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Monica5F88
Participating Frequently
September 6, 2025
Question

Text Glitch

  • September 6, 2025
  • 2 replies
  • 728 views

Hi all, 

I have a text glitching issue that has been occuring recently.

It has happened multiple times, on my home and work computer, on different documents, with different typefaces/fonts. 

Say I have a textbox with text, I highlight one line of text - for example, the first line of text, to apply some changes to font weight for a subheading perhaps... The change may be applied okay, but the NEXT line of text, NOT highlighted, turns into a mess of symbols/glyphs, with negative tracking applied so the characters overlap. NOTE It is not an issue with me selecting incorrectly due to a baseline shift, the entire document may have no baseline shift applied. No matter what I do, I cannot stop this occurring once this 'glitch' kicks in. If I then highlight a different line of text, the one below IT that isn't highlighted starts taking on new parametres...  

Sometimes, the text stays in the intended characters, but becomes bigger, bolder with each letter overlapping so it's unreadable.

 

If I then highlight the glitched text, and open the fonts in the character menu to see what happens if a different font is applied, the results are very varied! The changes are previewed on my text in live time as I hover over a font, some revert back to the way the text should be, some add glyphs/symbols to the highlighted text, some will just add the negative tracking, but increase the weight/size as well, Some add the glitched changes to that line of highlighted text AS WELL AS the next handful of characters. The glyphs and symbols are NOT the same from font to font as the fonts are applied while in the character menu.

Also note, that when highlighting 'glitched' text the parametres in the character menu are correct to what the type SHOULD be, even though it isn't appearing correctly. It is very inconsistent, this glitch may just pop up after hours of work without any issue. 

 

So, My program is up to date. I have tried multiple reboots, which may slow down the glitch, but it will eventually re-occur. I have tried resetting preferences, I've switched off missing glyph and GPU... as seen in other posts with people having text glitches... nothing is really preventing this, and it's making me crazy!

 

Appreciate ANY insight!

Let me know your thoughts x

2 replies

Abhishek Rao
Community Manager
Abhishek RaoCommunity Manager
Community Manager
September 9, 2025

Hi @Monica5F88,

 

Thanks for sharing the detailed explanation of what you're experiencing. As the expert mentioned, this may be related to a font cache issue. Could you confirm the exact version of Illustrator you're using and whether you're on macOS or Windows? In the meantime, please try signing out and back into the Creative Cloud desktop app to force a sync. If the issue continues, try clearing the font cache using the steps in this article: https://adobe.ly/4pnuhsD.

If the problem still comes up after that, it would be really helpful if you could share a short screen recording of the behavior, so I can check it further.

 

Looking forward to your update.

Abhishek

creative explorer
Community Expert
creative explorerCommunity Expert
Community Expert
September 8, 2025

@Monica5F88 that souds like a font cache issue. Try clearing your system font cache. You can either go through the Terminal Mode or Safe Mode... Terminal can be a 'scary' because you can also do more damaged. FYI, I am working on a MAC, so not sure if you a PC.... 

For a MAC, I would restart in Safe Mode because it will automatically clears some system caches, including font caches. Shut down your Mac. Press the power button, and immediately press and hold the Shift key. Release the Shift key when you see the login screen. You should see "Safe Boot" or "Safe Mode" in the top right corner of the screen. Log in to your user account. The Mac will perform a Safe Boot, which rebuilds the font cache. This is most important, after logging in, restart your Mac normally (without holding Shift). This second restart ensures all caches are rebuilt correctly.

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Monica5F88Author
Participating Frequently
September 14, 2025

@Abhishek Rao  and @creative explorer , Thank you so much for taking the time to help me with my issue - I truly appreciate it. In all my years, this is the first time I've had to reach out because I can't overcome my problem by troubleshooting, so sincerely - thanks 🙂

 

I am on PC, version 29.8.1. I have cleared the font cache as suggested, and hoping that solves my problem. I do agree that it sounds like a font problem - not a AI problem. Fingers crossed I can proceed problem-free. I will grab screen shots if my issue reoccurs. Thanks again, cheers ~ Mon

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