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timrichardson14
Participant
February 26, 2019
Answered

Illustrator is bugging out (Selection tool, bounding boxes and transform controls).

  • February 26, 2019
  • 4 replies
  • 2080 views

Recently (both before and after the most recent update), when using Illustrator, it will gradually bug out and get worse the longer my session goes on.
It's mainly to do with the selection tool, bounding boxes and transform controls.

When I initially start illustrator and work on my document, everything is as it should be (I can click on an object or text box and I will be able to transform it via the transform controls and I'll be able to see the bounding box). After a bit, it will stop showing the bounding box and even the transform controls, and sometimes selecting certain objects causes other objects to be selected. The select tool almost acts as if it's the direct select too (as in I click on an object and it will show outlines but not the bounding box or transform controls). And then it progressively gets worse where I'll click on something and it won't show any indication that I have selected that object.

I have tried hiding/showing bounding box, making sure I haven't accidentally setup hot keys, and tried different workspaces. The only thing that works is restarting the program, and even then it will act normal for about 2 minutes of normal usage until I experience the above issues again.

I have never seen illustrator bug out this much and hope to find a solution. It is making my everyday tasks near impossible to do.

Correct answer martina9936894

try cmd+shift+b that worked for me as I accidentally turned off the function that showed the bonding boxes and when I used that command it came back and is now working fine.

4 replies

Participant
September 27, 2020

i have tried the cntrl + shift + b (windows 10) and nothing is working. it seems to be something document specific, because other illustrator files dont seem to have the issue.

martina9936894Correct answer
Participant
July 22, 2019

try cmd+shift+b that worked for me as I accidentally turned off the function that showed the bonding boxes and when I used that command it came back and is now working fine.

Srishti Bali
Legend
February 27, 2019

Hi Tim,

Sorry to hear about this issue. In addition to what Monika has suggested, I would request if you can share a few more details:

  • OS(Exact version of Windows/MAC)
  • Exact version of Illustrator
  • Does it happen with a particular file or multiple files?
  • Could you please confirm where the files are saved(Network Drive/ System HDD/ Shared Folder on System /External HDD)?
  • Does resetting Illustrator Preferences(https://helpx.adobe.com/in/illustrator/using/setting-preferences.html) help resolve the issue? Please do take a backup of the same before resetting them.

Regards,

Srishti

timrichardson14
Participant
February 27, 2019

Hi Srishti,

New user with admin privileges didn't work (my current user also has admin priv).

  • The OS is High Sierra (we aren't able to upgrade Mojave yet as it's still getting cleared by our IT so that we can work on protected materials etc.)
  • Version is 23.0.2
  • It's happened with multiple files, all of which have text in them (worth noting it hasn't happened with files with only vectors in them yet)
    All our files are saved on a shared server. However I did do a test with a locally saved file and the same problems occurred.
  • I have not yet tried that, I'll give it a go when I get a chance and get back.

    Thanks a lot,

Tim

Monika Gause
Community Expert
Community Expert
February 26, 2019

create anew user account with Admin privileges and check if that works