How do I force Illustrator to open in Safe Mode?

[JWD_GD]

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]

You need to boot your system in Safe Mode. Which system is it? You should find the instructions on the website of either Microsoft or Apple.

[Anubhav M]

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 

[Gabriel33316472f651]

this is the part whe are having truble with, where do I choose "run diagnostics" I cant find images, videos or any information on how to do this.

[Anubhav M]

Hello @Gabriel33316472f651,

Would you mind confirming if the suggestions shared in this help article (https://adobe.ly/47ydLgS) helped resolve the problem?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,

Anubhav

[Gabriel33316472f651]

Hi Anubhav M

My program opens fine, its not crashing. My problem is that I have a corupted file, somone sugested to open the file with Ai in safe mode, I didnt know Ai had a safe mode, I tried to find the option to open in safe mode but I cant find how to doit. I clarify again, my program works fine.

[Anubhav M]

Hello @Gabriel33316472f651,

Thanks for confirming. Would you mind providing some details about the circumstances under which these files were saved or edited and the location of the files where they were stored? For example, were there any unexpected Illustrator crashes, sudden app closures, system shutdowns, or power cuts during editing?

Also, kindly share a link to a sample file after uploading it to Dropbox, Google Drive, etc., so we can check it on our end. Although we cannot guarantee a successful recovery, we will try our best to do so.

Thanks,
Anubhav

[Gabriel33316472f651]

Since there's a lack of understanding of my cuestion, I will answer my self to help someone with the same problem

There's NO safe mode! That's outdated info, the current version of the program doesn't have a way to start it in safe mode.

[Monika Gause]

Boot your computer into Safe Mode and then launch Illustrator.

[Gabriel33316472f651]

@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.

[Monika Gause · Accepted solution]

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.

[Gabriel33316472f651]

@Monika Gause  THANKS! this worked, I wasn't able to do it with "Alt + f4" what I did was kill the process from task manager. The second time I opened Ai it prompted me to start the diagnostic mode, your answer was really helpful, thanks a lot!

[Monika Gause]

Glad you could solve it and I also hope that the diagnostics could give you any relevant information.