Illustrator keeps freezing at opening

[Ozum32659180jvoy]

Hi everyone,

Illustrator 2025 (version 29.8.2) keeps freezing right after launch on my M2 Mac running macOS 26.0.1 (Tahoe). The splash screen appears, but then I get a spinning wheel and have to Force Quit.

I’ve already tried:
– Deleting preferences and caches
– Reinstalling Illustrator and Creative Cloud
– Disabling GPU Performance
– Starting with Shift held down
– Installing Rosetta 

Nothing seems to fix it. Could this be a compatibility issue with macOS? Any known fixes?

System details:
• MacBook Air M2 (2023)
• macOS Tahoe 26.0.1
• Illustrator 2025 v29.8.2

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @Ozum32659180jvoy,

Thanks for sharing the details and everything you've already tried. Could you please launch Illustrator from a newly created macOS user account and see if it opens normally there? Also, check if you have any third-party plug-ins in the Illustrator Plug-ins folder, try temporarily removing them and restarting. You can also isolate all third-party involvement by restarting your Mac in Safe Mode. Additionally, please go through the steps mentioned in this article: Fix Illustrator crash issues.

Let me know how it goes after testing this.

Abhishek