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Inspiring
October 6, 2022
Question

Illustrator 2021 crashing on Mac Pro, OS 10.14.6

  • October 6, 2022
  • 2 replies
  • 672 views

Hello,

 

Just adding to the chorus really. I have been using Illustrator for many years without problems, but for the past several months it has been crashing several times a day, and sometimes takes two or three tries to get up and running. I have tried some (although not all) of the solutions suggested here, with no luck so far. If it helps, my current documents mostly involve multiple imported jpgs with some added text (Helvetica, usually), and sometimes graphs imported from Excel. Maybe larger files are more fragile, and crashes are more likely during a save or autosave, but really anything can crash at any time. Usually Firefox, Excel, Mail, and sometimes Word and EndNote are also running (without crashing). Surely it would not be hard for someone at Adobe to replicate this problem, if not solve it, since so many people seem to have it.

 

Thanks,

 

Barbara

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2 replies

Mike_Gondek10189183
Community Expert
Community Expert
October 6, 2022

Update to Catalina if you can, Mojave no bueno. Do you have an older mac or older software is why you are on Mojave? I understand Big Sur has issues so run Catalina on my computers.

 

Not sure which exact 2021 version you have but I think Adobe should update the system requirements on the page

https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/system-requirements/2021.html

bmacgregAuthor
Inspiring
October 26, 2023

An answer from the distant past - yes, it's a mid-2010 MacPro, can't be updated past Mojave. Well, I did see some fancy shenanigans for doing so, but wasn't convinced I could fix anything that might go wrong.

Anubhav M
Community Manager
Community Manager
October 6, 2022

Hello @bmacgreg,

 

Sorry to hear about this experience. Would you mind trying to reset Illustrator's preferences by following the steps shared in this article (https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/kb/troubleshoot-preference-issues.html) and sharing your observations?
Disclaimer: Please note that resetting preferences will remove all custom settings, and Illustrator will launch with the defaults. You may take a backup of these settings from the location mentioned in the article.

 

Also, try installing an older version of Illustrator (https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/using/install-previous-version.html) and check if it helps.


Looking forward to hearing from you.

 

Thanks,
Anubhav

bmacgregAuthor
Inspiring
October 26, 2023

A partial answer from the olden days - I found another way to work, but now am back to Illustrator, and have the same problem. Resetting the Preferences didn't help. I'll try to remmeber to let you know if I switch to an older version. If y'all want to buy me a new MacPro...