Spacebar and Z key shortcuts not working for the hand tool and zoom tool

[madhav r37397749]

The Spacebar and Z key for the Hand tool and zoom are not working. I am on Windows 10 and i checked out a bunch of threads on why this bug might be happening. Some say it's because of chrome or some other app stopping the keystroke, but none of these suggestions worked

I am on latest Illustrator CC version.

Thanks in Advance !

[Srishti Bali]

Hi Madhav,

Sorry to hear about this issue. Please try resetting preferences for Illustrator and let us know if that helps: How to set preferences in Illustrator.​

Please note: Resetting preferences will remove all the custom settings and Illustrator will launch with default settings. You can also take a backup of the folder in case you want to. Location is mentioned in the article.

Regards,

Srishti

[madhav r37397749]

Hey Srishti,

Resetting Preferences didn't work, would love any other suggestions ?

[Bill Silbert]

Do you have any other apps open which use those commands? Try rebooting your computer with all apps and plug-ins off except for Illustrator and see if the problem persists. If the commands work with only Illustrator open then try launching other apps one at a time until you find the conflict. You should also check your Keyboard Shortcuts dialog window (found under the Edit Menu) in the Tools section to see if the Z key is listed as the shortcut for the zoom tool. 

[madhav r37397749]

Hey Bill,

Uninstalling made it work once, but the bug is showing up again.

A temporary solution is holding the alt button while operating the space and z button. I hope Adobe addresses this bug, these shortcuts are crucial to a workflow.

[Bill Silbert]

If this were a bug then it would be widely reported and I have not seen that. I think that your best bet would be to contact Adobe Customer Care at Contact Customer Care . They can do a diagnostic of your system which can’t be done here on the user to user forum.

[Ninasan]

It's 2024, and I expereince this constantly.

[Monika Gause · Accepted solution]

The following is a list of application that have been identified in this community to cause this:

• WhatsApp on the web being the active tab in the browser
• WebRoot
• Apple Terminal
• Word, Excel, Powerpoint
• »Enable Full Keyboard« in Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard on Mac OS
• »Keyboard Navigation« in Apple settings > Keyboard
• 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)
• Notes

[Anubhav M · Accepted solution]

Hello @Ninasan,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. I hope Monika's suggestions helped resolve the problem. If not, kindly try rebooting your computer in Safe Mode (Windows / macOS) and checking if it helps?

If the problem persists, kindly share more details, like the OS/Illustrator version so we can check it with the team.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav