• Global community
    • Language:
      • Deutsch
      • English
      • Español
      • Français
      • Português
  • 日本語コミュニティ
    Dedicated community for Japanese speakers
  • 한국 커뮤니티
    Dedicated community for Korean speakers
Exit
6

Illustrator unusably slow and laggy on macOS

New Here ,
Jun 14, 2018 Jun 14, 2018

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Some time in the last year, Illustrator (which previously worked just fine) has become unusably slow and laggy on my 2011 iMac. Anyone out there have solutions or work-arounds?

TOPICS
Performance

Views

67.0K

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines

correct answers 1 Correct answer

Community Beginner , Aug 19, 2018 Aug 19, 2018

I had the same problem in Illustrator CC 2018 22.1 and MacOS High Sierra 10.13.6.

I have a MacBook Pro 15 inch (2017), Intel i7 2.8 GHz, 16 GB RAM, Radeon Pro 555 2048 MB RAM.

I tried to reinstall without retaining preferences. I tried resetting preferences. Nothing worked.

Strangely enough, for me the solution was disabling the dictation feature of MacOS: Illustrator returned fast.

To confirm this, I tried to re-enable the dictation feature in System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Dictation: Illustrato

...

Votes

Translate

Translate
Adobe
replies 159 Replies 159
LEGEND ,
Jun 14, 2018 Jun 14, 2018

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I'm on a 2011 iMac, 36GB RAM, OS X 10.11.6

I have given up using CC 2018. CC2015.3 still seems to work adequately (I never downloaded 2017). I've stayed with OS X 10.11.6 so I can still use AI CS5 which is MUCH more reliable and snappy than any of the AI CC iterations and has features that were lost in subsequent versions. The only issue I have with CS5, since updating to El Capitan is that it reports a "crash" any time I close the program. It saves and works fine though.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Jun 15, 2018 Jun 15, 2018

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

What version of Illustrator and what version of the Mac OS are you using? Also what version of the Mac OS did your iMac come with?

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Jun 25, 2018 Jun 25, 2018

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Bill, thanks for your questions. I've recently tried versions of Illustrator from CS6 all the way up to the most recent version, with identical results. I'm currently running MasOS10.13.6 Beta (High Sierra), but this problem has been occuring for some time, predating that Beta install. I don't recall the original version of the OS installed on the computer, but whatever was current in mid-2011. Lion, maybe?

Qualitatively, the experience of using Illustrator, it is as though the cursor is selecting and deselecting semi-at random (I assume this results from extensive lag). The upshot is that it is essentially impossible to select or manipulate anything in my files or in the toolbars, and a maddening experience, to boot.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Jun 25, 2018 Jun 25, 2018

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

It is quite possible that your 2011 Mac is just too old to be running High Sierra efficiently. I had a similar situation with an old iMac that kept getting slower and slower as I updated it to later versions of the Mac OS.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Jun 27, 2018 Jun 27, 2018

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I have the latest Sierra and Adobe CC running on a 2013 Macbook Pro. What worked for me was closing Photoshop while using Illustrator.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
May 24, 2022 May 24, 2022

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

4 years later and this seems to be a big help so far!

 

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Jun 27, 2018 Jun 27, 2018

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I am having issues with Illustrator too.  It is not that is slow or laggy…. but sometimes it freezes.  Now this is happening on my one device.  I have yet to try it on the other device.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Explorer ,
Jun 27, 2018 Jun 27, 2018

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I too have been having major issues with painfully slow open times, or illustrator not responding at all. It's common for me to experience 3-4 minute open times for 16-38mb illustrator docs.

I'm on a 2017 MBP (2.9 GHZ, 16GB) running High Sierra so this seems pretty ridiculous.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Adobe Employee ,
Jul 05, 2018 Jul 05, 2018

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Hi All,

We are very sorry for the performance issues you are facing with Illustrator. Here are few steps which you may try to enhance Illustrator performance:

Improve Illustrator performance on macOS

Improve Illustrator performance on Windows

Hope it helps!

Regards,

Srishti

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Jun 12, 2019 Jun 12, 2019

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I am dumping my Adobe products.  it isn't just CC that is causing issues with my Mac.  It is also Adobe Acrobat DC.  I have a newer MacBook Pro with 16GB of RAM and a perfectly adequate SSD drive.  I shouldn't have to jump through hoops to get a mainstream app to run on my computer.  Time is money, Adobe.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Adobe Employee ,
Jun 13, 2019 Jun 13, 2019

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Hi Thomas,

We are so sorry to hear about this frustrating experience. I can try to help if you can share a few more details about the issue:

  • A brief description and workflow of the issue.
  • OS (exact version of Windows/MAC)
  • Version of Illustrator

Regards,

Srishti

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Jun 13, 2019 Jun 13, 2019

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Srishti,

Just loading it causes problems. Working in Illustrator or any other CC

app causes performance issues. I have to use alternative products that do

not overload my system processors.

I am using macOS Mojave 10.14.5. I don't know the version of Illustrator.

I uninstalled all Adobe apps, yesterday. I had just downloaded it, so it

had to be the most current version. All of my Adobe apps were up to date.

On Thu, Jun 13, 2019 at 3:01 PM srishtib8795206 <forums_noreply@adobe.com>

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Jun 13, 2019 Jun 13, 2019

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

thomaso31515832  schrieb


I am using macOS Mojave 10.14.5. 

On Thu, Jun 13, 2019 at 3:01 PM srishtib8795206 <forums_noreply@adobe.com>

Is the dictation feature turned off in the system?

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Jun 14, 2019 Jun 14, 2019

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Yes

On Thu, Jun 13, 2019 at 4:21 PM Monika Gause <forums_noreply@adobe.com>

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Jun 14, 2019 Jun 14, 2019

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Do you have iCloud synching running?

It's known to interfere some way with Illustrator.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Adobe Employee ,
Jun 19, 2019 Jun 19, 2019

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Thanks for the information shared above. I would need a few more details like:

  • Where the files are saved (Network Drive/ System HDD/ Shared Folder on System /External HDD)?
  • Is the issue related to a specific document(s)/asset(s)? If yes, can you please share the document(s)/asset(s) with us? You can upload it to the creative cloud and share the download link.
  • Are there any recent changes made to your system? For example, any antivirus, system updates or web extensions installed recently.
  • Does resetting Illustrator Preferences (https://helpx.adobe.com/in/illustrator/using/setting-preferences.html) help resolve the issue? Please do take a backup of the same before trashing them and share it with us. You can zip the folders, upload it to creative cloud and share the download link.
  • Share crash logs by following these steps: https://helpx.adobe.com/in/illustrator/kb/crash-next-steps.html
  • Share crash logs from Console:

Go to Spotlight

Search for Console.

Go to User Reports and share the last report related to Illustrator.

Regards,

Srishti

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Jun 20, 2019 Jun 20, 2019

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

None of this things is causing the problem. It happens to all files

accessed from my SSD or USB drive.

I have been in IT for almost 40 years. I have worked in and managed

software development, infrastructure, and security. I have looked at

everything you have already asked. Further, the app doesn't crash. It

just increases processor use so much that my machine grinds to almost a

stop. It is the only app that does this. It isn't just Illustrator.

Acrobat also does this.

I believe this is a problem with CC. When watching my Activity Monitor, I

see multiple Adobe processes running that are related to CC. These affect

overall system performance, even if I have not loaded any CC apps. If I

kill the CC processes, performance significantly improves.

And, no, reloading the app does not help.

What completely solved the problem was removing all CC products from my

computer. I reinstalled it, problems restarted. Uninstalled it, problem

went away.

Regards,

Tom Olzak

On Wed, Jun 19, 2019 at 3:06 PM srishtib8795206 <forums_noreply@adobe.com>

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Jun 20, 2019 Jun 20, 2019

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

thomaso31515832  schrieb

None of this things is causing the problem.  It happens to all files

accessed from my SSD or USB drive.

So it doesn't happen with files on the internal harddisk?

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Jun 20, 2019 Jun 20, 2019

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

My SSD drive is internal.

On Thu, Jun 20, 2019 at 8:04 AM Monika Gause <forums_noreply@adobe.com>

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Adobe Employee ,
Jun 21, 2019 Jun 21, 2019

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Thanks for sharing all this information. Next steps from here would be live troubleshooting session. I would request if you can reach our chat support at Contact Customer Care.

Click on the link shared above and click the small chat icon on the bottom right corner.

Regards!

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Feb 19, 2020 Feb 19, 2020

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

It is every version of Illustraitor CC on all Mac OS versions on all hardware confihurations. Illustrrator CC is very slow and buggy when the CS6 version ran perfectly.

 

One particular workflow which broke when upgrading to CC is copying transparent images to the clipboard. My cursor turns into a beachball and it takes 30 seconds to process. This is weather the image is linked or embedded. When I convert the photo to JPG it works fine but then I lose my transparent background. 

 

I have a top of the line 2019 Macbook Pro. This shouldn't be happening. 

 

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Aug 19, 2018 Aug 19, 2018

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I had the same problem in Illustrator CC 2018 22.1 and MacOS High Sierra 10.13.6.

I have a MacBook Pro 15 inch (2017), Intel i7 2.8 GHz, 16 GB RAM, Radeon Pro 555 2048 MB RAM.

I tried to reinstall without retaining preferences. I tried resetting preferences. Nothing worked.

Strangely enough, for me the solution was disabling the dictation feature of MacOS: Illustrator returned fast.

To confirm this, I tried to re-enable the dictation feature in System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Dictation: Illustrator

became laggy again.

UPDATE: I also found that the bug is known and reported on UserVoice. Here's the link:

Click and touch release problems Illustrator CC 2018 Mac High Sierra - cause dictation software – Ad...

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Oct 10, 2018 Oct 10, 2018

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Thanks so much for posting this!

I have a 2018 MacBook Pro running High Sierra 10.13.6 and Illustrator CC 2018, 22.1 and it was bringing my entire system to its knees just having Illustrator running, let alone trying to do any work or click on an object.

Turning off dictation in the keyboard settings 100% solved it for me and now I can get back to work.

Thanks again!

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Dec 13, 2018 Dec 13, 2018

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Disabling Dictation worked for me also

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines