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Friendly_adventurer9823
Participant
March 27, 2026
Question

Illustrator pops "Text Import Options" every time I open an .ai file

  • March 27, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 68 views

Whenever I open a .ai file I get this “Text Import Options” window. I click Okay or Cancel and either it shows me a message that it failed to save or reappears and it disappears after three times or so of me closing it. I can still open my files and they seem to be working correctly but this window just keep showing and I’m not sure what’s the issue.

I recently had to reinstall Illustrator and after that it started happening. It doesn’t matter if the file is saved in Dropbox or locally, it appears regardless. Again, there seems to be no issue with the files since I can work on them normally after closing the Text Import Options window but it’s annoying to keep having to do it every time

    2 replies

    Bill Silbert
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    April 8, 2026

    When you reinstalled Illustrator did you delete the old preference file? If that file was corrupt then it could cause erratic behavior after the new install. Try resetting your Illustrator preferences. This will restore the program to its defaults and, hopefully, stop that annoying window from popping up.

    To reset preferences:

    For Macintosh Users: The User Library folder in which Illustrator’s preferences are stored is hidden by default on most Macintoshes. To access it make sure that Illustrator is closed and click on the desktop to launch a Finder Window (Command-N).With this window in column view follow the path User>Home folder (it’s the folder with an icon that looks like a house—it may have the user’s name rather than “Home”) and click on the Home folder. With the Option Key pressed choose Library from the Finder Go Menu. “Library” will now appear within the Home folder. Within the Library folder find the folder called Preferences and within it find the folder called “Adobe Illustrator <Version #> Settings” (earlier versions of Illustrator might just say “Adobe Illustrator”) and the file called “com.adobe.Illustrator.plist” and delete both that folder and that file. When Illustrator is next launched it will create new preference files and the program will be restored to its defaults.

    For Windows Users: You can try the quick way of resetting on a PC which is to hold down Ctrl + Alt + Shift when launching Illustrator and respond affirmatively when asked if you want to reset. There have been some recent reports that the window asking if you want to reset is not popping up but that the prefs are being reset anyway. If this works great but if it doesn’t you may have to manually delete them.

    To do so:

    On Windows 7 and above the preference files are hidden. To find them go to the Control Panel and open Folder Options and then click the View tab. Then select “Show hidden files and folders” or “Show hidden files, folders or drive options” in Advanced Settings. Then delete (or rename) the folder at the end of this path: C:\Users\[User Name]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator [version number]\ Settings\<Language>. Make sure that Illustrator is closed when you do this. When you relaunch the program it will create  new preference files and the program will be at its default settings.

    The advantage of manually deleting preference files is that after you’ve reset up the program (make sure that no document window is open) to your liking, you can create copies of your personalized “mint” preference files (make sure that you quit the program before copying them—that finalizes your customization) and use them in the future to replace any corrupt versions you may need to delete.

    Ton Frederiks
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    March 27, 2026

    Try to avoid opening and saving directly in Dropbox, but copy the file after saving in a non cloud folder to Dropbox. Also check if in Preferences > File Handling > Save in Background is turned on. If so, turn it Off.

    Friendly_adventurer9823
    Participant
    April 1, 2026

    It doesn’t matter if it’s on the cloud or not, whenever I open any Illustrator file (even if it’s saved locally) the same message appears. Same thing happens whether I turn on or turn off Save in Background in preferences. 

    Anubhav M
    Community Manager
    Community Manager
    April 6, 2026

    Hello ​@Friendly_adventurer9823 

     

    That does seem strange. Could you check if the message reappears after opening the file, saving it to a local drive and then reopening it?

     

    Looking forward to hearing from you.
    Anubhav