Text Stroke and Visibility Issues with 100% Black in Illustrator 2023–2025

[Joro Ivanov]

Hi, everybody 🙂
I was working on a project and out of nowhere Illustrator started showing very strange behavior while working with texts. When I add a stroke to a word, Illustrator is adding it to the whole line of text after the word. If I make a letter/symbol invisible (no color), Illustrator make the whole line of text disappear, if the word is in the begining of the line, or doesn’t make the letter/symbol invisible at all, if the letter/symbol/word is in the middle of the line of text. This happens in Illustrator 2025, 2024 and 2023. 2022 has no such problem. If I open an old file, from the day before yesterday or create a new one in ver. 2022, in 2025-2023, everything is fine, but if I create a new file in any version after 2022, the problem is there. I’m uploading a short video.
It seems the issue presents itself only with 100%K (black). If the color is different - no problem.
I’ll appreciate if someone can help with this. It drives me nuts at this point.

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[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @Joro Ivanov,

Thanks so much for sharing the video and the detailed explanation. That definitely looks strange and I can imagine how frustrating it must be, especially when it's only happening in versions after 2022.

I tested this on my end, and when applying a stroke or making a character invisible, the changes correctly applied only to the selected text, not the entire line, so this doesn't seem like expected behavior.

Could you confirm the macOS or Windows version you're using? Also, is the issue consistent across all fonts or only specific ones? Since you mentioned it only occurs with 100% K black, try switching to a rich black or a slightly off-black tone and see if it behaves differently.

In the meantime, try resetting Illustrator's preferences and check if the problem persists. If possible, also test the behavior in a new local user profile or in Safe Mode to rule out any third-party conflicts or profile-specific issues. Reference for articles: 

Windows: https://adobe.ly/443Hheh

macOS: https://adobe.ly/44zh87c

New user MAC: 
https://adobe.ly/3GoADWK

New user Windows: 
https://adobe.ly/46fO1Hi

Looking forward to your update so we can help troubleshoot this further.

Abhishek

[Joro Ivanov]

Hello 🙂
My OS is Windows 10. Updated to the latest version. My apps are updated too. My video drivers are up to date.
Any color different than 100K is working fine. 99% K - it's fine. Green - fine. The moment I use 100% K the problem manifests itself.
I've tried resetting Illustrator. I've tried deleting prefs. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling 2025. No change. I'll try your suggestions for Safe mode and new user later. If it is something third-party app/plugin etc. is doing, why isn't it affecting 2022 and 2021 versions? Strange. The font makes no difference.
I'm attaching another vide, because it's easier if you can see what I'm talking about.

Joro