alone root-level ones? https://t.co/3fQu5pVuov
— Vito Sorelli (@VeryVito) February 15, 2016
Adobe said in a statement on the issue:
“On the 12 Feb we were notified that some customers had an issue with an update to the Creative Cloud Desktop application. We removed the update from distribution and deployed a new one which addresses the issue.”