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bogwood
Participating Frequently
October 22, 2020
Answered

Help! Illustrator 2021 Won't Load

  • October 22, 2020
  • 34 replies
  • 22558 views

Since I updated to Illustrator 2021 (Mac), the program just freezes on the loading screen

 

I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling using the Creative Cloud app twice and also tried the Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool

 

Nothing has worked so far.

 

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Srishti Bali

    Hi all, 

     

    We’re so sorry to hear about the inconvience this issue has caused.  There could multiple reasons why this would have happened. We have tried to consolidate the popular solutions that help in fixing these issues. Please try following these steps one by one and let us know how it goes:

     

    Few users have confirmed that removing corrupt fonts has help them resolving these issues. Please try the steps suggested here (https://helpx.adobe.com/fonts/kb/troubleshoot-fonts-illustrator-indesign.html) and let us know if that helps.

     

    Another possible issue that has been reported by multiple users is due to wacom drivers. This help article (https://helpx.adobe.com/in/illustrator/kb/illustrator-cc-crash-wacom-drivers.html) can help resolving this issue.

     

    If nothing helps, please try the steps suggested on this page (https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator/how-to-fix-a-crash-and-recover-documents-in-illustrator/td-p/11434061?page=1 ) and share your observations with us. 

     

    We hope that your issue will be resolved by these steps. However, if you need further assistance, please create a new post on the community and we’ll be happy to help. 

     

    Regards,

    Srishti

    34 replies

    Show previous replies
    ZombiiCake
    ZombiiCake
    Participating Frequently
    November 18, 2020

    yep. Same issues here. Illustrator worked fine up until this afternoon when I went to open my project. All of the sudden it Won't Respond and am forced to close. Literally can't do anything. I spent 6 hours today troubleshooting this issue and missed a business deadline thanks to it. Sigh

      ZombiiCake
      ZombiiCake
      Participating Frequently
      November 18, 2020

      Where are the Adobe employees and why haven't they fixed this bug yet? Please hurry.

      M
      mikey_likes_it
      Known Participant
      November 18, 2020

      Installed Big Sur a few days ago and had no real issues with Illustrator. Was there a lag in the program loading, sure. But it always loaded up, until today. It just crashed and now it is frozen on loading. Multiple attempts to restart, remove prefs, uninstall Illustrator and reinstalling has not fixed it. It is frozen even after asking to run a diagnosis. It is just sitting there. HELP!!!! Please FIX asap.

      daniellei4510
      Community Expert
      daniellei4510Community Expert
      Community Expert
      November 17, 2020

      I did a little experiment. I opened AI 2021, then did other stuff. The splash screen went away but AI didn't open. But I didn't do a force quit. About two hours later, Illustrator 2021 finally opens.

      Adobe Community Expert | If you can't fix it, hide it; if you can't hide it, delete it.
      KShinabery212
      Community Expert
      KShinabery212Community Expert
      Community Expert
      November 17, 2020

      Is it just me or any time there is a new update for Adobe or Mac.... Mac users start facing issues.  Not sure whose end it falls on.... Adobe or Apple. 

      I am so glad that I made the jump to PC.

      I know this does not solve your problem.

       

      Usually after a new update... a month or so the problems start getting resolved.  I would actually blame Apple more so than Adobe. 

      But version are you running?

      Let's connect on LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kshinabery/
      F
      Fredrik5EB9
      Participant
      November 17, 2020

      Have the exact same issue. Uninstalled v21 and now running v20. Tried uninstalling wacom but didn't work. 

        A
        Ailsa Edwards
        Participant
        November 17, 2020

        Having exactly the same issue. Was working fine yesterday and now its frozen on the loading page. uninstalled and reinstalled, still nothing.  

          D
          davidm44923349
          Participant
          November 17, 2020

          Same here, randomly stopped working in the middle of an edit, out of nowhere. Don't have time to sit on the phone with support as if I don't have other things to do. Disappointing that this would happen with what is supposed to be an industry-leading software. 

          Monika Gause
          Community Expert
          Monika GauseCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          November 17, 2020

          Search your system for ancient drivers and ancient software.

          And also read this whole thread, because some people have reported the solution.

           

          No software developer can spare you the effort to keep your system clean. Apple has a history of abandoning stuff quickly. And then you will have to uninstall all the old stuff, otherwise it will cause you issues. And no: Apple doesn't do it for you either when you update your system.

           

          So maybe you want to spend the hour with Customer Care on the phone, because likely they find it quicker than you do.

          D
          Danielle5E75
          Participant
          November 16, 2020

          Hello! I also want to add to this thread of troubleshooting in hopes Adobe sees it and can help us all work on this issue.

          I am part of a team of 5. I updated to Mojave months ago and my teammates just updated to mojave. When I went to install the new 2021 AI update. I also have the start up screen freezing with the "Initializing..." . With some research and our in house Apple expert we tried the following steps:

          1. We deleted all my fonts as suggested from some research via googling- same start screen froze but this time with a diagnostic test never opened just froze.

          2. We also went back and deleted all my preferences manually- Start screen froze and said "Initializing..."

          3. We deactivated all Adobe fonts- Start screen froze and said "initalizing..."

          4. Our in house Apple expert has combed through my computer looking for anything that looks different than my other team members and we can't seem to find the difference except that I had installed mojave earlier than my team and that I had an old wacom tablet I have used in the past, it is so old and I have not used it since last march. Those so far are the only differences. This is my work computer and we generally keep our computers pretty clean of plug-ins or external adobe apps. 

          5. We reinstalled Mojave. This time when AI opens it is just crashing. I sent the reports off to Apple. 

          6. My job is that I open thousands of other adobe files a year from other designers and so does my team.

          As of right now I am uninstalling photoshop, indesign, and AI 2020 versions on my computer. I did not reach out to an adobe tech as I have had 3 people on my team today spend over 6 hours trying to troubleshoot these issues. I am sure there is a patch in our futures and am looking forward to it. Until then I will be staying on 2020  (which no one wants to be stuck in 2020 right now *joke*). If anyone reads this and knows a solution I would love for you to reply to me. 

           

            D
            Danielle5E75
            Participant
            November 18, 2020

            Just wanted to update today that my apple expert at work had me go in an uninstall my WACOM TABLET APP >RESTART> INSTALL NEW AI. and now it is working perfectly. I have not reinstalled my tablet. It is old and it is probably needs an upgrade. 

             

            M
            mikey_likes_it
            Known Participant
            November 18, 2020

            Thank you for the update. I am going to bet that some of us, like myself, don't have a Wacom Tablet installed. So we are still wondering what is causing the breakdown of v25.0 but not v24.3.

            R
            richardl28109603
            Participant
            November 16, 2020

            Same problem here! I haven't got the time to mess about so I'm just gonna revert to previous version.

            Adobe gets worse with every update, I don't remember anything happening like this in the CS days.

              daniellei4510
              Community Expert
              daniellei4510Community Expert
              Community Expert
              November 15, 2020

              Won't open for me, either. Neither on my iMac or my MacBook Air. Never gets past the splash screen (initializing). Also, if I open or close a finder window during the loading process, the splash screen disappears and Illustrator quits on it's own.

              Adobe Community Expert | If you can't fix it, hide it; if you can't hide it, delete it.
              Temerick Art
              Temerick Art
              Participant
              November 16, 2020
              I ended up calling Adobe customer support and after an hour the tech guy
              was able to resolve the issue. Well worth the time to have it working
              again. Good luck 🙂
              S
              silviab24635235
              Known Participant
              November 16, 2020

              Would you mind giving a hint what resolved the issue for you? I have an incompatibility with font software in mind. But don't know how it started after CC 2021 working great for 3 weeks and then no In-design, Illustrator and Photoshop anymore from one second to the other.

              T
              ThreadCT
              Participant
              November 12, 2020

              I have lost sooo much work time on this app. I am so sorry I upgraded. I have tried the retarts and trashing Preferences which work for a day, then there are all new issues. Is there any way to go back to the older version?

              Temerick Art
              Temerick Art
              Participant
              November 12, 2020

              Me too, I have not installed anything new and do not use fonts outside of the orignal Macbook Pro install or Adobe fonts. I can not get any of my Adobe suite to load, including Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop. I have so much work to get done and this is completely frustrating and costing me. Has there been any word from Adobe on a fix for this situation?

               

              Feeling your pain!

               

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