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Participant
June 15, 2021
Question

Right-clicking on tools bar doesn't work

  • June 15, 2021
  • 3 replies
  • 1738 views

I have a problem with Adobe Illustrator CS6, When I try to right or left click on one of the arrows on the tool button to develop it, it does nothing. For example the rectangle tool won't let me convert it to a circle tool (I've tried reinstalling the program) and to no avail, please help me 

 

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3 replies

Monika Gause
Community Expert
Community Expert
June 16, 2021

Right-click doesn't work anyway.

What you need to do is click and hold.

Doug A Roberts
Community Expert
Community Expert
June 16, 2021

Is that on Mac OS? Right-click does work on Windows.

Monika Gause
Community Expert
Community Expert
June 16, 2021

... and obviously it has been changed on the Mac as well - you can right-click on the Mac. So sorry for the distraction.

 

But asking for the system information might matter here. Could that be Windows 10? I have seen at least one other thread where there was the same issue with Windows 10 and CS6.

Doug A Roberts
Community Expert
Community Expert
June 16, 2021

Are you able to alt-click to cycle through stacked tools?

Bill Silbert
Community Expert
Community Expert
June 16, 2021

What operating system are you using? Is this a problem that has happened since an operating system update? If you are on a Mac then CS6 is not supported on any OS later than Yosemite (OSX 10.10). It is also not supported for current versions of Windows 10. If you had been working successfully on Windows 10 then possibly one of the automatic updates that Windows 10 runs periodically may have rendered your CS6 Illustrator no longer fully functional.

You could also try trashing your Illustrator preference files. This will restore the program to its defaults which could possibly fix the problem (assuming it is not an OS problem).

To do so:

For Macintosh Users: The User Library folder in which Illustrator’s preferences are stored is hidden by default on most Macintoshes. To access it make sure that Illustrator is closed and click on the desktop to launch a Finder Window (Command-N).With this window in column view follow the path User>Home folder (it’s the folder with an icon that looks like a house—it may have the user’s name rather than “Home”) and click on the Home folder. With the Option Key pressed choose Library from the Finder Go Menu. “Library” will now appear within the Home folder. Within the Library folder find the folder called Preferences and within it find the folder called “Adobe Illustrator <Version #> Settings” (earlier versions of Illustrator might just say “Adobe Illustrator”) and the file called “com.adobe.Illustrator.plist” and delete both that folder and that file. When Illustrator is next launched it will create new preference files and the program will be restored to its defaults.

For Windows Users: You can try the quick way of resetting on a PC which is to hold down Ctrl + Alt + Shift when launching Illustrator and respond affirmatively when asked if you want to reset. There have been some recent reports that the window asking if you want to reset is not popping up but that the prefs are being reset anyway. If this works great but if it doesn’t you may have to manually delete them.

To do so: On Windows 7 and above the preference files are hidden. To find them go to the Control Panel and open Folder Options and then click the View tab. Then select “Show hidden files and folders” or “Show hidden files, folders or drive options” in Advanced Settings. Then delete (or rename) the folder at the end of this path: C:\Users\[User Name]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator [version number]\ Settings\<Language>. Make sure that Illustrator is closed when you do this. When you relaunch the program it will create new preference files and the program will be at its default settings.

The advantage of manually deleting preference files is that after you’ve reset up the program (make sure that no document window is open) to your liking, you can create copies of your personalized “mint” preference files (make sure that you quit the program before copying them—that finalizes your customization) and use them in the future to replace any corrupt versions you may need to delete.