In Illustrator, there are two types of symbols: dynamic and static. By default, when we select all symbol instances and expand them, the resulting new objects remain selected. An unexplained bug has been found with dynamic symbols:

1. Create a dynamic symbol in a document and place its instances.
2. Save the file.
3. Reopen the file.
4. Try to expand the dynamic symbol instances.

Result: The selection is cleared from the objects, which does not happen with static symbols. If you place new instances of a dynamic symbol in the document, there is no selection loss – this only occurs with those instances that were present before the last save. This is a strange bug, and the loss of selection after expanding, in particular, makes it impossible to automate certain tasks with symbols using scripts.

Environment: macOS, Windows 10, Adobe Illustrator various versions 2019-2025