illustrator spacebar zoom hand tool issues

[Jack26472178184a]

25 years using adobe. For the past 3 years, there's been an issue with the key commands for either the hand tool or the zoom-in and out when using the key commands. It either will not switch from + to  - when zooming or the hand fails to work after a while when I go to use the space bar. The solution is to click another tool and then try again or shut down Illustrator. I see you suggest this for everything, "shut down and restart" the program, and want to make one thing clear in case you're not aware, I'm in the middle of WORKING!!!! So no, I don't want to make sure everything is saved and shut down all the other files I have open at once and shut it all down because you failed to do your part in fixing the software everyone pays to use in the first place. This happens at least 2 or 3 times I use Illustrator.

Also, this is a very fundimental tool used all the time by everyone so I would think it would be a top priority for Adobe but obviously after 3 years it's not which is just pathetic. The second issue is that you guys continue to add features to a broken system. Fix the issues you currently have so people can use what they paid for successfully. That's not rocket science, it's common sense yet you fail to succeed in doing this. I also just caught myself thinking my words are going to matter when I know they do not so I'll stop here.

Do better Adobe! Or, rest assured you will be replaced.

[Bobby Henderson]

The problem sounds like either a hardware issue or possible conflict with another application. The hand panning tool is supposed to toggle on/off by pressing the spacebar key. Zoom in/out is with combinations of Ctrl+Spacebar and Ctrl+Alt+Spacebar. "Scrubby" animated zoom just uses Ctrl+Spacebar and press-dragging with the left mouse button.

What kind of computer are you using? Notebook PC or a desktop tower with a separate keyboard? I've experienced worn out keyboards glitching out key presses. The keyboard itself gets too much wear and tear. Sometimes it's the cable. One troubleshooting step is swapping keyboards to see if the issue persists. Most notebooks will allow an external keyboard to be attached via USB.

Some pieces of software can mess around with keyboard shortcuts. I don't like how NVidia's driver software takes ownership of the Alt+Z shortcut (it messes one possible custom shortcut "recipe" I have for Illustrator). Certain brands of anti-virus software can cause intermittent hangs if they're hogging too much system resources.

[Monika Gause]

Here is a list of applications and settings that mess around with the spacebar and take it over 

• 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
• LangSwitcher app (it needs to be closed and disabled)

[Anubhav M]

Hello @Jack26472178184a,

We understand that encountering technical issues can be frustrating. I hope the suggestions shared by Monika and Bobby helped resolve the problem. If not, kindly try running Illustrator under Safe Mode (Windows / macOS) and share your observations.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,

Anubhav

[Dynamic_Glimmer98C6]

So, I discoverd Microsoft Outlook was the one creating the problem for me, closing the app brought back the spacebar/zoom function in Illustrator. I reopened Microsoft Outlook and so far, so stable, Outlook might rob me of the function again but I think I'll just have to close/restart Outlook as required.