Illustrator 2020 crashing constantly - not even 30 seconds of working time staying open

[ERIN5CAE]

I am unable to keep illustrator open for more than 30 seconds of active work before it crashes. It has probably crashed around 10 times now each time I have sent the report to you.

The general message I get every time below!
Uni assignments are due over the next few days so any resolution would be amazing!

Process: Adobe Illustrator [2288]
Path: /Applications/Adobe Illustrator 2020/Adobe Illustrator.app/Contents/MacOS/Adobe Illustrator
Identifier: com.adobe.illustrator
Version: 24.1.0 (24.1.0)
Code Type: X86-64 (Native)
Parent Process: ??? [1]
Responsible: Adobe Illustrator [2288]
User ID: 501

Date/Time: 2020-09-09 21:25:00.220 +1000
OS Version: Mac OS X 10.15.6 (19G2021)
Report Version: 12
Bridge OS Version: 3.0 (14Y908)
Anonymous UUID: 545FA40B-CA17-FA20-0201-A817C3BF79A4

Sleep/Wake UUID: 256C9813-E9F4-4B37-93E4-8CB305BA6DC5

Time Awake Since Boot: 3200 seconds
Time Since Wake: 130 seconds

System Integrity Protection: enabled

Crashed Thread: 0 Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread

Exception Type: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV)
Exception Codes: EXC_I386_GPFLT
Exception Note: EXC_CORPSE_NOTIFY

Termination Signal: Segmentation fault: 11
Termination Reason: Namespace SIGNAL, Code 0xb
Terminating Process: exc handler [2288]

[ERIN5CAE]

After reading some recent issues I am updating to the most recent software 24.3, hoping this will solve the issues!

[ERIN5CAE]

Nope. Still broken. As long as I am not doing anything it will work. As soon as I start using the program it closes.

Process: Adobe Illustrator [3418]
Path: /Applications/Adobe Illustrator 2020/Adobe Illustrator.app/Contents/MacOS/Adobe Illustrator
Identifier: Adobe Illustrator
Version: 24.3.0 (24.3.0)
Code Type: X86-64 (Native)
Parent Process: ??? [1]
Responsible: Adobe Illustrator [3418]
User ID: 501

Date/Time: 2020-09-09 21:56:16.996 +1000
OS Version: Mac OS X 10.15.6 (19G2021)
Report Version: 12
Bridge OS Version: 3.0 (14Y908)
Anonymous UUID: 545FA40B-CA17-FA20-0201-A817C3BF79A4

Sleep/Wake UUID: 256C9813-E9F4-4B37-93E4-8CB305BA6DC5

Time Awake Since Boot: 5100 seconds
Time Since Wake: 2000 seconds

System Integrity Protection: enabled

Crashed Thread: 0 Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread

Exception Type: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV)
Exception Codes: EXC_I386_GPFLT
Exception Note: EXC_CORPSE_NOTIFY

Termination Signal: Segmentation fault: 11
Termination Reason: Namespace SIGNAL, Code 0xb
Terminating Process: exc handler [3418]

[Bill Silbert · Accepted solution]

Before looking at this as a hardware issue I would suggest resetting your Illustrator preferences. Hopefully, resetting the program to its defaults will clear up the problem. Otherwise, if it is a hardware problem, I would suggest contacting Adobe Customer Care at https://helpx.adobe.com/support.html. They should be able to run a diagnostic on your situation to pinpoint the trouble.

To reset preferences on a Mac:

The User Library folder in which Illustrator’s preferences are stored is hidden by default on most Macintoshes. To access it make sure that Illustrator is closed and click on the desktop to launch a Finder Window (Command-N).With this window in column view follow the path User>Home folder (it’s the folder with an icon that looks like a house—it may have the user’s name rather than “Home”) and click on the Home folder. With the Option Key pressed choose Library from the Finder Go Menu. “Library” will now appear within the Home folder. Within the Library folder find the folder called Preferences and within it find the folder called “Adobe Illustrator <Version #> Settings” (earlier versions of Illustrator might just say “Adobe Illustrator”) and the file called “com.adobe.Illustrator.plist” and delete both that folder and that file. When Illustrator is next launched it will create new preference files and the program will be restored to its defaults.

The advantage of manually deleting preference files in this manner is that after you’ve reset up the program (make sure that no document window is open) to your liking, you can create copies of your personalized “mint” preference files (make sure that you quit the program before copying them—that finalizes your customization) and use them in the future to replace any corrupt versions you may need to delete.

[Shannon22066231k37k]

Thank you so much for this! Everything I was reading was telling me it was either due to upgrading Mac OS or that it was File Maker Pro (which is what I was having issues with). I had a feeling it was not either of those as FMP would only crash when I tried to download a pdf. I followed these steps and deleted the adobe files and it worked beautifully. However, I did have to restart my computer.

Then about one month later, it started doing it again. Some updates were made in other apps, so I am not sure if that was the problem. I went through this process again and it did not work. So, I went in and cleared all of my cache's and that seemed to help. I am just wondering if there is a fix so I do not have to keep going through all of this. Thanks!

[Srishti Bali]

Hi there,

Sorry to hear about this trouble. As mentioned above, the crashing and unexpected behavior in application can be caused due to corrupt/ damaged preferences. I would like to know if the steps suggested by Bill worked for you, or the issue still persists. If not, please share a few more details like:

• Is the issue related to a specific document? If yes, could you please share the document with us? You can upload it to the Creative Cloud (https://helpx.adobe.com/in/creative-cloud/help/share.html) and share the download link. 
• Where the files are saved (Network Drive/ System HDD/ Shared Folder on System /External HDD)? 
• When did this start happening? Are there any recent changes made to your system? For example, any antivirus, system updates or web extensions installed recently. 

You may also try the steps shared in this help article and share your observations with us. Kindly update the discussion if the issue is resolved or if you still need assistance with it.

Regards,
Srishti