Show All Hidden Objects in Illustrator

You will find at times when opening an Adobe Illustrator file from one of your co-workers, or other source, that the file contains a link that doesn't actually display in the document. So that tells you two things. One is that the linked file is not needed for the design and needs to be deleted. The other thing that you are being told is that the link is, obviously, being hidden somehow. So how do you find this hidden link?

One quick way of finding hidden links or objects in Illustrator is to select Show All from the Object menu. This will display any object, whether it is a linked file or internal vector object, that resides on a hidden layer or sub-layer. You can then select the objects that appear and delete them.

Another possibility is that hidden objects may be included in a masked group. In that case you have to peruse your layers and sub-layers to find that masked groups. When you find the clipping masks, hide the mask by clicking on the eye icon at the left, in the Layers panel, to hide the mask and reveal all masked objects. If you see any stray objects outside of the masked area, delete it, show your clipping mask again and save your document.