Illustrator CS6 Spacebar stops working seemingly randomly

[Gordon McAlpin]

This is an infrequent issue I've had, but it has happened more than once in the last few weeks that I've been using CS6 on a regular basis:

On occasion, my spacebar will just stop working in Illustrator CS6, so I can't use the hand tool or zoom or… you know, type, basically making Illustrator unuseable. Now, I'm PRETTY sure it has nothing to do with my actual keyboard, because the spacebar will continue to work just fine in every other application even after it does this.

The only fix is restarting the computer. Just restarting the application doesn't do it. Deleting the preferences file and restarting doesn't fix it. It's really perplexing.

Now, I'm NOT certain about this, but I think it might occur after waking from sleep (but not immediately, so perhaps it's unrelated). If/when it happens next, I will attempt to see if I can reproduce the issue, but so far I have no idea why it happens; it just seems random.

I'm using a late 2008 MacBook Pro with 8GB of RAM, running Mac OSX 10.7.4 and Illustrator CS6 (16.0.0, in case people see this after an update has been released).

[mrTmoore]

I had the same problem after installing Ai CC 2014.  Reading some post above someone suggested switching off Chrome.  I tried that and it worked.  Switch Chrome back on and seems to be ok.

Open AI first, then open Chrome.  Hope it works for you and keeps working for me

Btw, on Macbook pro Retina

g

[Barton P]

In my case the conflict was with Parallels. Quit Parallels and my Illustrator shortcuts work again.

[Shane_Bzdok]

I had the exact same issues. Finally tracked it down to being logged into Squarespace. My zoom and grabber shortcuts would work fine until I logged in to Squarespace in Chrome. If I log out and keep Chrome open, I get my shortcuts back.

[worldofjeff]

I just started having the same problem. Everything was fine, and then spacebar just stopped working. I narrowed it down to a conflict with Safari, but only when I've got Private Browsing on. Strange, because the only time I've had a problem with it previously is when Gmail wanted to access the Google Talk plugin.

[Stein Franken]

I had this same issue and a restart would NOT fix the problem, neither would reseting the prefs, or any of the other solutions mentioned in this post.  I discovered the problem to be the Terminal application was automatically opening on login, which had the "Secure Keyboard Entry" option enabled. (Terminal menu item->Secure Keyboard Entry (check marked))  If I quit Terminal without disabling "Secure Keyboard Entry", the spacebar in Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop would work as expected.  Although, if I restarted with Terminal still loading automatically with "Secure Keyboard Entry" enabled then the spacebar would NOT work until I quit the Terminal app.  The problem is that when the computer logs into the user account and starts the Terminal app it hides the keyboard entry from other applications.  Somehow Adobe products are now sensitive to this and the spacebar stops working as is should.  So, the solution is to either make sure Terminal is not to load automatically at login, or disable the "Secure Keyboard Entry" option in Terminal and only enable it as needed.  Be sure to disable it when your are no longer using the terminal.  I have never seen this before and have been using Adobe products on OS X since its release, but I have not always used the Terminal as I do now in such a secure way.  Thanks again governments and criminals for even further complicating our lives!

-Cheers

[nativeCamp]

I just experienced this spacebar hand tool shortcut not working for the second time in two days.  Quitting Chrome resolved the issue.  I relaunched Chrome and the Illustrator shortcut still seems to work.  Strange.

[b_ark]

Second time this has happened to me. Closed Chrome and issue resolved.

[GLOZONE]

This helpful action fixed my similar problem with spacebar drag not working correctly

Hold down Command+Option+Shift while starting Illustrator to reset preferences. This should be the first troubleshooting step.

Fomr http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=575744

[JohnB8122]

Mac OS 10.8.5 - I recently lost modifier key function on ALL my Adobe programs. I followed every thread I could find. Tried everything to remedy this problem. I finally realized I had installed Webroot security and when I checked it, it has Secure Keyboard Entry (much like Terminal app as mentioned in another thread) enabled by default. When I turned this off I have my modifiers back.

Hope this helps others.

~jb

[ncacpadesigner]

You saved my day! Thank you good sir! This was the only thing that worked for me.

[bWDfb]

This was it! IT had installed Webroot on my MAC a few weeks ago. Thanks for finding, JohnB8122!!

[topherrelly]

Worked for me! Thanks for the heads up!

[gregghabitatchesapeake]

Disabled the Keyboard security in Webroot's RealTime Shield settings is the only thing that worked for me. Illustrator/CS6 OS X 10.11.4

Was not using Chrome, Firefox or password one. I quit Safari, it worked for a second and then stopped. Went into Webroot to disable RealTime Sheild and it worked, no matter when I opened Safari, Illustrator, or whether I had Creative Cloud running or not.

[gadler528]

I searched and do not see that application on my machine. Is this software specific to your machine or are you suggesting a universal solution?

[Larry G. Schneider]

The software mentioned above is an individually installed Web security software, not a universal solution. Other browser addons or security/password control software is much more likely.

[justinw44108760]

Had this issue today. I'm with a new company and they use Webroot Secure and once I paused the Secure Keyboard Entry feature, I had my space bar working the way it should. Thank you! It would have otherwise taken me ages to figure that out, or give up.

[rohang99305705]

The same thing fixed for me.

[jaaackv]

Love your share! It worked for me too

[robertr58163429]

Awesome! That worked for me also! Webroot was the issue.

Thank you big time.

[Alshanti]

DISABLE 1 Password from Chrome Extensions, that worked for me

[Trevor_Page1]

Simpler solution is to disable the space bar in Google Chrome.

Here's how to do it:

Install this extension (search for it in Google Extensions):  ShortKeys

Once activated go into it's settings and add the following rule:

type "space" (without quotes) into the key combo field.

Set the action drop down to Jump to tab or URL

Type "#" (without quotes) into the URL to match field.

Click save

Quit Chrome or refresh any open pages.

This effectively disables the space key from doing anything in Chrome.

[lukebox17]

We are having the same problem and have narrowed it down to Microsoft Office for Mac, something about the office activation triggers the space bar hand tool shortcut to turn off.

I would like to override the shortcut in illustrators shortcut preferences but the spacebar doesn't register as a key stroke and only seems to accept letters or numbers. Any solutions would be very helpful.

[chocolategroove]

In my case, it was Webroot Antivirus causing conflict with the zoom shortcut in Photoshop. Shut it down and space bar started working again.

[Creamos]

In my case conflict appears because a popup of iTunes was open asking for password.

[Crooty]

I'm having this issue for the second time. The first time I restarted Illustrator or my computer (don't remember) and it worked again. This time, restarting Illustrator didn't work, but closing Firefox did.

Plus, the problem comes back when Firefox is running again, goes away when I close it, etc.

CS6, iMac OSX 10.7.5