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Sam00se
Sam00se
Participant
Mar 2, 2026 4:34 PM UTC
Question

Performance issues in Illustrator when using Alt + Scroll to zoom

Hello! I’ve got this issue where my illustrator app (up to date) freezes for a few moments any time i specifically use the alt + zoom function. If i press Z and then drag left or right, the zoom is perfectly smooth, but for some reason the alt zoom just completely freezes up my illustrator for like 5 seconds at a time. 

I’ve got a 4080 super graphics card that i have toggled on and off in GPU performance, GPU view, turned animated zoom on and off, and even set illustrator as a high performance application in the nvidia control panel, as well as uninstalled and reinstalled the application. 

Would love to know if anyone else has had this issue! Ultimately i can do without it i guess, but i’ve been using this zoom reflexively for an absurd amount of time, maybe 7 years at this point, and for some reason on this machine i’m currently working on its messed up. Thanks! 

      6 replies

      mallorysd
      mallorysd
      Participating Frequently
      Apr 19, 2026 4:31 PM UTC

      Thanks for the response, I found a fix online regarding cache in roaming app data, but can’t seem to locate that. I’m in Illustrator 2026 and I don’t see the same windows settings that are listed in your linked fix.

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      Anubhav M
      Community Manager
      Anubhav MCommunity Manager
      Community Manager
      Apr 20, 2026 10:58 AM UTC

      Hello ​@mallorysd 

       

      Would you mind trying to manually reset Illustrator's preferences and checking if it helps:

      For Windows

      - Close all Adobe applications.

      - Go to Location C:\Users\%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\Adobe

      - Rename Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Illustrator 30 Settings folders to Adobe Illustrator.old and Adobe Illustrator - 30 Settings.old

      - Relaunch Illustrator from Creative Cloud

       

      Disclaimer: Please note that renaming preferences folders will remove all the custom settings, and Illustrator will launch with default settings. You can also save a backup of the folders in case you want to. The location is mentioned above.

       

      Looking forward to hearing from you.
      Anubhav

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      mallorysd
      mallorysd
      Participating Frequently
      Apr 6, 2026 5:53 PM UTC

      Yup, I’m experiencing the same issue. It’s so annoying.

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      Anubhav M
      Community Manager
      Anubhav MCommunity Manager
      Community Manager
      Apr 6, 2026 8:27 PM UTC

      Hello ​@mallorysd 

       

      I’m sorry to hear that you’re having similar trouble with Illustrator. Could you share more details, such as the version of the OS/Illustrator installed, whether this happens with all files, and a brief screen recording of the problem, so we can better assist you?

      Also, try the suggestions shared in this help article (https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/kb/optimize-illustrator-performance.html) and share your observations.

       

      Looking forward to hearing from you.
      Anubhav

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      Monika Gause
      Community Expert
      Monika GauseCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      Mar 2, 2026 4:36 PM UTC

      You are scrolling with a mouse?

      There are issues with certain mouse drivers.

      someone could solve it with a preferences reset: 

       

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      Sam00se
      Sam00seAuthor
      Participant
      Mar 2, 2026 5:22 PM UTC

      so i actually realized that the scroll zoom alone wasnt the issue, anything that interacted with the scroll wheel made my illustrator act up. I had reset preferences inside illustrator, but it turned out i needed a manual reset. I used this post! Illustrator 30.0 Mouse wheel scroll causes lockup/crash/freeze | Community

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