Why is Illustrator using so much RAM?

[AnthonyB_DSDExpress]

How is it that Illustraror needs to use 44GB+ of memory on a file that is 400MB in size.  How is that even possible?

Currently my Illustrator program has been (Not Responding) now for 24 minutes. Memory usage jumps from 4GB, 19GB, 34GB, 44GB, 36GB, and now it's down to 17MB and still not responding. What is going on?

This is an ongoing issue with Illustrator even when working with minimal size files. My files are not all tha complicated and don't include anything drastically complex. I've researched and adjusted my settings to oprimize the programs speed. Reduced saves, Unchecked background services and done everything I can think of to try and increase the speed of Illustrator, but yet it still continuiously wants to be a resource hog and utilize more memory than the entire instalation of all programs on my computer. There has to be a program issue that is allowing such large amounts of memory to be used which is causing these lock ups and failures. Yesterday I lost 4 hours of work when Illustrator crashed and didn't recover any of my work. 

The same with the day before and before that. This is causing my anxiety and stress. 

These issues need to be resolved.  The only thing I have not yet tried is a complete windows reinstall, but I don't believe that will resolve these issues. Everything else works fine. 

For peace of mind, could Adobe support please respond to the following.

1. Please list all the possible steps to help reudce the amount of memory Illustrator uses.

2. Please list all the possible steps to help increase the speed of the Illustrator program.

3. Please list all the possible steps to help minimize the background features like AIMonitor and AIRobin. 

(Gone 10 years without using AI as a graphic artist, yes, I'm sure it's features are nice, but for someone who relies on speed these features only slow down my work process)

Time is money and I'm losing way to much time then I should be by having to deal with a program that does not manage memory properly. 

Yes my programs are updated, Yes I have all the Windows updates. I'm not a Novice with Illustrator. I'm a professional graphic artist

Thank you for your time,

Anthony

[Anubhav M]

Hello @AnthonyB_DSDExpress,

Would you mind sharing more details, like if Illustrator behaves this way when working with files from a particular folder location like an external/network drive or a cloud-synced folder like Google Drive/Dropbox/etc and the version of the OS/Illustrator, so I can better assist you?

Also, try running Illustrator under Safe Mode (Windows / macOS) and under a different administrator account (Windows / macOS) and share your observations.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav

[Makerman111111]

Happening to me almost everyday now since the last 2 updates. It will never get better. Adobe is too poor to refactor their code or rebuild it from scratch. They only make 20 billion dollars a year from us, its not enough money to put a team together to bring this software into the 21st century. We are literally working on a singlecore app that was written in the 80s. They will never take care of us. They will hire people to tell you to reset your preferences and check for GPU updates. 

30 thousand employees. 20 billion in revenue last year.

[Bobby Henderson]

Is the Illustrator file that is causing problems a normal print size file (letter, A4, etc) or is it something else, such as a large format style document (signs, vehicle wrap, etc)?

If it's a layout meant for large format printing/production make sure the document raster effects setting is set at a reasonable value. Something like the 300ppi default is sheer overkill for something like a vehicle wrap. Such a setting could seriously bog down Illustrator performance, especially if the layout has a lot of raster-based effects (glows, drop shadows, etc).