Direct Selection Tool Crashing Illustrator

[BenjiDiAnna]

It has started occuring in the last couple months where I will use the Direct Selection tool to, say select a shape within a group, and Illustrator disapears and there's a crash report pop-up. I thought maybe it was due to some complex shapes, but it has happened with objects as simple as a circle. Just happens randomly, and lately it has been occuring almost daily for weeks now. I'm scared to use the tool because I'm afraid it will crash the program- though I have to say Ai has gotten really good at saving progress before a crash so not a lot of lost progress. Mostly annoyance and losing momentum. 

Technical notes:

- Macbook Pro M2 Max - 63GB Memory - 4TB HD

- Running Ventrua 13.6.2

- Illustrator version 28.2 (I will try updating to 28.3...)

- I've tried restarting, shutting down, close other programs, nothing effects it  

[Monika Gause]

When was the last time you rebooted that computer?

[BenjiDiAnna]

Most often, I reboot my computer everyday first thing in the morning. 

[Monika Gause]

And this is happening with all files?

Did you already reset the preferences?

[BenjiDiAnna]

Yes, happens with all files. I work on a lot of projects week to week so it's definitely not one .ai that is corrupt. 

I haven't tried reseting my preferences. Could it be related? I'm open to trying, though I'd rather not lose all my settings (any way to back it up?). 

I'm open to ideas! I haven't seen anyone else complaining about this issue yet, so it could just be me. I also have Astute Graphics plugins, but those have rarely if ever crashed Ai. It's just weird that it ONLY happens with Direct Select. Something about that tool specifically is causing the issue. I appreciate you reaching out and trying to help me!

[Monika Gause]

If you quit Illustrator and then rename the preferences folder, then you can revert that reset in case it doesn't work.

Did you update the AG plugins so they are fit for your version?

[Anubhav M]

Hello @Ben28813845qvsl,

We understand how frustrating it can be to encounter crashes in the middle of work. Would you mind trying the suggestions shared in this help article (https://adobe.ly/49VBjwj) and checking if it helps? Also, kindly submit the crash report using your Adobe email address and share it here for quick tracking. Steps are shared here: (https://adobe.ly/3v3tnKB). We appreciate your time and patience in helping us resolve this issue.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,
Anubhav

[BenjiDiAnna]

Hi Anubhav and Monika,

Thanks to both of you for staying connected and helping me with this issue, I'm sorry I haven't had time to troubleshoot the issue again as I've just been burried in time-sensitive work all week- and this week is looking the same. The two things I will try from your link Anubhav is reseting preferences and doing a clean install of Illustrator using the Cleaner tool. I will try to do that this week, but with my work load I can't have anything go wrong to get things done so I may wait. 

The next time a crash happens I will collect the Crash Report - I wasn't aware that I could do that, so thanks for that. I was editing a RAW photo in Bridge (not photoshop) last night and it suddenly crashed, but I don't think that is related, just making a note of it. 

Thank you again so much!

[BenjiDiAnna]

Hi again! Thanks for your paitence!

The crash being triggered by the Direct Select tool just happened again- this time I saved the Crash Report and have attached it here. I haven't tried reseting Preferences yet, but I can try the this week. Let me know if there is anything else I can provide that might be useful for diagnosing the issue. Thank you!!

[Anubhav M]

Hello @Ben28813845qvsl,

We understand how frustrating it can be to encounter crashes in the middle of work. Would you mind trying to disconnect your Wacom tablet (if any) or remove the Wacom drivers installed to check if it helps? Also, try disabling the Astute plugins and share your observations.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,

Anubhav

[Bempster]

I too have been experiencing the same issue. For met seems to be when I'm trying to select a complex graphic with the direct selection tool. I have 3 seats of Illustrator with identical set ups including Mac Studio, OS 14.4.1 and Illustrator 28.4.1 with Esko Deskpack plugins. Only one mac is exibhiting the problem. If I release the group the elements can be selected with the selection tool without issue.

[Monika Gause]

And ESKO is installed on all of the Macs?

Anything else that is installed? Magnet? Rectangle?

[Bempster]

Yes, Esko is installed on all 3 Macs. We us no additional plugins.
 

[Monika Gause]

Magnet and Rectangle aren't Illustrator plugins. They are whatever ... system extensions, apps, I do not know. But they interfere with Illustrator.

[ginam84532222]

I have been experiencing the same issue as well. SUPER frustrating. Can't edit even mildly complex illustrations without it crashing.

[GFKS]

same problem. started after updating to 28.4.1.

Super happy im paying $700 for this.....

Had to revert to 28.3. where the issue doesnt occur.

[Anshul_Saini]

Hi @Bempster, @ginam84532222, @gfks,

It sounds like you're all experiencing a frustrating issue with Illustrator crashing when using the Direct Selection Tool. Let's try a few troubleshooting steps to resolve this:

Check for Third-Party Plugins or Apps: Ensure that there are no third-party plugins or apps running alongside Illustrator that could be interfering with its functionality.

Submit Crash Report: Please submit the crash report using your Adobe email address. You can follow the steps outlined here: https://adobe.ly/3v3tnKB. Sharing the crash report will help us investigate and resolve the issue more effectively.

Test Under Safe Mode: Try running Illustrator in Safe Mode to see if the issue persists. This can help identify if the problem is caused by a conflicting system extension or app. If Illustrator runs without crashing in Safe Mode, it indicates that a third-party component might be causing the issue.

We appreciate your cooperation and patience in resolving this matter. Let us know if you need further assistance or if you have any other questions.

Best regards,
Anshul Saini

[BenjiDiAnna]

Quick update since it's been a while.

The problem hasn't occured as frequently since I removed and reinstalled Astute Graphics, updated Illustrator, and updated to MacOS to Sonoma (I'm not sure which of those had an effect). I have attached my most recent crash report on April 22, triggered again by the direct selection tool. Just wanted to say it has been happening less, but the issue can still occur. 

On another note related to selection: 

I know there is likely a seperate thread focused on this issue, but it happens 2-5 times everyday. The error is objects or text refuse to de-select, whether it is hidden, click off, Deselect All is hit. Only solves is to close and re-open the project, or sometimes isolating the offending object fixes it. The error often occurs after an undo/ re-do command is hit. There is no error report I can share for this problem unfortunately. If you know any way to fix this I'd love to know, but since it has been around for years unsolved I don't have high hopes. 

Thank you all for taking the time to read and offer solutions! 

[Anubhav M]

Hello @Ben28813845qvsl,

Would you mind sharing more details, like the OS/Illustrator version, whether Illustrator behaves this way with all files, and a screen recording of the problem so that we can investigate this further? Also, try running Illustrator under a different administrator account (Windows / macOS) and share your observations.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,
Anubhav

[BenjiDiAnna]

Just wanted to stop by and report this issue is still ongoing with the direct selection tool crashing illustrator. And to make matters worse, illustrator no longer reliably saves a recovery file. In fact it NEVER saves a proper recovery file anymore after a crash (seperate issue that perhaps I could use some help to fix please! 🙂

I'm irritated at the moment as I just lost a bunch of work and time sensitive project. 

I've tried re-installing Illustrator, increasing the amount of times Aishould make a recovery file but doesn't anymore, updated to the latest OS (Sonoma 14.4.1), uninstalled and re-installed plugins, etc. Would really love for Adobe to focus on fixing these types of issues, but we all know that's not what we get... (I really appreciate the people in here that respond and try to help though, so thank you very much for your time and attention).  

My crash report is attached. All I did was select an anchor point on a simple object and the window disapeared along with all my work. 

[Monika Gause]

The latest Sonoma is 14.6

You might want to contact Customer Care. They can login to your system (and someone will need to take a look)

https://helpx.adobe.com/contact.html 

[Anubhav M]

Hello @Ben28813845qvsl,

Thanks for sharing the details. While I check this with the product team, would you mind confirming if you have any beta Adobe apps installed on your computer? If yes, kindly try the following steps to check if they help:

- Close all Adobe applications
- Uninstall any installed Beta apps from Creative Cloud (https://adobe.ly/3ArxYrW)
- Relaunch Illustrator

If the problem persists, try removing Illustrator using the Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool (https://adobe.ly/46CCrEh) and then reinstalling and share your observations.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,
Anubhav