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16

Spacebar not working as quick hand tool on MAC – Adobe Illustrator

New Here ,
Jan 24, 2020 Jan 24, 2020

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I have the latest Illustator and Photoshop version and in both of them the spacebar ain't working as quick hand tool on Mac.

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correct answers 8 Correct answers

Community Expert , Jan 24, 2020 Jan 24, 2020

What does happen when you use the spacebar? What is most likely happening is that some other program is using the spacebar as a shortcut and superceding Illustrator and Photoshop. Try rebooting your computer and only opening Illustrator or Photoshop and see if the shortcut now works. Then you can try launching other programs until you find out which one is causing the conflict. You may also want to try simply typing an "H" (with no text active) whenever you want to quickly get the hand tool in e

...

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New Here , Oct 11, 2020 Oct 11, 2020

Hi Bill,

 

You are right in my situation it was MS Word and MS Excel. I closed them both and could use space bar in the Adobe Illustrator rightaway.

 

Thanks for the suggestion!

 

Regards,

Arek

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New Here , Nov 06, 2022 Nov 06, 2022

Hello, in my case, it was because I had 'Enable Full Keyboard Access' on my 'Settings' -> 'Accessibility' -> 'Keyboard 'ticked. Once I unticked that, I could use the spacebar as the quickhand tool again.

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Community Beginner , Mar 01, 2023 Mar 01, 2023

I had the same problem and started to close my programs. The space bar "thief" was the native Mail app in MacOs. Closed it and it works like a charm 🙂

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New Here , Mar 03, 2023 Mar 03, 2023

Glad I found this post. Its years later and I just ran into this issue for the first time even in my 20+ years of using Adobe products. Turns out it was my open terminal that was stealing the spacebar function. Once I closed, it was working again again in Illustrator.

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New Here , May 01, 2023 May 01, 2023

Go to the apple in the menu bar. 

Put the computer to sleep.

Wake it back up and it should work again.

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New Here , May 30, 2023 May 30, 2023

I fixed this by turning off all accessibility (in system Prefs) and quiting Mail.

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New Here , Jul 25, 2023 Jul 25, 2023

The problem was fixed when I closed Safari.

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correct answers 1 Pinned Reply

Adobe Employee , Jul 12, 2023 Jul 12, 2023

Hi @JonVernon-DIRECTV,

 

I apologize for the ongoing frustration you're experiencing with this issue. This generally happens when a third-party app or process is interfering with the system keyboard. To further assist you, I kindly request that you provide the following details:

  • Can you please confirm the specific version of Adobe Illustrator and the macOS you are using?
  • Have you tried starting your Mac in Safe Mode and checking if the issue persists? Safe Mode performs a series of checks and d
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Adobe
replies 144 Replies 144
Adobe Employee ,
Feb 12, 2020 Feb 12, 2020

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Hi there,

 

Thanks for reaching out. This generally happens when other applications conflict with the shortcut keys. So if it's happening more often, I'd recommend checking for antivirus, Chrome extensions, application by the name Webroot. You can close all the applications and reboot the computer and then only launch Illustrator and check if the shortcuts are working.

 

Regards

Rishabh

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New Here ,
Apr 18, 2020 Apr 18, 2020

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Thanks for the advice. I was having the same issue with the hand tool (space bar) and zooming with command spacebar. It started working again after I quit Keynote.

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New Here ,
Apr 29, 2020 Apr 29, 2020

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Got a new Macbook Pro 16" running Catalina and all 2020 apps have disabled Spacebar/Hand function.

 

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Community Expert ,
Apr 29, 2020 Apr 29, 2020

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"Got a new Macbook Pro 16" running Catalina and all 2020 apps have disabled Spacebar/Hand function."

 

Did you already try all the tips mentioned in this thread?

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New Here ,
Apr 30, 2020 Apr 30, 2020

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I had the same problem. I figured out it was Microsoft Outlook that Hijacked the spacebar.

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New Here ,
Aug 07, 2020 Aug 07, 2020

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Yep, it was Outlook doing it for me - well spotted!

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Contributor ,
Mar 10, 2021 Mar 10, 2021

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Well that is most curious indeed. I will try that next time.

 

What worked for me was the good ol' enema –

 

Restart the Mac. Got my spacebar Back.

 

See what I did there?

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New Here ,
Mar 11, 2021 Mar 11, 2021

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Once you knew Outlook was the program messing with the shortcuts, how did you solve it? I am having the same problems and I can't seem to find where I need to edit Outlook.

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Community Beginner ,
May 30, 2020 May 30, 2020

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I am having the same issue with my spacebar, i had earsed my macbook air and reinstalled the OS. i have no software running except illustrator. i tried reseting the preferences too, and i'm stuck i have work to do beofre the deadline.

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Community Expert ,
May 31, 2020 May 31, 2020

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" am having the same issue with my spacebar,"

 

Did you try everything emntioned in this thread? Other software is stealing your spacebar. That could even be Mac OS itself.

 

Please read all the answers and investigate.

 

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Community Beginner ,
May 31, 2020 May 31, 2020

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I just rebooted my mac for the 5th time and it sometimes work and sometimes it doesn't. i don't have any other software except illustrator on my device.

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Community Expert ,
May 31, 2020 May 31, 2020

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Not even a browser?

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Community Beginner ,
Jun 01, 2020 Jun 01, 2020

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nope i have not opened safari too. the spacebar is working perfectly fine everywhere else like in safari, notes, microsoft office but it's not working with the quick hand tool in illustrator and photoshop.

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Community Expert ,
Jun 01, 2020 Jun 01, 2020

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Are you using antivirus? Which one?

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Community Beginner ,
Jun 07, 2020 Jun 07, 2020

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no i'm not using any anti virus.

i recently erased my macbook and reinstalled the whole os and i'm facing the same issue

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Community Expert ,
Jun 08, 2020 Jun 08, 2020

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Please get in contact with Customer Care. They need to take a look into your system.

 https://helpx.adobe.com/contact.html

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Community Beginner ,
Sep 17, 2020 Sep 17, 2020

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One of the solution I tried and it worked:: Hi everyone who doesn't find answer yet for this problem. I had face the same problem just find the solution. I has to do nothing with the Adobe. It is the Windows 10 touch pad probem(not actually a problem). I am using my HP Laptop faced the problem and find the solution. This problem happens not only in Adobe softwares. To check go to your desktop and click space bar thentry move the cursor using touch pad it didn't work there too. I have Synaptics Touch pad. This for Windows 10 users Start>Settings(icon)>Devices>Touchpad>Additional Settings  on Device Setting tab click Setting Button then click PalmCheck-Enhanced(double tab it) keep the slider to OFF position then Apply. Problem Solved. I hope this works for Windows 8 or 7 users too but these options were in different place. MAC users also try rephrasing your question in the Google search as "Cursor not moving by clicking spacebar" something like this and dont mention Adobe or any software specific....  Thanks Happy Creating!!!

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New Here ,
Sep 20, 2020 Sep 20, 2020

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I read through most of the comments and couldn't find what I found as my solution.

 

Turns out it's a Wacom setting. When there's a major OS update I just delete everything related to Wacom on my computer and reinstall and it's all back to normal. 

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New Here ,
Oct 12, 2020 Oct 12, 2020

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Yep - it was a Microsoft issue. As soon as I closed Powerpoint, it worked fine.

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Community Beginner ,
Dec 17, 2020 Dec 17, 2020

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Hello, this solution is not working for me. In general, it's not a great solution anyway, I have to have other programs open while using adobe products, especially since I am designing assets to be used by these programs. I have just updated my adobe software, and I am running 10.15.6. I need to have the hand tool shortcut working.

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Community Expert ,
Dec 17, 2020 Dec 17, 2020

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"Hello, this solution is not working for me. In general, it's not a great solution anyway,"

 

I guess nobody is happy when other software interferes. But then it's a problem the other software company needs to solve. So if youhave found out which one it is, then maybe contact the manufacturer to fix it.

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Community Beginner ,
Mar 03, 2021 Mar 03, 2021

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I am so very frustrated by this problem for many reasons. 
First, I have experienced this problem with the last 3 versions of illustrator and on multiple different macs. So this problem has been intermittent for me for years. It just stops working one day. Now I am on a week old Mac using version 2021 on a fresh OS and it is happening AGAIN!!!

 

I tired all your solutions listed here:
Checked MAC Keyboard Shortcuts

Closed all other applications and relaunched.

Renamed all my Preferences and Cache Files.

 

 

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Community Expert ,
Mar 03, 2021 Mar 03, 2021

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In some cases also antivirus was to blame.

We don't know what's installed on your computer.

Can you check all the processes?

 

If you are lost, try and contact Customer Care: https://helpx.adobe.com/contact.html

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New Here ,
Mar 03, 2021 Mar 03, 2021

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I solved It by calling Adobe, one of the IT guys got connected to my computer and solved it, never happend again.

Hope this works for you.

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New Here ,
Mar 05, 2021 Mar 05, 2021

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i solved this problem with remove MS Outlook and FontExplorer

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