not enough memory message

[--rick_D]

I am puzzled and frustrated by having received the following error message from illustrator.
“We’ve hit a roadblock! There isn’t enough available memory (RAM).”

It goes on to recommend updating AI or my graphics card but the end result was an inability to save the project with over one hour’s worth of work lost. Yes, I should be saving more often but this error makes no sense. I am using an M1 Max with 64 GB of memory!!! The file was amazingly simple (background photo overlaid with a color box in one corner and 10 lines of text (two lines had been converted to outline). I was working in outline mode because I was editing the text and didn’t want to be distracted by the background photo. I have worked on FAR more complicated items in the past without such errors.

I should also mention that this happened less than 3 hours after the computer was freshly started following being off all night. The only other programs open were PhotoShop, BBedit and Vivaldi browser. There should have been plenty of memory available. My search on this topic found post from 2018 saying it was a known problem and would soon be fixed. This has me wondering if the problem has returned (AI v27.5) or if my experience is something different. I recall that in os7 thru os9 we needed to actively assign memory to each program but I thought that was no longer a concern. I currently have scratch disk preference set to my local drive which has over 3.2 TB available. I’d appreciate any advice on what may have caused this and what I can do to ensure it never happens again. Thank you.

[Anubhav M]

Hello @--rick_D,

We understand how frustrating it can be to encounter technical issues while working in Illustrator. Would you mind trying the suggestions shared in this help article (https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/kb/not-enough-memory-illustrator-cc.html) and checking if it helps?

Also, try to manually reset Illustrator's preferences and share your observations:

• Close all Adobe applications.

• Go to the following locations

• ~/Library/Caches

• ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe

• ~/Library/Preferences

• Rename Adobe Illustrator, com.adobe.illustrator and Adobe Illustrator 27 Settings folders to Adobe Illustrator.old, com.adobe.illustrator.old and Adobe Illustrator 27 Settings.old

• Launch Illustrator from the Creative Cloud.

Note: Location starting with this "~" sign indicates the User Library, which is hidden. So, you need to copy & paste the exact path in spotlight search or from Finder Menu > Go > Go to Folder > Paste the location in the dialog box like this:

Disclaimer: Please note that renaming preferences folders will remove all the custom settings, and Illustrator will launch with default settings. You can also save a backup of the folders in case you want to. The location is mentioned above.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,

Anubhav