Illustrator freezes and won’t open after updating macOS to Tahoe 26.1

[Dacico]

Hi, I’ve just updated my Mac operating system (MacBook Pro M3 Pro) to macOS Tahoe 26.1, and right after doing so, I noticed that I can’t launch Adobe Illustrator. When I try to open the app, it slows down, freezes, and becomes completely unresponsive (I have to force quit it every time).

I’ve read online that this issue might be caused by a conflict with Wacom tablet drivers, so I completely removed them (including all files located in the user library). I also tried uninstalling and reinstalling Illustrator, but nothing changed and the problem persists. Interestingly, this issue only occurs with Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign seem to work correctly.

I really need help with this. I have a project deadline and need to get Illustrator running again.

[jay fresno · Accepted solution]

Have you tried using the Adobe Cleaner tool? It has a BAT file that can sometimes fix problems that a regular uninstall/reinstall won't fix.

https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/apps/troubleshoot/diagnostics-repair-tools/run-creative-cloud...

[Dacico]

Update, Problem Solved

Just wanted to post a quick update in case anyone else runs into the same issue.

After looking deeper into the crash report, I discovered (with the help of ChatGPT) that Illustrator was freezing because the macOS font management service (fontd) got stuck after the update to macOS Tahoe 26.1.

Basically, Illustrator couldn’t initialize its text engine because the system’s font process wasn’t responding.

Here’s what I did to fix it:

1. Opened Terminal and ran the following commands:
   sudo killall fontd
   sudo atsutil databases -remove
   atsutil server -shutdown
   atsutil server -ping

2. Then I restarted the Mac, and Illustrator launched normally again!

So if anyone else is having this same issue after updating macOS, this quick reset of the font cache and the fontd process might solve it.

[KZephyrus]

I get a series of errors when trying to run this:

kristenzephyrus@Kristens-Mac-Studio ~ % sudo killall fontd

Password:

kristenzephyrus@Kristens-Mac-Studio ~ % sudo atsutil databases -remove

Removing: /var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000c4000031/C/com.apple.FontRegistry

2025-11-14 13:42:30.214 atsutil[23481:1989117] Error: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=4 "“com.apple.FontRegistry” couldn’t be removed." UserInfo={NSUserStringVariant=(

    Remove

), NSFilePath=/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000c4000031/C/com.apple.FontRegistry, NSURL=file:///var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000c4000031/C/com.apple.FontRegistry, NSUnderlyingError=0x10136adb0 {Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=2 "No such file or directory"}}

Removing: /var/folders/dg/nfr3327n01d5ws99gmdfkz5w0000gn/C/com.apple.FontRegistry

kristenzephyrus@Kristens-Mac-Studio ~ % atsutil server -shutdown

ATS is not supported starting macOS 14.

kristenzephyrus@Kristens-Mac-Studio ~ % atsutil server -ping

ATS is not supported starting macOS 14.

kristenzephyrus@Kristens-Mac-Studio ~ % 

None of the commands seem like they're supported. Am I doing something wrong?

[Anubhav M]

Hello @kzephyrus,

I'm sorry to hear you're having similar trouble with Illustrator. Would you mind trying the suggestions shared in this help article (https://adobe.ly/3XBE3uf) and checking if it helps? Also, kindly submit the crash report using your Adobe email address and share it here for quick tracking. Steps are shared here: (https://adobe.ly/49psrlr).

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav

[kenjgood · Accepted solution]

I removed my Wacom Drivers, completely removed (Cleaned all Apps of my computer), reinstalled them all, No Joy.
Ran some code in Terminal suggested, restarted my computer...No Joy.
I recalled getting some error messages occasionally on Font Conflicts and simply ignored them. Decided to jump in the Creative Cloud Apps, and re-install some fonts I thought were already in place. Started up Illustrator, no issues.