Keyboard shortcuts not working in Illustrator CC for Mac

[Marxamus]

I'm having a lot of problems using keyboard shortcuts in Illustrator CC for Mac. They'll will work intermittently. No keyboard issues anywhere else. Is this a bug, or something I can remedy on my end?

[jishica]

I am on a PC using AI CC and am having similar problems. If there has been any successful troubleshooting for PC, would love to hear about it. My mouse is wired not remote, and it happens with/without Chrome running. I haven't noticed any real patterns of use that might trigger it.

Thanks.

[TheDancingTiger]

Any action that uses the CMD/Alt/Shift keys did not work while in Illustrator. Even in Chrome when I clicked on a link whilst holding the CMD key did not open a new tab. My mouse had low battery but my computer said that it was my keyboard that needed new batteries. My keyboard is not wireless. I changed the batteries for the mouse, went into Bluetooth settings and removed the Wireless Keyboard from the list of devices. Boom. Now all my hotkeys work again. This was what worked for me.

[wildeidea]

Shut down everything and restart your computer. This fixed it for me. Not sure what caused the problems for me but all my generic (but super useful!) keyboard shortcuts stopped working: space bar for the hand, zoom in and out space/command etc. I had had firefox open but it had been quite a few days previously. However since then I hadn't shut down illustrator or my computer since then it could be the problem. All in all I think it's a good idea to restart your computer somewhat regularly, as easy as it is to keep everything on and just asleep when not using, shutting it down does allow the computer to reset everything from the finder to the programs, stopping the accumulation of potential problems.

[byungwan]

Have you changed your language setting by changing a name of a file 'Illustrator.ztx'? (which you can find it in a directory where the program is installed)

I changed its name 'Illustrator.ztx' to 'Illustrator-.ztx' so I can use Illustrator in English (it was Korean before)

However, the shortcuts (hot keys) were dead and I believe it was because the languages were mixed.

And I could recover the issue by re-naming the file into  'Illustrator.ztx' again.

So try this way if you encountered the problem after you messed up with 'Illustrator.ztx'.

[taylaclaire]

I was having the same issue. Turns out it was because my magic mouse batteries were low. Once I had changed the batteries, problem gone!

[web_web_webby]

I have the same problem - seems fine in a brand new CC Ai file but as soon as I try to Command C an element from another Illustrator file the entire keyboard stops working except for the Alt and Backspace key. It is so frustrating and Adobe says it is nothing to do with the App but something to do with the 'old files' which are actually not old in any way. All created in CC version. Adobe say that I will have to create a new file and copy via the menu commands - not a very satisfactory result. All creative cloud files have been cleaned and reloaded. The issue is the same no matter what keyboard, wired or wireless, all hardware has been checked and verified, latest system software all completely reinstalled etc etc. Any wisdom appreciated please.

[barbaram97320375]

This just happened to me for the first time yesterday. As far as I could tell, only a few keyboard commands weren't working. Just the "switch to hand tool" (spacebar), and "switch to zoom" (spacebar+cmd) which I use constantly. I'm a heavy keyboard command user, so after researching online, It scared me that this could become a persistent problem with no clear solution from Adobe. I'm running CC 2015 on El Capitan. I use both a wired keyboard and mouse and was not running Firefox at the time, so my circumstances are different than some of the people who posted here. I did have lots of other programs running, but nothing unusual or new. I also have ESET Cyber Security running and it was up to date. I don't believe I did anything to bring on the problem. It simply stopped working. Perhaps when I opened a different file. I SOLVED it by simply shutting down for the night and restarting in the morning. It's working fine now.

[andrews70404843]

Zoom in/out (alt) keyboard command has been problematic for me since installing Adobe Illustrator CC2015.3. Having just returned from a week's leave, its now working correctly. What th..?

[Monika Gause]

andrews70404843 schrieb:

Zoom in/out (alt) keyboard command has been problematic for me since installing Adobe Illustrator CC2015.3. Having just returned from a week's leave, its now working correctly. What th..?

Without knowing anything whatsoever about your system version or the hardware used or even the order in which you installed/updated the system/Illustrator, it will be close to impossible to help.

[anthonyr47683655]

non of my key board short cuts work on my mac. i am using illustrator cc. Any help much appreciated!

[anthonyr47683655]

My illustrator keyboards short cuts don't work when i use a wacom intuos pad. They only work when using a regular mouse. Does anyone have any suggestions of how to get the key boards shortcuts to work when using the wacom pen & pad

[Monika Gause]

anthonyr47683655 schrieb:

My illustrator keyboards short cuts don't work when i use a wacom intuos pad. They only work when using a regular mouse. Does anyone have any suggestions of how to get the key boards shortcuts to work when using the wacom pen & pad

It's impossible to help individually in this monster thread. Please create your own and provide detailed information.

But ince this works when you don't use the Wacom then it's safe to assume that the Wacom is the issue. Try out other driver versions, maybe even older ones.

[CatAM]

Are your using Sierra OS? I'm also using AI CC 2017 with an Intous Pro 5.

If you are, go to the Wacom website. There is a driver download specifically for Sierra. It completely fixed the problem for me.

[MarieElizabeth5678]

Hey i just figure this out too!  Cant believe it was the tablet all along, I also had trouble intstalling their update and found this link through twitter of all places lol.

Wacom on Twitter: "Here is our macOS Sierra Driver Update https://t.co/t30jIfGEUO. We're actively wo...

[denverf]

Was still using CS6 till about a month ago. Finally decided to "upgrade" to CC. Haven't plugged in any external peripherals to my MBP 2015 (Running 10.11.1). Its not a focus issue because I've switched out and switched back. It could be the only thing running on my machine and the shortcuts still don't work. I've reset Illustrator to default settings. That doesn't work either.

Should I cancel my CC subscription and go back to my old CS6 license? Shortcuts are integral to my workflow as I'm sure they are to everyone else's.

[krymzonspyke]

I've been having similar issues on my PC (also had these issues on my Mac a year or two ago). Most notably, is the zoom in/out shortcut (CTRL +/-).

From what I've noticed, it's an issue with web browsers hogging focus.

A little workaround I've found is if you open Adobe bridge (I use two monitors, so this is pretty easy for me) and click on it a few times (empty space works fine) to draw focus to it, and then go to Illustrator. All functionality seems to work fine.

[satisfied_hope15D5]

I opened Illustrator recently and NONE of my shortcuts worked, although in Photoshop they were still fine.

In going to EDIT > KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS, I could see that no shortcuts were programmed. I've had to slowly program each one and they now work.

Also, when I tried to program CMD+Z for UNDO, Illustrator would not take it. I ended up having to program CMD +B for Undo. Strangely, I programmed Z for the ZOOM tool and that works fine, it just won't accept CMD+Z for some reason. I am all updated on a MacBook Pro with Sierra and was on Illustrator 2014 when issue started. I today updated to 2017, the same thing is still happening.

Is there a way to reset Illustrator to go back to it's original factory-programmed shortcuts?

[Monika Gause]

bluebeary45  schrieb

I opened Illustrator recently and NONE of my shortcuts worked, although in Photoshop they were still fine.

In going to EDIT > KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS, I could see that no shortcuts were programmed. I've had to slowly program each one and they now work.

Also, when I tried to program CMD+Z for UNDO, Illustrator would not take it. I ended up having to program CMD +B for Undo. Strangely, I programmed Z for the ZOOM tool and that works fine, it just won't accept CMD+Z for some reason. I am all updated on a MacBook Pro with Sierra and was on Illustrator 2014 when issue started. I today updated to 2017, the same thing is still happening.

Is there a way to reset Illustrator to go back to it's original factory-programmed shortcuts?

You might need to rebuild the preferences if not uninstall/reinstall.

How to set preferences in Illustrator

Use the Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool to solve installation problems

You didn't tell us your system and version. Let's hope they are comaptible.

[benjamina1995]

I am also having the same problem but slightly different. I'm trying to learn different shortcuts on Illustrator CC (I'm using a Mac), but when I try and use a shortcut, it doesn't work. What I have found out is that it is a DIFFERENT set of keys, for whatever reason. I have never played around with editing shortcuts (if you can even do that, that would help me!) or anything like that.

[Monika Gause]

Customizing keyboard shortcuts in Illustrator

[Kalsum]

Hello,

I'm new to Illustrator, having major issue with keyboard shortcuts, they are not working at all. I did click into the above link Monika but no help, can someone please tell me a fool proof way of getting the keyboard shortcuts to work with Illustrator.

any thanks

[Monika Gause]

kalsum  schrieb

Hello,

I'm new to Illustrator, having major issue with keyboard shortcuts, they are not working at all. I did click into the above link Monika but no help, can someone please tell me a fool proof way of getting the keyboard shortcuts to work with Illustrator.

any thanks

Which version, which system?

What exactly happens? Step by step please

Specific shortcuts or all of them?

Did it ever work?

[alsojishica]

It's 2017 now, 4 years since the original posting of this question, and this is still a very live question, at least for me. I am on a PC, Adobe CC 2015. Illustrator in particular intermittently won't recognize its own standard commands. I have tried various fixes among the ones in this list but none seem to be a permanent fix.

This really hamstrings productivity.

[AmyUskoski]

Do you happen to have Webroot SecureAnywhere antivirus installed? I have a Mac, but you might have it on your PC as well. I had to fix it every time I fired up Illustrator. It's just a matter of turning off real-time virus detection. I wonder if it could be from any anti-virus software though. Good luck to you. It's about impossible to work that way. 😕

[David R. Purnell]

OK, here is my experience and the solution that easily and painlessly worked.
I use Illustrator (18.1.1) CC2014.1.1 Release, on a Mac Pro (running OS X. 10.7.5 Lion).
Cmd-G has, in Illustrator CC (and in my previous CS versions), always worked to Group a selected object or objects.
That is, it worked until recently. When I would use Cmd-G in Illustrator, it would transfer me from Illustrator to the Finder and implement "Find Again."

After reading all the above posts/comments, I got the idea that the problem might have to do with my "Login Items" (which load at Startup). With Illustrator NOT launched, I opened my System Preferences and clicked on "Users & Groups." There, I clicked on "Login Items." What I found — in addition to login items I knew I had placed there — was a new item I was unfamiliar with. It was related to some minor app that I had recently added to my system. So, I enabled the "tick" box on that Login item, and clicked the "–" (minus key), thus removing that item from my "Login Items."

Then, I closed System Preferences and Restarted the computer. After it was up and running, I launched my Illustrator CC2014, and gave it a try at using Cmd-G to group an object. IT NOW WORKS CORRECTLY — as it had previously.

I hope this might work for others who have expressed their frustration with a keyboard shortcut that is not functioning as it should — as it always has functioned in the past.