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ESC key not working > Illustrator 29.7.1

Forum|Forum|5 months ago
August 8, 2025
返信数 30.
4906 ビュー

I just updated to 29.7.1, and the ESC key isn't working when exiting a text frame. It works in Photoshop or Indesign. Already tried to fix the issue: reseting the preferences , changing the keyboard increment. I don't use any Illustrator plugin which could cause this problem.
Any other solution ?

Bug

解決に役立った回答 natural_neighbors5CA8

Hello everyone,

The product team has made some improvements in the latest Illustrator (Beta) release. Could you try installing the latest Illustrator (beta) and letting us know if it works for you?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav

I have installed the beta version of Illustrator, and everything is working fine.

前の返信を表示

boaruey

Known Participant

Has anyone noticed this? The original shortcut for Isolation Mode in Illustrator is to press the ESC key to return, but for some reason, it's completely broken these past couple of days. It doesn't work at all. Has anyone else experienced this?

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the reports and details shared. A bug has been logged for the ESC key issue in Illustrator 29.7.1, and our product team is actively investigating it. We'll update this thread as soon as we have more information or a fix available.

We appreciate your patience while we work on this.

Abhishek

S

sanjiv31304457t1wp

Participant

Hi,

I’m experiencing an issue in Adobe Illustrator where pressing the Esc key no longer exits the Type Tool. I have to manually switch to another tool with the mouse, which disrupts my workflow significantly.

In addition, the software frequently feels sluggish, with slow responsiveness and occasional freezing. This is affecting my ability to work efficiently.

system detail:

- macOS 15.6

- Adobe Illustrator 29.7.1

Please investigate and provide a fix as soon as possible, as this is causing major workflow disruptions.

Thank you.

creative explorer

Community Expert

@sanjiv31304457t1wp Have you tried a simple restart of the application, it often clears up temporary glitches. It's a strong possibility that you may have corrupted preferences are a very common cause of unexpected behavior in Illustrator. You can try a quick reset by holding down Command Option Shift (Mac) as you launch Illustrator. You will be asked if you want to reset your preferences. If the quick method doesn't work, you can manually delete the preferences file. You will need to close Illustrator first. The location of the file depends on your operating system, so you may need to search online for the specific path for your OS.

m

S

Stijn Wilcke

Participant

I have the same issue as @sanjiv31304457t1wp . I’ve tried the options you suggested, but unfortunately, they didn’t resolve it. The ESC key no longer functions as a “cancel” for me. I use it frequently in my workflow, not only to exit text editing but also to deselect or step out of grouped layers.

davidp52310704

Participant

I, too, experienced this issue with the ESC key after updating to 29.7.1. I tried all the troubleshooting workarounds I could find online, but none of them worked. I reinstalled the previous version of Illustrator, and it fixed the issue. So clearly, there is a bug in the new version (29.7.1).

Provolone Wolf

Participating Frequently

Same issue. Ruining my work flow. Go to type, and you can't hit ESC to get out of your text window. Had to downgrade to 29.6.1, but I lost ALL my settings and Im not sure why.

S

smn.berger

Participant

I have the same issue.
I deleted my prefs and reinstalled illustrator but nothing is working

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi everyone,

Thanks for reporting this. Could you share a short screen recording showing the ESC key working in other Adobe apps (like Photoshop or InDesign) and then demonstrating the issue in Illustrator? This will help us understand the behavior in context.

Also, please test in Safe Mode and in a new local admin user account to rule out third-party interference or account-specific issues:

Windows Safe Mode: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/start-your-pc-in-safe-mode-in-windows-92c27cff-db89-8644-1ce4-b3e5e56fe234

macOS Safe Mode: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/mac-help/mh21245/mac

New User (Mac): https://support.apple.com/en-in/guide/mac-help/mh15191/mac

New User (Windows): https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/manage-user-accounts-in-windows-104dc19f-6430-4b49-6a2b-e4dbd1dcdf32

In the meantime, I'll check with the product team to see if we can reproduce the issue.

Thanks for your patience and cooperation!
Abhishek

wodobo

Participant

Here's a video of it working in InDesign but not Illustrator.

https://www.loom.com/share/9dc997bd077d43d79ed653e765f33b83?sid=0a0ca378-dded-4447-bea0-27caf716c8b1

I noticed this stop working a long time ago and was pretty frustrated with it. But I've tried to work around it, but tonight it was messing me up bad and I did a search and found out I'm not the only one. We've rebooted, removed preferences/etc. But no dice.

Please help!

This is a feature that we've depended on and used for well over 10 years. Feels weird to have it gone.

Doug A Roberts

Community Expert

Please check the pinned response. If you are able to try the Beta, it would be useful to get more confirmation of the fix.

B

Beyza Sasmaz

Participant

Same problem on Illustrator v29.7.1

Esc key should switch to Selection Tool while in a Text Box but it doesn't work.
Works fine on Photoshop and Indesign, so it's not a physical button problem.
I've checked some solutions like changing Keyboard Increment, checking Keybord Shortcuts, resetting Illustrator Preferences but didn't work.

OS: macOS Monterey 12.7.6

P

paulg18077112

Participating Frequently

In Illustrator, I use the escape button to exit isolation mode. It's easy and convenient. However, yesterday (07/08/2025), I updated my Illustrator app, and now the escape button no longer exits isolation mode. Now I have to find a 'clear' space to double click on or click the arrow at the top of the screen to exit isolation mode; it's pretty disruptive to my workflow. It would be cool if Adobe could change this back.

Monika Gause

Community Expert

Works fine for me.

Can you try rebooting the computer?

Maybe boot into Safe Mode and see if that works?

C

cosminm34227949作成者

Participant

Installing the previous version of Illustrator fix this bug 😞

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @cosminm34227949,

I tested this on my end with Illustrator 29.7.1, and the ESC key worked fine for exiting a text frame, so it seems the issue might be specific to your setup. Could you confirm your OS details? Also, have you checked whether this happens with all files or just a particular one? Please review your keyboard shortcuts under Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts to ensure the ESC key isn't being overridden. If the issue persists, try creating a new user profile on your system to rule out OS-level conflicts.

For reference:
Mac: https://adobe.ly/3J497z3
Windows: https://adobe.ly/45ox7V3

Let me know your findings.

Abhishek

C

cosminm34227949作成者

Participant

Hi,

OS details :

Edition Windows 11 Pro
Version 24H2
OS build 26100.4770
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.197.0

- It happens with all the files (even when I create a new, blank file)

- keyboard shortcuts > all okay

- It make no sense to create a new user profile > version 29.7.1 is installed on my laptop as well and ESC key isn't working

Chinomatic

Participant

Simple, I use that key a lot in Illustrator, it just stopped working. I've been looking for something related to this recently, but I can't find anything. I've reset the preferences, restarted the computer, no plugins, but nothing works. And yes, And yes, the ESC key is working fine in InDesign, Photoshop, Word... everything. Any thoughts?

MBP 2,4 Ghz 8-Core intel Core
AMD Radeon Pro 8GB
32 Gb Ram
Sequoia 15.6

C

cosminm34227949作成者

Participant

Hi,

Temporary solution > install the previous version of Illustrator (I did it, it works). 🙂

Before to to this, don't forget to create a backup of your Illustrator Settings !!!!

C:\Users\USER25\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator 29 Settings

Chinomatic

Participant

Probably is the only solution so far, thank you!

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