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Eric3721277257xr
Participating Frequently
March 11, 2026
Question

Unable to pick colors outside Illustrator using Eyedropper on macOS

  • March 11, 2026
  • 5 replies
  • 99 views

I had this same issue with Photoshop a while back and eventually was given the solution (after many failed suggestions from Adobe moderators) to create a PSUserConfig.txt in the Library folder. I am not sure what the solution is here but I know my eyedropper used to work outside of Illustrator so I am not sure why it stopped working but I am guessing during one of the million updates it somehow got screwed up. It still works on my mac laptop just not on my mac studio.

 

I have uninstalled and reinstalled, the appearance box is unchecked on the eyedropper, tried other versions, turned on and off the screen recording option in my settings, restarted my computer, none of it has solved the problem. I went through all the surface level suggestions already.

 

Again haven’t seen anyone else posting about this issue so not sure why it keeps happening to me but its quite annoying not to have this feature working anymore. If I am missing something here please let me know because I need a solution to this problem.

    5 replies

    barbara_a7746676
    Community Expert
    barbara_a7746676Community Expert
    Community Expert
    March 21, 2026

    I’m not using Mac OS however it is working on Windows.

    It is important to press and hold down the Eyedropper tool inside the Illustrator file and keep the mouse down as you drag outside the Illustrator window. I assume you already knew that?

    M
    Marcus37713476cui0
    Inspiring
    March 17, 2026

    Same here. It Doesn’t work anymore.

    Anubhav M
    Community Manager
    Anubhav MCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    March 24, 2026

    Hello ​@Marcus37713476cui0 

     

    I’m sorry to hear you’re having similar trouble with Illustrator. Could you confirm the exact versions of the OS/Illustrator installed, and share a brief screen recording of the problem so we can better assist you?

     

    Looking forward to hearing from you.
    Anubhav

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

    Hi ​@Eric3721277257xr,

     

    Thanks for sharing the details, and sorry to hear you're running into this issue. To help us investigate further, could you please share your macOS version details along with a short screen recording showing how the Eyedropper behaves when you move the cursor outside the Illustrator window?

    Also, just to confirm the workflow, to sample a color outside Illustrator using the Eyedropper tool, you need to first select the Eyedropper tool, then click on the artboard and keep the mouse button pressed while dragging the cursor outside the Illustrator window to the color you want to pick. The color should update as you drag over the desired area.

    If the workflow does not work, please share the screen recording and macOS details so we can review the behavior and continue the investigation.

     

    Looking forward to your update.

    Abhishek

    E
    Eric3721277257xrAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    March 15, 2026

    Yep I can get you that when I am back in the office tomorrow. Like I said it still works on my laptop and also my personal laptop at home. So its less how I am doing it and more the fact it is just not functioning.

    Anubhav M
    Community Manager
    Anubhav MCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    March 20, 2026

    Hello ​@Eric3721277257xr 

     

    I hope the problem is resolved by now. If not, kindly share the details Abhishek asked for earlier so we can check this with the team.

     

    Looking forward to hearing from you.
    Anubhav

      Ton Frederiks
      Community Expert
      Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      March 12, 2026

      I saw an old post that mentioned that turning off the GPU Preview helped.

      You can switch between GPU and CPU Preview with Cmd E.

      Ton Frederiks
      Community Expert
      Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      March 11, 2026

      After giving the Mac permission to record your screen it should work. But it seems that you have already done that. In the past I had to hold down the Shift key when dragging the eyedropper outside the Illustrator window to pick up a color. You may want to try that.

      E
      Eric3721277257xrAuthor
      Participating Frequently
      March 11, 2026

      I have tried every iteration of clicking, shift clicking, etc and still nada. The fill color box doesnt even change as I drag over anything outside so its not reading at all

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