How do I force Illustrator to open in Safe Mode?

Question

I have been having issues with Illustrator. When I open it it says I have plug-in errors. Following the link the error message gives me, one of the recommendations is to boot Illustrator in Safe mode. But I can find no way to force it to do that. It says I should follow the prompts when opening but I'm not getting any prompts on the opening screen and I can't find anywhere to do it manually. The I.T. person at my office is also having trouble. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Monika Gause · Accepted Answer

@Monika Gause ,

I know you are trying to help but what you are suggesting is NOT what this post is about.

The question is the following: "How do I force Illustrator to open in Safe Mode?"

The question comes because a few forums suggest starting illustrator in safe mode, NOT starting your computer in safe mode, these are 2 different things. We are referring to THIS comment @Anubhav M made:

"Also, kindly try the steps shared in this help article to launch Illustrator in Safe Mode (https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/safe-mode-illustrator-diagnostic-startup-tests.html) and share your observations."

Doing what you suggest gives the following result: Illustrator opens NORMALLY, not in safe mode, then it prompts you saying it could not connect with verification servers (because your computer is in safe mode) and immediately closes the program.

What frustrates me is that the question is simple "HOW DO I FORCE ILLUSTRATOR TO OPEN IN SAFE MODE?"

and all the answers in this post are about starting your SYSTEM in safe mode or asking how the programs got corrupted in the first place, NOT THE ANSWER.

The answer is the following: you used to be able to force Illustrator in safe mode by pressing SHIFT when opening the program (see image) THIS FEATURE NO LONGER EXISTS IN NEW VERSIONS, it's supposed to prompt you automatically if your program enters a restarting loop but since this never happened to me I don't know if the options still exists so PLEASE, stop advancing people to force illustrator to start in safe mode.

I'm not frustrated at you Monika, I'm frustrated at the hours spent trying to follow outdated instructions, thanks for giving your time to try helping u. I hope you have a nice day.

So if you want to force it to enter the diagnostic mode, you have to be quick and interrupt the startup process by forcing it to quit (you have to do it twice if I remember that correctly). On the Mac this happens by pressing cmd+opt+Esc. I do not know the process for Windows.

Timing is crucial with this, you have to hit it just in time.

But if you are having trouble with plugins: either the are custom plugins: just inquire with the manufacturer or plain uninstall them

If they are native plugins and it is the Beta version: probably to be expected.

Native plugins and the released version: uninstall, run the Adobe Cleaner tool and reinstall.

Anubhav M · Answer

Hello @JWD_GD,

We are sorry to hear about this experience. Would you mind trying the suggestions shared in this help article (https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/kb/plugin-missing-issue.html) and checking if it helps?

Also, kindly try the steps shared in this help article to launch Illustrator in Safe Mode (https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/safe-mode-illustrator-diagnostic-startup-tests.html) and share your observations.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,

Anubhav

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