Illustrator Crashes When Copying - Illustrator 29.6.1 / Win 11

Samesies. 29.7.1 | Windows 11, version 24H2

Having the exact same issue whilst others on my team are not. 

I can open documents fine, but if I try to use the copy command from the 'Edit' dropdown, or use the keyboard shortcut, Illustrator instantly crashes.

Weirdly, if I have a document open that I already worked on, then open a new document and remove them both from the docked view so that I can see both documents side by side, I can hold ALT and copy from one document to the other without a problem. 

This is super frustrating. We all have artwork assets that need delivering for clients and Adobe can't even get a Copy command to work correctly!

Hi everyone,

Thank you all for continuing to share your details and updates. Our product team is actively investigating this issue, and I wanted to share the latest update from them.

The reports of Illustrator crashing when copying started coming in very recently, and we've seen it affect users on 29.6.1, 29.7, and even 28.0 in some cases. This suggests that the problem may not be limited to a single version of Illustrator.

The team is currently exploring whether any third‑party apps, like clipboard utilities or window management tools (for example, Magnet), or a recent OS update could be contributing to this sudden behavior.

To help us narrow this down, could you please confirm:

1. The exact Windows version and build number you are using.

2. Any third‑party apps or services related to clipboard or window management running on your machine. You can isolate this by testing the issue in Safe mode.

Your responses will help the team identify the cause faster. We'll keep this thread updated as we learn more.

Thank you for your patience, and looking forward to your replies.

Abhishek 

As of Monday 4th August, I am also having this issue. Fairly simple copy requests are causing Illustrator to freeze and crash. I've tried updating to the latest version 29.7 but the problem persists. My colleague is not having this issue despite using the same piece of software.

I can't copy even the simplest of layers without an immediate crash and it's getting a little insane at this point. Is there any other way to duplicate layers from one illustrator file to another? My workflow is completely stalled and I keep losing progress every time I instinctually "copy."

Hey everyone,

I’m having a really frustrating issue with Illustrator lately. Every time I try to copy anything from my artwork, the app completely freezes and then crashes. It’s happening every single time, and I honestly can’t get any work done because of it.

I’ve tried restarting Illustrator, resetting preferences, and even reinstalling it, but nothing seems to help. I’m on Windown 11 (23H2), using Illustrator (version 29.7) , and this started happening out of nowhere.

Is anyone else facing this? Any ideas on how to fix it? I’m stuck and would really appreciate any help.

Thanks in advance!

Causing the same problem. Im using Illustrator version 29.7

I'm on a Microsoft Surface Studio, running Win 11.
New problem came up today - happening with current 29.6.1 but also tried rolling back to v28.
Reinstalled, deleted prefs, ran Windows update, etc...
Issue is: when I cut or copy, whether key command or using menu, I get a brief busy hourglass, then Illustrator quits or freezes. 
The problem goes away when I boot Windows into Safe Mode. 
I am not using any clipboard programs or any Illustrator extensions or plug ins.

What kind of object(s) are you trying to copy to the clipboard? Is it something big and/or complex? Or is any kind of object causing Illustrator to crash?

Yesterday I was dealing with a stubborn issue with some customer provided large format artwork. I was trying to copy it to the clipboard to paste it into another letter-sized document at a smaller size/scale. I'd resize it prior to copying, but when I pressed Ctrl+C the application would hang. I re-booted the computer and tried the same steps again in Illustrator; the app froze again. After re-lauching Illustrator I ran the artwork through the Vector First Aid plugin to clean up any technical problems. Then I copied the artwork to the clipboard and pasted it into the other document at full size and then scaled down the artwork to the desired size there.

I’m hoping someone from the Adobe development team can respond, but if anyone else has experienced this issue, please share your solution.

I’ve already tried uninstalling and reinstalling Illustrator, but the problem persists.

Thank you in advance!