Illustrator top menu keeps on freezing

[simcha5C73]

Has anyone else had this issue? illustrator freezes multiple times a day. It is not a regular freeze. I am working on a MacBook it does not say 'not responding'. Also, the top bar on Illustrator opens and lets me click around but does not actually do anything. I attached a video so u can see what's going on. I really don't want to force quit.  Anyone know of any solutions? 

 I tried keeping track of what makes it happen, sometimes its if i close my laptop, open another program like photoshop or like today when i was disconnected from wifi for a moment

[Anubhav M]

Hello @sabsabsabsab,

We understand how frustrating it can be to encounter crashes in the middle of work. Would you mind trying the suggestions shared in this help article (https://adobe.ly/3VNNU0B) and checking if they help? 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/3U8lFIH). We appreciate your time and patience in helping us resolve this issue.

Thanks,
Anubhav

[sabsabsabsab]

Anubhav > Answers:

- My MBP well exceeds minimum standards. Am running 64GIG ram too

- Running latest Illustrator 28.4.1

- tried backling up and resetting prefs. Still froze

- Running latest Sonoma and no issue with GPU

- Ran a clean install of Illy. Wull see if that helps.

- No crash reports came up as it froze and had to force quit. Should there be a crash report?

[sabsabsabsab]

No idea what Magnet is and definitely don't have a Window Manager installed. Am a Mac user since 1990.

[pavlonjablon]

I have a similar problem. I am running Illustrator 28.2 on a M3 Pro with Sonoma 14.3 and Illustrator freezes several times a day.

No warning, no "app not responding" under Force Quit, other Adobe Suite applications seem to be unaffected. It doesn't matter if I have a project open or just the application running in the background. Usually happens after a period of inactivity, such as putting my MBP to sleep and opening it after an hour or so, but also after working in another application, whether Adobe Suite or not.

[Monika Gause]

14.3 is not the latest version. There were several issues with older versions of Sonoma. THere might still be issues, but for many people things got solved when they updated the system. Do you have a Window manager installed? Or Proofpoint?

[Yerdog76]

I've only just upgraded to Sonoma and I WISH I hadn't. It's awful. I am running Sonoma 14.5. And the latest Adobe software. I have exactly the same issue it keeps crashing and won't let me save what I've done, the toolbars are completely blank, the menu works, but when you try to select something nothing happens etc.  I absoluetly HATE Sonoma - my MAc is only just over a year old and has lots of memory (both types). I think this is an Apple issue and I dodn't experience issues until I updated my OS.

[Monika Gause]

Can you still downgrade the system?

Before upgrading you could try and clone your disk, so it will be easier to dowbngrade.

Anyway: do you use a window manager such as Rectangle, Magnet or Moom? Or do you run Proofpoint?

[brian24225746bd03]

The responses in this thread are frustrating because updating the software is the first action many of us take. Suggesting it feels like hearing "have you tried restarting?"

This thread started 7 months ago, and I've been dealing with this issue for a couple of months now. It's baffling why Adobe hasn't acknowledged there's a glitch. Stop blaming the operating system. Patch it. Fix it. Do something. We've come to rely on autosave, and now we have to revert to the 1990s practice of "save your work as you go" to avoid losing a day's effort.

On Monday, I spent hours building a campaign in Illustrator. On Tuesday, I returned to find Illustrator frozen. Like many others here, it doesn't say "not responding"; it just looks fine but isn't. The only solution is to force quit. I take a screenshot of the frozen screen because the recovered files on restart are often from an older autosave.

I know I'm not adding anything new to the conversation, but I'm trying to keep this issue visible until it's resolved, hoping that more voices will drive change.

[Monika Gause]

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@brian24225746bd03  schrieb:

The responses in this thread are frustrating because updating the software is the first action many of us take. Suggesting it feels like hearing "have you tried restarting?"

---

You would not think just how many people do not know. So unless you don't tell us what you have already done, we will continue asking.

As for "Autosave": it doesn't exist. If you want to have your art saved, then you have to save it. Otherwise you will never be really safe (yes, I learnt that the hard way). And then also: make a backup copy. And another one. On different disks. Because if saving goes wrong (and it will go wrong at some point), then even if you saved the file regularly, it will still be toast.

As for the Recovery feature: it is not autosave. Recovery only serves for the moments in which Illustrator crashes. But even then, if a crash goes terribly wrong (happens while saving), then the file is most likely still toast, because that's what crash while saving does.

If you do not want to think about backups, get the plugin Autosaviour Free (it's free and it saves real AI files). Still, it makes sense to save versions of your file. Because still, crash/power outage can happen while saving.

[LisaAnnW]

I am having the same issues. I don't know why either. If I leave the app and work in another app for a while then go back to AI, forget it. It's always frozen. Then I have to force quit for the umpteenth time. Argh!

[Srishti Bali]

Hi @LisaAnnW 

I'm sorry to hear about this experience. Could you please share a few more details, like the operating system version and the version of Illustrator you're using? It might be related to interference by some third-party apps as well, I would also suggest trying to run Illustrator under Safe Mode (Windows / macOS) as suggested by Anubhav and checking if it helps. 

We're here to help — we just need a bit more information.

Regards,

Srishti

[erickv88586307]

I'm having the same issues as well. This time Illustrator freezes when Time Machine starts doing a backup. EVERYTIME.

I'm on Ventura 13.6.9 and illustrator 2024. Any workaround, anyone?

[Anubhav M]

Hello @erickv88586307,

I am sorry to hear about your experience. Would you mind confirming if this only happens when using Time Machine backup and if there are any open files in Illustrator when this happens?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,

Anubhav

[erickv88586307]

Yes, only happens when Time Machine starts backing up AND and I’m working on an adobe Illustrator file.

Appreciate your guidance and help

Erick

[Anubhav M]

Hello @erickv88586307,

Thanks for confirming. It is quite possible that the Time Machine backup process somehow interferes with the application/data files, causing it to freeze. To avoid this, I would suggest pausing Time Machine when you're running Illustrator or setting it to a manual cadence (https://adobe.ly/4e6Pqkz).

Feel free to reach out if you have more questions or need assistance. We'd be happy to help.

Thanks,
Anubhav

[wrwmedical@gmail.com]

Installing  Illustrator version 28.7.2 (64-bit) for Windows 11, seems to have fixed frozen menu bar for experiments, for my last two sessions.

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same problem...