Dreamweaver 21.5 unstable & crashing [MERGED by moderator]

[detor]

On my PC and work laptop Dreamweaver is freezing and crashing everyday since this last update, it is very annoying. Please fix this bug.

[bronwyn_1292]

Thanks for the tip! I do just use code view. 

[Nayan_Kankariya]

Hi @bronwyn_1292, @glenn-p, @Kajrov, @Steve-Meza, @Louis Opperman,   

Thank you for writing to us. We apologize for the issue you are facing with latest 21.5 update of Dw and we are definitely hearing you all on this Dw forum. As requested earlier, it will be helpful if you can share your workflow where the crash is being observed. Also, please confirm if the crash is consistently occurring with any specific workflow. We are investigating the issue internally and will update this thread on our findings at the earliest.

Have a pleasant day!

Regards,

Nayan

Adobe Dreamweaver Team

[bronwyn_1292]

Thanks for the response Nayan. 

I haven't identified a particular sequence of events as the trigger for the application going non-responsive. I am doing *very* simple HTML code editing in Code view - basically using DW as a text editor to strip Word "css" before moving the content into an LMS (which has an inadequate text editor).

I've been using it for the past week after a six month break and it has crashed once daily. I don't recall having this issue back then. I have to force quit using the Task Manager and then have had varying success in recovering files. (Although I've been pleasantly surprised at how effective this has been.)

[glenn-p]

Hi Nayan,

Thanks for the reply. I think if you read the thread you'll find many examples of the symptoms. Here's what I originally wrote:

I have the same issue since the May update - random crashes all day long. Also broken is copy/paste. I typically work in code view using the design/code split window. Copy/paste in code doesn't work - it jumps to odd places in the page (not where the cursor is located) and will typically only select one small piece of the code I'm trying to copy. I have to click on an item in design view and then return to the code to resolve it. Same behavior every time I open DW. The previous version was fairly stable.

You'll be able to easily duplicate the issues if you simply test Dreamweaver 21.5. It's a mess.

Best,
Glenn

[Alberto22601391zkul]

Same here in both computers, crashing several times, everyday

[SendraDS]

I have prevented the repeating crashes by disabling "Enable Relate Files" in Settings > General > Document Options.

[Alberto22601391zkul]

Thank you.. I´ll try that

[surfingmtber]

I don't have a tab for Settings!?

[glenn-p]

I haven't tested it because I'm back on 21.4 and will not update it again. With that said, it's Edit > Preferences > General - 4th item from the top.

[Frank2daMax]

I followed these steps and it doesn't work, it still crashes 24 hours later. 

[Nancy OShea]

I followed these steps and it doesn't work, it still crashes 24 hours later. 

By @Frank2daMax

=========

When all else fails, revert to the last stable release version 21.4.

And use it alongside other tools that are in active development like FileZilla S/FTP client, VS Code, etc...

[chloeh81]

I have exactly the same issue. Dreamweaver now only works for about half an hour before I get the rainbow wheel and I have to close it. Super frustrating, at the start of the year it worked just fine. 

[Nancy OShea]

Did you Restore Preferences?

https://helpx.adobe.com/dreamweaver/kb/restore-preferences-dreamweaver.html

Does this happen with all files or just certain ones?

If it's limited to certain files, run a code Validation Report. 

Window ⇒ Results ⇒ Validation. 

Check Document & fix all reported errors.

Hope that helps. 

[Frank2daMax]

I've been experiencing this issue since the last Dreamweaver update in May 2025.  I'm using a PC with Windows 11, and the problem has been occurring every day since. It typically happens within the first 5-10 minutes of using the application, after which it freezes.  I then have to force it to shut down and restart Dreamweaver. Once restarted, the issue doesn't happen again until the next day when I open Dreamweaver, and the cycle repeats.

I’ve tried completely uninstalling Dreamweaver, removing all user settings, and reinstalling it fresh, but the issue persists.  My last resort will be to install the previous version of Dreamweaver, as this daily issue is becoming too frustrating.

[KellSacc]

Same, Frank258... 

The workaround for now seems to be: Open a Dreamweaver project and acknowledge that you can't edit/upload your work from the local file to the server. Close Dreamweaver; restart Dreamweaver. Second time seems to be the charm.  Also agreed that this behavior seems to have started with a recent update. 

[Leon Gross]

Same with mine, locks-up on my Windows machine. Re-start Dreamweaver and it then seems fine till the next day. I've tried the suggestions, they sadly don't seem to make a difference. Seems a new bug in the latest update.

[Nancy OShea]

Your frustration is understood. I believe the DW team is aware of problems and working on fixes to address them. 

[Nicki Marie]

Adding to this - I can't even do basic edits without Dreamweaver crashing. Came here looking for a solution. I am reverting back to 21.4. Paying a LOT OF MONEY for these apps, they should work as expected.

[Nayan_Kankariya]

Hi @Nicki Marie,

 Thanks for writing to us. Can you please confirm if you are on Mac ARM platform. If yes, can you please try installing Rosetta environment which is provided by Apple by running the below command on your terminal. On Windows platform, we are actively investigating the issue internally and will soon release an update fixing the behavior. 

Please invoke Terminal and run the below command to install Rosetta: 

• If you have root permission: /usr/sbin/softwareupdate --install-rosetta

• If you don't have root permission: /usr/sbin/softwareupdate --install-rosetta --agree-to-license

You can also refer this Apple article to install Rosetta on Mac ARM machine. Please do give a try and let us know on the outcome for further investigations.

Have a pleasant day!

Regards,

Nayan

Adobe Dreamweaver Team

[Frank2daMax]

Thank you @Nayan_Kankariya for the update.  I'm on a PC using Windows 11 and still have this issue for over 4+ months now.  I hope you and your team are able to resolve this soon for us PC users.

[Frank2daMax]

I haven’t had time to downgrade to Dreamweaver 21.4, so I’ve been opening and closing the program immediately.  That way, it doesn’t crash for the rest of the day, so I don’t lose my work while coding.  I’ll revert to a previous version when I have time, but it's been several months and Adobe still hasn’t fixed this issue.  If they were planning to resolve it, they’d have done so by now, it shouldn't take this long to fix such a minor problem.

[Nancy OShea]

I’ve been opening and closing the program immediately. That way, it doesn’t crash for the rest of the day...

By @Frank2daMax

========

Did you Restore Preferences as suggested earlier in this topic?

https://community.adobe.com/t5/dreamweaver-discussions/dreamweaver-has-been-very-unstable-and-crashi...

[Frank2daMax]

@Nancy OShea, I've tried all the solutions mentioned in the community topic, but nothing has worked so far.  I haven’t had the chance to downgrade to version 21.4 yet, but that’s my next step when I have the time.

[bronwyn_1292]

Interesting. I'll try that.

[bronwyn_1292]

Some reassurance from Adobe that this is being worked on would be appreciated.