Copy link to clipboard
Copied
This is an infrequent issue I've had, but it has happened more than once in the last few weeks that I've been using CS6 on a regular basis:
On occasion, my spacebar will just stop working in Illustrator CS6, so I can't use the hand tool or zoom or… you know, type, basically making Illustrator unuseable. Now, I'm PRETTY sure it has nothing to do with my actual keyboard, because the spacebar will continue to work just fine in every other application even after it does this.
The only fix is restarting the computer. Just restarting the application doesn't do it. Deleting the preferences file and restarting doesn't fix it. It's really perplexing.
Now, I'm NOT certain about this, but I think it might occur after waking from sleep (but not immediately, so perhaps it's unrelated). If/when it happens next, I will attempt to see if I can reproduce the issue, but so far I have no idea why it happens; it just seems random.
I'm using a late 2008 MacBook Pro with 8GB of RAM, running Mac OSX 10.7.4 and Illustrator CS6 (16.0.0, in case people see this after an update has been released).
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Make sure your OS X Spotlight keyboard shortcut is turned off. (the default is command-space)
System Prefs > Spotlight. (menu shortcut at bottom of window)
There might be some other OS X keyboard shortcuts that are using the spacebar too.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
It works, then it STOPS working. If it were a conflict with any keyboard shortcut, it would never have worked in the first place.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
I am having this problem as well, but happening quite frequently.
Also having Illustrator crashing a lot randomly as well.
Tried 32bit as well - same issue.
I've deleted settings as well - same issue.
I've tried this with multiple files, old and newly created in CS6. Same problem.
No issues with CS5.
Win7 x64 SP1
16GB RAM
128GB SSD
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
That has nothing to do with it. I have both active just fine. As long as you press the space bar first, spot light search doesn't get activated and even if you do press it first, it still works, just both commands happen at once.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
THANK YOU! I found I just had to turn spotlight keyboard shortcut (command + space) off and then turn it on again
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
I've run into this problem and having searched other forums, I found there was a conflict between Adobe and Chrome (at least in my case). I hate having to shut down Chrome, but at the moment, that's the only fix I can find. I want to find a way to disable Chrome's shortcut keys, but can't seem to find it.
Good luck.
Tim
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Not a Chrome user here.
Was using firefox and tried with nothing else open at the time to replicate.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
There are some Firefox add-ons which will induce this problem.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Thank you! It was the Evernote web clipping extension I'm using in Chrome.
All sorted!
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Chrome was causing the same issue for me, after I closed chrome i was able to move around using Space bar + left mouse click.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Same issue.
Shut down Chrome -> solved
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Quitting Chrome worked for me. Simply quit Chrome, while keeping Illustrator open and magically the spacebar worked again. Relaunched Chrome and restored all the tabs I had open and Illustrator still worked. (So far so good.)
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Gordon, others,
Item 7 in Other options is a list of usual suspects.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
I have the same Problem on 10.8. It was fine on 10.6.8.
I use neither Chrome nor Firefox.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Are you using any Growl notification software?
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Nope. I think it's got to do with Safari.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
I'm having the same problem. I can't pinpoint a fix yet, but a workaround is to close all browsers. It seems to correct the issue for me...every time so far. I'm running on Mac-OS 10.6.8.
My troubleshooting thus far (re: illustrator & photoshop CS6 - hand tool stops working) = conflict between browser and illustrator/photoshop...that's as far as I am. Sorry for the vague, non-tech response, but it's all I got so far
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
I have found out there is a conflict between Adobe and 1Password. Quitting 1Password brings back my spacebar.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Thanks for mentioning that, Joerg -- 1Password's what was causing the problem for me.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Odd. I was not having this problem before, but today it happened in BOTH Manga Studio 5 AND Photoshop CS5 while working in both! I was only running Safari at the time and even though I have 1Password 3 installed, the app was not running at the time, but the Safari extension was. I've had this setup for a long time though, why would it start affecting two different apps this way now??
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
It was 1Password Chrome Extension in my cause: I installed the beta version of the plugin now the shortcuts are working again in Photoshop and Illustrator.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
After a long time of forgetting about this problem, it is back again in both Manga Studio 5 and Photoshop CS5. I forgot what I did to stop it last time and found my old post in this forum after searching for a solution.
Sorry to see there still isn't one single way to solve or diagnose it. I guess I will restart the computer and hope it disappears again for another year...
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
It happened again today in Manga Studio 5 and Photoshop CS5. I quit and reopened the programs but it still would not work. I quit Safari and all of a sudden I could use the spacebar again as a Hand Tool. Opening Safari again did not make the problem reappear though, so maybe it was some combination of Safari and something else (I was also playing music from Amazon's Music Cloud website in Safari when it happened, something there?)
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
I had the problem (Spacebar Hand not working) in Photoshop CS6, and read here about 1Password - found I had it open - but not logged in in the background.
Quit it and Hand works.
I then opened 1Password and signed in, Spacebar still works.
Maybe when it's in it's Unlogged in state there's a conflict?
Whatever- for me 1Password was the culprit.
Thansk to you all for a solution. It was driving me crazy.....