Illustrator and InDesign: keyboard short-cuts not working

[donroodfh]

i.e., switch to zoom in/out or grab tool when I am using one of the selection tools. Maybe I selected a preference by accident? Thoughts?

Thanks

[Bill Silbert · Accepted solution]

Usually when shortcuts stop working it is the result of a conflict with another program (usually runnning in the background) that is using the same shortcuts and preventing their use in the program that you want them in. Try restarting your computer and only launching Illustrator. If there is usually something else running in the backgroung make sure that it is disabled. Then try the shortcuts in Illustrator. If they now work then try launching other programs one at a time until the Illustrator shortcuts stop working again. Once you determine the culprit you can either change the common shortcuts in the offending program or you can change them in Illustrator through Edit>Keyboard Shortcuts.

[donroodfh]

Hey Bill,

That worked! Thank you very much. Now to find the culprit…

Cheers,

Don

[Monika Gause]

A couple of apps interfere with the modifier keys, including, but maybe not limited to: 

• WebRoot
• Apple Terminal
• Word, Excel, Powerpoint
• »Enable Full Keyboard« in Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard on Mac OS
• Apple Mail, Outlook
• Spacebar is used as a shortcut by the system
• Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari
• Wacom Desktop Center, Wacom settings
• Windows Touch Pad problem
• LastPass, Bitwarden (password managers)
• The VPN

[Anubhav M]

Hello @donroodfh,

We understand how frustrating it can be to not be able to use shortcuts in Illustrator. I hope the suggestions shared by Bill and Monika to reassign the shortcut key under the Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts Menu and try to disable other programs while running Illustrator helped resolve the problem.

If not, kindly try to run Illustrator under Safe Mode (Windows / macOS) and check if it helps. Also, try to manually reset Illustrator's preferences and share your observations:

For macOS

• Close all Adobe applications.

• Go to the following locations

• ~/Library/Caches

• ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe

• ~/Library/Preferences

• Rename Adobe Illustrator, com.adobe.illustrator and Adobe Illustrator 27 Settings folders to Adobe Illustrator.old, com.adobe.illustrator.old and Adobe Illustrator 27 Settings.old

• Launch Illustrator from the Creative Cloud.

Note: Location starting with this "~" sign indicates the User Library, which is hidden. So, you need to copy & paste the exact path in spotlight search or from Finder Menu > Go > Go to Folder > Paste the location in the dialog box like this:

For Windows

- Close all Adobe applications.

- Go to Location C:\Users\%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\Adobe

- Rename Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Illustrator 27 Settings folders to Adobe Illustrator.old and Adobe Illustrator - 27 Settings.old

- Relaunch Illustrator from Creative Cloud

Disclaimer: Please note that renaming preferences folders will remove all the custom settings, and Illustrator will launch with default settings. You can also save a backup of the folders in case you want to. The location is mentioned above.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,

Anubhav

[imagepoint]

Renamed all those folders, and now it is working. How do I get my workspace preferences back? My issue was Illustrator wouldn't load the keyboard shortcuts plugin. Thanks.

[Anubhav M]

Hello @imagepoint,

Thanks for sharing the details. To restore your previous workspaces, kindly close Illustrator, copy the contents of the "Workspaces" folder from the old preferences folder to your current one, and then relaunch Illustrator to see if it helps.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,
Anubhav

[imagepoint]

Worked like a charm, thanks!

[Anubhav M]

Hello @imagepoint,

Thank you for letting us know that the solution provided worked for you. We're glad to hear that your issue has been resolved. To help other users with similar problems, would you mind marking the answer as correct? We appreciate your contribution to the community. Let us know if you have any more questions or concerns. We're always here to help.

Thanks,

Anubhav

[imagepoint]

Hi,

I have upvoted, but don’t know how to mark as correct?

Linda Pucilowski
ImagePoint Design

916.961.6626
F 916.961.6699
ipointdesign@mac.com