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78651218
Participant
March 11, 2026
Question

Tab Key Clears CMYK Fields Instead of Moving Between Them in Illustrator 30.2.1 (macOS)

  • March 11, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 47 views

Something changed with the color palette in late 2025. I frequently change CMYK values by selecting the art and then clicking in the CMYK sliders in the color palette. Normally I can key-in the values and simply tab from C to M to Y to K, but now as soon as I hit the tab key, all the fields go blank. I’ve been adjusting color this way for decades and now it doesn’t work. I’m currently on version 30.2.1 on Mac OS.

    2 replies

    Abhishek Rao
    Community Manager
    Abhishek RaoCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    March 13, 2026

    Hi ​@78651218,

     

    Thanks for sharing the details. Could you please try manually resetting the Illustrator preferences and then test the workflow again to see if the behavior changes? You can follow the steps in this guide: https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/setting-preferences.html. This video also walks through the manual reset process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfO7Ixi28oM&t=24s

    Additionally, it would be helpful if you could try the same workflow in InDesign by entering CMYK values and tabbing between the fields to see if the tab key behaves normally there. This will help us isolate whether the behavior is specific to Illustrator or with all Creative Cloud apps. 

    Please give this a try and let us know how it goes.

     

    Looking forward to your update.

    Abhishek

    K
    keithg95767759
    Participant
    March 13, 2026

    The same problem does not exist when I tab through colors in InDesign.

     

    I’m using Illustrator 30.2.1. on Mac OS 15.7.4.

    I’ve had the same issue with the previous 2 Illustrator updates.

     

    The problem in only with the color palette itself. It does not happen when editing the CMYK values of a swatch.

     

    Correct me if I’m wrong, but resetting my preferences will erase every custom setting change that I’ve made including key commands, tool settings, general preferences, etc.?

    Harshika Verma
    Community Manager
    Harshika VermaCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    March 27, 2026

    Hi keithg95767759,

    Sorry for the delayed response, and thanks for sharing the requested details. Is it possible for you to record a short video of the issue for investigation? 

    We will try our best to help.

     

    Thanks,

    Harshika

    darthlobster
    darthlobster
    Known Participant
    March 11, 2026

    Strange… it’s working for me. I’m using the exact same version in Mac OS.

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