Spacebar not working as quick hand tool on MAC – Adobe Illustrator

[fernandam88771201]

I have the latest Illustator and Photoshop version and in both of them the spacebar ain't working as quick hand tool on Mac.

[Anshul_Saini]

Hi @quoz,

Thanks for letting me know the details of the version of Illustrator and macOS you're using. If the issue disappears after a reboot, it could indicate that some app or process is interfering with Illustrator. When you restart, that app or process is closed and may start later when you use it again.

To identify the culprit, I suggest starting your Mac in Safe Mode and launching Illustrator first. Then, you can open other apps one by one that you usually use and see which app conflicts with Illustrator. You can check and find the culprit app/process with the help of Activity Monitor, and then you'll have to close/disable/uninstall it on your user account and then restart your machine in normal mode.

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks,

Anshul Saini

[quoz]

Thanks, Anshul Saini. It actually happened most recently in Photoshop (2022). (I realize now this is an Illustrator forum, sorry, I saw fernandam88771201’s mention of Photoshop also so I pursued this thread.)  So I started in Safe Mode (BTW, I have a silicon M1 Mac). Started the following programs, testing the spacebar-hand after each one:  Photoshop, Illustrator. Then Chrome, FileMaker, Connect Fonts, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Teams, Outlook, TeamViewer, even the Calculator, Text Edit, Terminal and QuickTime player, and finally InDesign. Kept them all running while I worked a while in Photoshop... bopped in and out of one of the other programs now and then... the issue never occurred. Tried checking and unchecking Accessibility “Enable Full Keyboard Access” without impact. (Also, in System Preferences, Sleep is disabled.) 

Of course a problem happens until you’re actively watching for it… 😛

I guess the only thing I can do when it occurs is to TRY to remember what other program might have JUST been using before that, and what I was doing.

[quoz]

This happened again, this time in InDesign. I had just gone to the CC app to LOOK at something to compare with something a teammate was seeing. (Just looking.) Then when I got back into InDesign the hand tool would not reappear when the spacebar is pressed. I had Excel, Teams and Outlook running, plus Chrome, and quit each of those without improvement. I finally quit and restarted InDesign. Nope. Also tried Photoshop and Illustrator. Broken in those also.

I looked at the Activity Monitor and saw quite a few Adobe entries but wasn't sure I should mess with that so I went with my usual workaround:  Reboot. Started InDesign, all is well. Teams starts automatically, so I started Chrome, Outlook and Excel one by one in that order. All is still OK. I clicked on the CC app again, but that didn't cause the issue either. 

A mystery.

[Anshul_Saini]

Hi @quoz,

Thanks for sharing your recent experience. It's strange that the problem occurred again in InDesign even after you tried testing various applications. It could be a specific combination of programs or actions that trigger the issue, which makes it hard to pinpoint.

When this happens next, I recommend you connect with our technical support team (https://helpx.adobe.com/contact.html?rghtup=autoOpen). The team here would be able to perform remote troubleshooting and assist you accordingly.

Please let me know if you have any further questions or updates on the issue.

Best,

Anshul

[quoz]

This happened twice again, while I was working in Photoshop and Illustrator, and I simply cannot pinpoint the trigger. It seems random. The only way to make it go away was a reboot. I can't make it happen on-demand for troubleshooting. I'll consider contacting the tech support team next time, if it doesn't occur when I'm on a deadline, as usually happens...!

[default7ty7cxqhx5hr · Accepted solution]

Go to the apple in the menu bar. 

Put the computer to sleep.

Wake it back up and it should work again.

[Alexander5C5E]

This issue has been driving me INSANE for the longest time... your solve of putting the mac into sleep mode and then coming out of sleep mode worked like a charm.  This whole time I have had to restart my computer so many times, it was ridicuous.  Thank you for your tip!

[createballz]

It's Work Thx. ^ ^

[kylep39142506]

Thank you! Putting it to "sleep" is such an easy solve. I've been struggling with for 2+ years.

[reddragonfly]

Dude, you saved my mental state, struggling too for many months... Bless u !!

[defaultwstk4pcty95p]

Hey all. I continue to have this problem, and quitting all Microsoft suite apps does not fix it. A full restart is the only solution. This is making me INSANE. Has anyone heard of a different solve?

[Monika Gause]

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@defaultwstk4pcty95p  a écrit :

Hey all. I continue to have this problem, and quitting all Microsoft suite apps does not fix it. A full restart is the only solution. This is making me INSANE. Has anyone heard of a different solve?

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It's not only Microsoft apps that are stealing key press events. Could be somethinbg else.

[DanPP · Accepted solution]

I fixed this by turning off all accessibility (in system Prefs) and quiting Mail.

[JonVernon-DIRECTV]

I've been pulling my hair out with this issue for some time now.  It's happening with Photoshop and Illustrator.  I've tried all the fixes I could find (resetting preferences, restarting, quitting apps, disabling accessability, etc), but to no avail.

Has anyone found any other options for a fix?  It's not a deal-breaker by any means, but it definitely slows down productivity having to either select the Hand tool from the palette or press "H" to swap to it.  

Hope there's a permanent fix soon!!

[Monika Gause]

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@JonVernon-DIRECTV  schrieb:

I've been pulling my hair out with this issue for some time now.  It's happening with Photoshop and Illustrator.  I've tried all the fixes I could find (resetting preferences, restarting, quitting apps, disabling accessability, etc), but to no avail.

Has anyone found any other options for a fix?  It's not a deal-breaker by any means, but it definitely slows down productivity having to either select the Hand tool from the palette or press "H" to swap to it.  

Hope there's a permanent fix soon!!

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There is other software intercepting keyboard input. Password apps are one example, but the browser Chrome is also infamous for that.

[Stan Chung]

For me the culprit was MS Office 2021. Quit that and voila, spacebar works!

[Anshul_Saini]

Hi @JonVernon-DIRECTV,

I apologize for the ongoing frustration you're experiencing with this issue. This generally happens when a third-party app or process is interfering with the system keyboard. To further assist you, I kindly request that you provide the following details:

• Can you please confirm the specific version of Adobe Illustrator and the macOS you are using?
• Have you tried starting your Mac in Safe Mode and checking if the issue persists? Safe Mode performs a series of checks and disables third-party software/services, which can help identify any conflicts or issues caused by other applications. You can try opening Illustrator in Safe Mode and observe if the problem still occurs.

If the problem does not occur in Safe Mode, it indicates that there may be a conflict with another application or background process. In that case, you can use Activity Monitor (Mac) to identify any processes or extensions that might be causing the issue. Once identified, you can try closing, disabling, or uninstalling them to see if it resolves the problem.

I hope these suggestions help in finding a resolution for the issue you're facing. Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns.

Best,

Anshul Saini

[michalz6722177]

Still doesnt work....

[Monika Gause]

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@michalz6722177  schrieb:

Still doesnt work....

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Most probably some other application is interfering. Here is a list of apps that are known to do that:

• WebRoot
• Apple Terminal
• Word, Excel, Powerpoint
• »Enable Full Keyboard« in Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard on Mac OS
• 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

[kylep39142506]

Hi, Adobe please fix this issue, is there a way to fix this issue? Having to restart my computer to get my hand tool (spacebar) and Zoom quick keys is extremely disruptive to my workflow. This happens regularly and iu do not have th eoption to turn off my Outlook because I need it open at al times. And I often use Excel while using Illustrator. This is a regular problem for me multime times per day, it's becoming very fristrating and wasting a lot of time for me to have to restart and reopen all the programs I use just because Illustrator decides to let other programs hijack my spacebar.

[Monika Gause]

Maybe you want to complain to the other software companies that their software is intrusive and ruins your workflow?

[kylep39142506]

Good suggestion and I will do that! Adobe is it possible for you to work it out with other softwear companies to figure out a way to fix this persistant problem of hot key hijacking? Or any other possible ways to fix this without having to restart? Evem after closing all programs and restarting Illustrator Spacebar and Zoom hot keys do not function and hard restart is required. Any other recommemdations?

[Monika Gause]

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@kylep39142506  schrieb:

Adobe is it possible for you 

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In this public forum 95% of people are not Adobe staff.

If you want to report this as a bug, please do so at https://illustrator.uservoice.com 

[yasinbolat · Accepted solution]

The problem was fixed when I closed Safari.

[eranshefi]

When I turned Safari off the problem was solved. Good luck!