Stuck on hand tool in all Adobe programs

[Oleksandr Kolodko]

Suddenly the hand-tool (hand) is turned on and stuck. I pressed the space bar many times, but issue do not let go. Switching to other instruments does not work, but menus and hotkeys do. This behavior in Al, ID, I even installed the AI beta, everything is the same. All the latest versions.

Demo:

Hardware:

MacBook Pro 2019

Intel + AMD

macOS Sonoma 14.1.2

Did not help:
- Reset settings
- Uninstalling/installing Al via cloud
- Reboot in Safe Mode, start AI and reboot again.

- I found tips to disable mac OS dictation. But I don't have it enabled.

Rebooting the computer temporarily helps, but then the problem returns.

Contacted in the end to tech support. The support connected via a special program for remote access.
In Activity monitor completed all processes where Adobe and Creative is mentioned. Started Cloud, then Al.
And sort of clicked the space bar a lot and everything went ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It appeared again though. I opened the virtual keyboard, clicked the space bar and so far it began to work.

But another issue arose when all the instruments were turned on one at a time.

[Monika Gause]

You are using a virtual keyboard?

Any kind of special devices attached?

Some third party apps interfere with Illustrators modifier keys. Is any of these running?

• 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

[Oleksandr Kolodko]

Everything works correctly in all other programs. I don't use any of the programs with a virtual keyboard.

[Monika Gause]

That was not my question.

[Oleksandr Kolodko]

I don't use a virtual keyboard or external devices.

I even tried to connect an external Bluetooth keyboard. But the problem persists, it doesn't work.

Of all the programs listed, I have only Word/Excel/PP and Chrome. I've turned them off and shut them down, but it has no effect.

[Denis Tseytlin]

Hi

Same for me. I only have Chrome from the listed above progrmas. 
As for now I found the workaround to be able to continue using adobe apps: I activated virtual keyboard and have to click spacebar manually on it from time to time in order to get rid of a hand tool. The problem returns like in 1-2 hours, especially when swithcin from one program to another (Illustrator, After Effects, Photoshop)  

[Denis Tseytlin]

another impportant thing to mention: 

in AE the hand tool is not active all the time, it comes up only when I move the cursor to switch between panels or close one. No matter in which window or panel. Other than that I an able to work normally. 
at the same time, in Illustrator the hand tool is active all the time and I can  do nothing. 

[Oleksandr Kolodko · Accepted solution]

I have found the cause of the error - the LangSwitcher app for correcting the wrong keyboard layout (it has been working incorrectly since version 2.30.0, the developer is already aware of the problem).

To fix the bug, you need to disable Start with Login in the program, close the app and restart the computer.

[Denis Tseytlin]

Wow, thanks a lot. I do have this program as well. 

Hope he'll fix it soon 

[Vlad34211352ep8h]

Yes, I found this issue too, the developer even fixed this issue. Allegedly. Updating no position is still the cause of the problem

[Denis Tseytlin]

Yep. Unfortunately the issue still persists. The update of the Lang Switcher didn't fix it. 

[Aleksey226877927yb2]

Thank you for your work, using a virtual keyboard is the only solution for me.

Now waiting for LS update...

[Denis Tseytlin]

Hi there!

Same thing happened to me yesterday. All as described in your case. 
I'm on Mac Pro M1 Max 2021. Problem started on Ventura, I updated to Sonoma and also updated every Adobe app. 
Restarting. Rebooting. Safe modes. All kind of tricks didn't work. 

At the moment I've tried pressing spacebar on a virtual keyboard - as you advised - it seems to help, but let's see how long will it last. 

thanks for your help! 

[Oleksandr Kolodko · Accepted solution]

I found the details of the bug: if you use double Shift key switching, the program copies objects as svg and presses all characters as hotkeys. Demo with Keycastr:

The solution that worked for me: change the manual switching from Shift key to Control key (or another key that you don't press so often).

[alvaro_8856]

I have Windows 10 and this still happens. As fas as I know I dont have LangSwitcher and don't know what is Start with Logina in the program or how to disable it. 

Honestly I just want to know which version doesn't have the problem, to rollback to that one. 

Just in case... Tried uninstalling adobe, windows, deleting my profiles, preferences, starting windows in safe mode, and everything. 

Please help

[iconify]

I am having the same issue on Illustrator 29 on MacBook Pro 16-inch 2023. I have figured out that, in my case at least, it only occurs when you hold the space bar to drag the window. When I release the space bar, the hand does  not go away but if I click click in the window, then click the space bar again, it does away.  Also, it ONLY happens when viewing in GPU mode. CPU view mode works as it should.

[Monika Gause]

---

@iconify  schrieb:

I am having the same issue on Illustrator 29 on MacBook Pro 16-inch 2023. I have figured out that, in my case at least, it only occurs when you hold the space bar to drag the window. When I release the space bar, the hand does  not go away but if I click click in the window, then click the space bar again, it does away.  Also, it ONLY happens when viewing in GPU mode. CPU view mode works as it should.

---

That rather sounds like you have activated some setting in the operating system for moving windows around. 

[Carl Holmgren]

Dude! I'm having the same issue now. I've installed nothing or modified it. Just using Illustrator and all of the sudden, this bug happened.

[Carl Holmgren]

Also can confirm that GPU being enabled causes the bug. Using CPU mode works fine!

[Monika Gause]

Do you have Magnet installed?

[tygherman]

I'm having the same problem to … does Magnet cause issues?

[Monika Gause]

Magnet causes this kind of issue.

[Carl Holmgren]

@Monika Gause I have 2 clips here to show what's going on.
PS: Tested on Random files I have on my downloads.

- Clip #1: https://streamable.com/zpjp95
- Clip #2: https://streamable.com/0gm74x (this has put my brain in the gutter - I'm just selecting anchors here and everything is going nuts)

I'm not sure if it's the MacOS update that happened few days ago but still guessing what's the cause. 

MacOS: 15.1.1

Tried:
- Restarting/Shutting Down Device
- Resetting Settings
- Uninstalling and Reinstalling
- Installing previous versions (2024 to 2022)

- Used 2 external keyboards (also while disabling Macbook Keyboard)
- Tried the latest version of Adobe Illustrator on my wife's laptop (MacOS 15.0) and everything works fine

Hope this gets fixed. I'm doing tons of rush projects at the moment and this actually is slowing me down so bad. 

[Monika Gause · Accepted solution]

Do you have Magnet installed? Or Rectangle?

[Carl Holmgren]

Yeah got Magnet here. So that's the reason. I wonder why...

Anyways, thank you very much!