Help! Illustrator 2021 Won't Load

[bogwood]

Since I updated to Illustrator 2021 (Mac), the program just freezes on the loading screen

I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling using the Creative Cloud app twice and also tried the Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool

Nothing has worked so far.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance

[kunalex]

hi. try force closing AI (cmd q or end task from task manager) and then restart your computer.

[silviab24635235]

Thank you for your reply. I had countless restarts and installed and installed Illustrator 2020 and 2021 several times. At least it seems i got AI 2020 to work but not 2021. I worked with AI 2021 without problems since I installed it. Then yesterday I worked the whole day in InDesigns and Photoshop and when I treind in the evening to do something in Illustrator it crashed and I was not once able to open it without crashing. 

[kunalex]

I am sorry to hear that. Well, restarting works for me on my Macbook. Try logging out from CC, open AI, then log back in. 
Anyway, my new normal is this:

2020 & 2021 always open and hoping not closing by reflex 😄

[pedroalvera]

Same problem here... We paid but we cannot work. Please, Adobe, fix this asap.

[silviab24635235]

Now InDesign and Photoshop 2021 has both stopped working this morning as well. The whole Adobe 2021 suite stopped working for me after it was running just fine since installation and havin worked with it the whole day yesterday.

[justinb10301944]

I have the same issue.

[silviab24635235]

I wrote this in another thread. Maybe it is if interest to you what I did with my programs.

Quote:

Since yesterday I have the same problem. I wasn't able to fix it though I think it is a font issue or a font-software issue. I'm running Font Explorer X and yesterday in the eveninga all of a sudden I was no longer able to open Illustrator 2021 and this morning InDesign and Photoshop stopped working properly.

I read in other threads from people having this issue they were only able to install the older version Illustrator 2020 and this is what I did. First I had the same problems but meanwhile I'm able to work with Illustrator 2020 again.

This morning I did some more tests when Photoshop and InDesign started crashing on startup. I found out that starting in save mode (pressing the start button and immediately pressing and holding the shift key) eliminates the problems. When I start in my normal system (Catalina 10.15.7) Photoshop works fine until I try to do something with the text tool. As soon as I try to type something Photoshop crashes. InDesign crashed as well but meanwhile I was able to run it disabling all my fonts.
The CC 2020 programs I installed yesterday are all running fine so I can't imagine what causes the problem. I have nothing new installed yesterday and was working just fine for 3 weeks with the 2021 software versions - until yesterday evening when all of a sudden nothing worked anymore.

[ThreadCT]

I have lost sooo much work time on this app. I am so sorry I upgraded. I have tried the retarts and trashing Preferences which work for a day, then there are all new issues. Is there any way to go back to the older version?

[Temerick Art]

Me too, I have not installed anything new and do not use fonts outside of the orignal Macbook Pro install or Adobe fonts. I can not get any of my Adobe suite to load, including Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop. I have so much work to get done and this is completely frustrating and costing me. Has there been any word from Adobe on a fix for this situation?

Feeling your pain!

[silviab24635235]

To install the older version you can simply go to the CC page where you install the current new version. On the right side of the apps name are three little dots. When you click there you see the option to install one older verison of the app. Just be aware that you loose all your recorded actions and other presets.

[daniellei4510]

Won't open for me, either. Neither on my iMac or my MacBook Air. Never gets past the splash screen (initializing). Also, if I open or close a finder window during the loading process, the splash screen disappears and Illustrator quits on it's own.

[Temerick Art]

I ended up calling Adobe customer support and after an hour the tech guy
was able to resolve the issue. Well worth the time to have it working
again. Good luck 🙂

[silviab24635235]

Would you mind giving a hint what resolved the issue for you? I have an incompatibility with font software in mind. But don't know how it started after CC 2021 working great for 3 weeks and then no In-design, Illustrator and Photoshop anymore from one second to the other.

[richardl28109603]

Same problem here! I haven't got the time to mess about so I'm just gonna revert to previous version.

Adobe gets worse with every update, I don't remember anything happening like this in the CS days.

[Danielle5E75]

Hello! I also want to add to this thread of troubleshooting in hopes Adobe sees it and can help us all work on this issue.

I am part of a team of 5. I updated to Mojave months ago and my teammates just updated to mojave. When I went to install the new 2021 AI update. I also have the start up screen freezing with the "Initializing..." . With some research and our in house Apple expert we tried the following steps:

1. We deleted all my fonts as suggested from some research via googling- same start screen froze but this time with a diagnostic test never opened just froze.

2. We also went back and deleted all my preferences manually- Start screen froze and said "Initializing..."

3. We deactivated all Adobe fonts- Start screen froze and said "initalizing..."

4. Our in house Apple expert has combed through my computer looking for anything that looks different than my other team members and we can't seem to find the difference except that I had installed mojave earlier than my team and that I had an old wacom tablet I have used in the past, it is so old and I have not used it since last march. Those so far are the only differences. This is my work computer and we generally keep our computers pretty clean of plug-ins or external adobe apps. 

5. We reinstalled Mojave. This time when AI opens it is just crashing. I sent the reports off to Apple. 

6. My job is that I open thousands of other adobe files a year from other designers and so does my team.

As of right now I am uninstalling photoshop, indesign, and AI 2020 versions on my computer. I did not reach out to an adobe tech as I have had 3 people on my team today spend over 6 hours trying to troubleshoot these issues. I am sure there is a patch in our futures and am looking forward to it. Until then I will be staying on 2020  (which no one wants to be stuck in 2020 right now *joke*). If anyone reads this and knows a solution I would love for you to reply to me. 

[Danielle5E75]

Just wanted to update today that my apple expert at work had me go in an uninstall my WACOM TABLET APP >RESTART> INSTALL NEW AI. and now it is working perfectly. I have not reinstalled my tablet. It is old and it is probably needs an upgrade. 

[mikey_likes_it]

Thank you for the update. I am going to bet that some of us, like myself, don't have a Wacom Tablet installed. So we are still wondering what is causing the breakdown of v25.0 but not v24.3.

[johngettler1]

POSSIBLE SOLUTION IF YOU HAVE WACOM TABLET SOFTWARE INSTALLED:

I worked with Danielle through this as her Illustrator 2021 running on Mojave 10.14.6 would get hung up at the Initialization step of launching.  No amount of removing fonts or resetting Illustrator preferences would fix it.

One thing that made her Mac unique from others in the company that did not have the issue, was that she had a Wacom Bamboo CTH-470 and the software to drive it that had been installed a few major versions of the OS ago.  Specifically what solved this for her Mac was we **opened the Wacom Utility from the Applications folder, then under the Tablet Software menu, clicked Remove, and then clicked Uninstall**.  Then Illustrator 2021 launched correctly. We had also noticed that the system preference control panel for "PenTablet.pref" was moved into the Incompatible Software folder on her boot hard drive after we upgraded her Mac from High Sierra to Mojave.

So try launching Illustrator after uninstalling any Wacom software.  If Illustrator is launching correctly, now decide if you still need to use your Wacom tablet.  If so, then try installing the newest Wacom software at the link below (Driver 6.3.41-2) and hope the newest version does not brake Illustrator 2021 again.

https://www.wacom.com/en-jp/support/product-support/drivers#latest

[Ailsa Edwards]

Having exactly the same issue. Was working fine yesterday and now its frozen on the loading page. uninstalled and reinstalled, still nothing.  

[davidm44923349]

Same here, randomly stopped working in the middle of an edit, out of nowhere. Don't have time to sit on the phone with support as if I don't have other things to do. Disappointing that this would happen with what is supposed to be an industry-leading software. 

[Monika Gause]

Search your system for ancient drivers and ancient software.

And also read this whole thread, because some people have reported the solution.

No software developer can spare you the effort to keep your system clean. Apple has a history of abandoning stuff quickly. And then you will have to uninstall all the old stuff, otherwise it will cause you issues. And no: Apple doesn't do it for you either when you update your system.

So maybe you want to spend the hour with Customer Care on the phone, because likely they find it quicker than you do.

[davidm44923349]

It was easier and quicker to get back to working order by just going back to a previous version. While I'd love to sit on the phone with customer care for an hour, I, unfortunately, don't have that kind of freedom. 

[Fredrik5EB9]

Have the exact same issue. Uninstalled v21 and now running v20. Tried uninstalling wacom but didn't work. 

[KShinabery212]

Is it just me or any time there is a new update for Adobe or Mac.... Mac users start facing issues.  Not sure whose end it falls on.... Adobe or Apple. 

I am so glad that I made the jump to PC.

I know this does not solve your problem.

Usually after a new update... a month or so the problems start getting resolved.  I would actually blame Apple more so than Adobe. 

But version are you running?

[daniellei4510]

I did a little experiment. I opened AI 2021, then did other stuff. The splash screen went away but AI didn't open. But I didn't do a force quit. About two hours later, Illustrator 2021 finally opens.