Skip to main content
Andythegeordie
Andythegeordie
Participant
June 11, 2026
Question

When I'm using illustrator my iMac keeps restarting and continually restarts until I quit the app

  • June 11, 2026
  • 3 replies
  • 11 views

Whilst using illustrator on iMac machine keeps restarting continuously until I quit app on startup. All apps and os are up to date. Its driving me insane

    3 replies

    Andythegeordie
    AndythegeordieAuthor
    Participant
    June 12, 2026

    I am running the most up to date Tahoe with up to date 2026 Adobe software, I also seem to have same problem with Indesign and photoshop

    leo.r
    Community Expert
    leo.rCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 11, 2026

    Post this in the Illustrator forum (you may need to change the title slightly to avoid a duplicate post error):

    https://community.adobe.com/illustrator-650

     

    Also, include your exact version numbers of Illustrator and macOS just to be sure, as well as your iMac model. Also, provide some additional details to understand the problem better. At what point does Illustrator crash? (when you work in the app, or on launch etc.)

    kglad
    Community Expert
    kgladCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 11, 2026

    uninstall illustrator, including preferences, https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/help/uninstall-remove-app.html

     

    restart your computer

     

    reinstall illustrator.

    Andythegeordie
    AndythegeordieAuthor
    Participant
    June 12, 2026

    Tried this already, worked for half a day and started again

    Abhishek Rao
    Community Manager
    Abhishek RaoCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    June 12, 2026

    Hi ​@Andythegeordie,

     

    Sorry to hear you're dealing with this. Since reinstalling Illustrator only helped temporarily, I'd like to gather a few more details so we can narrow down the root cause.

    Could you please confirm the exact Illustrator version, macOS version, and your iMac model? Also, does the restart happen immediately when Illustrator launches, when opening a file, during a specific action, or after working for some time? Please let us know whether this occurs with all files or only certain ones. Additionally, after the restart, do you see a message saying "Your Mac restarted because of a problem"?

    As a next step, please try launching Illustrator in Safe Mode and note whether any fonts, plug-ins, or other conflicts are reported during the diagnostic process. Ref: https://support.apple.com/en-in/guide/mac-help/mh21245/mac

    I'd also recommend disabling GPU Performance via Illustrator > Preferences > Performance and then testing again.

    If the issue occurs again, I'd recommend running the Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool to fully remove Illustrator before reinstalling it through the Creative Cloud Desktop app. Once reinstalled, please test the workflow again and let us know the results. You can find the instructions here: https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html

     

    Let us know the results and the requested system details, and I'll be happy to investigate this further with you.

    Best,
    Abhishek

    Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
    Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices