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Answered

Cursor isn't changing to show current tool

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Help! My cursor isn't changing in Illustrator 2020. It's constantly a black arrow no matter which tool I am using. I'm attaching a screen grab video. I'm using the pen, direct select, rectangle, then type...and it just stays a black arrow. Thanks for your help!

C

cromertCorrect answer

Participant

Started working again with a reinstall. Thanks for your reply!

D

dDembicki

Inspiring

This is happening to me too. A reinstall yesterday fixed it, but today it started happening again. I have no idea what causes it, however, having to uninstall and reinstall isn't exactly conducive to a smooth workflow. Is there a fix that is less of a PITA?

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Monika Gause

Community Expert

Which system?

Do you have any system extension or mouse driver installed that messes with the cursor?

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Anubhav M

Community Manager

Hello @dDembicki,

We understand that encountering technical issues can be frustrating. Would you mind trying to run Illustrator under Safe Mode (Windows / macOS) and checking if it helps? Also, try running Illustrator under a different administrator account (Windows / macOS) and share your observations.

If the problem persists, kindly share more details, like the exact version of the OS/Illustrator and a screen recording of the problem (https://adobe.ly/3JdZGJV), so we can investigate this further?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,

Anubhav

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D

Darmawan362956490d3e

Participant

where is the video?

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Monika Gause

Community Expert

@Darmawan362956490d3e schrieb:

where is the video?

The author has probably deleted that video from wherever they uploaded it.

If you have a problem I would suggest, you describe it. It would be best to create a new thread for that purpose.

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A

ajdewey

Inspiring

I ahve the same problem - very annoying!!!!!

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Anubhav M

Community Manager

Hello @ajdewey,

Sorry to hear about your experience. Would you mind trying to run Illustrator under a different administrator account (Windows / macOS) and checking if it helps? If the problem persists, kindly share more details, like the exact version of the OS/Illustrator, your workflow details, and a screen recording of the problem (https://adobe.ly/3GRTzdp), so we can investigate this further.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,

Anubhav

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S

stephmng

Participant

Hi all, I just had the same issue.

This last-ditch DIY fix happened to work:

- Illustrator -> Settings -> Selection & Anchor Display

I then un-clicked (deactivated) all boxes that were currently clicked, then re-clicked them to reactivate, then I pressed "Ok" to save the settings.

Out of sheer luck, it worked - the mouse pointer now changes with each tool as before.

Hope that works for everyone!

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J

Jason_Raleigh

Participating Frequently

I was having this same issue with 2023 and just updated to 2024 hoping that the problem would go away but it didn't. Restart does not work. Someone please fix this bug. It is extremely annoying. Attached picture is my computer and OS.

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Anubhav M

Community Manager

Hello @Jason_Raleigh,

Sorry to hear about this experience. Would you mind trying to run Illustrator under a different administrator account (Windows / macOS) and checking if it helps?

If the problem persists, kindly share a screen recording of the problem (https://adobe.ly/49nfVjZ) so that we can investigate this further?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,

Anubhav

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J

Jason_Raleigh

Participating Frequently

This is unbelievable! I am still having this problem after all this time. Even after a new computer and another update of the software. How is this not fixed despite updating to the latest version. 30.1? Come on you guys! This video is not as bad as it gets. Sometimes while using the pen tool, it sticks on the zoom icon tool and I am trying to draw something with the zoom icon on for a while. Please fix this!. This is a work computer so I cannot try it under a different user profile. https://puma-my.sharepoint.com/:v:/r/personal/jason_raleigh_puma_com/Documents/Recordings/Screen%20Recording%202026-04-29%20at%201.09.38%E2%80%AFPM.mov?csf=1&web=1&e=w5PChb

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M

Matthewmehi

Participant

It's 2023 and this is still a problem for me. I don't know if I can reinstall these programs anymore. I might have to give up being a designer and just dig ditches. At least shovels always work.

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Monika Gause

Community Expert

@Matthewmehi schrieb:

It's 2023 and this is still a problem for me. I don't know if I can reinstall these programs anymore. I might have to give up being a designer and just dig ditches. At least shovels always work.

If you feel unable to solve these problems, then maybe contact Customer Care and have them do it for you on your computer.

https://helpx.adobe.com/contact.html

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N

Nukemedia

Participant

Ilustrator is sooooo buggy these days, with loads of weird things happening like this, also no regard for standards, odd User experiences ... I don't know what's going on with them... I've been using Adobe since page maker 1.0 ... Illustrator just keeps getting worse.

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Monika Gause

Community Expert

Please create a new thread, describe your issues precisely and then someone can try to help you. This is a public forum with 95% of participants being not staff.

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Monika Gause

Community Expert

Computer restart doesn't solve it?

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C

cromertAuthorCorrect answer

Participant

Started working again with a reinstall. Thanks for your reply!

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