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Gordon McAlpin
Gordon McAlpin
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(Illustrator CS6) Spacebar stops working seemingly randomly

Jun 21, 2012 9:53 AM

Tags: #bug #cs6 #spacebar

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).

6489 Views   17 Replies   Latest reply: fsoubiran, Apr 23, 2013 5:40 AM
 
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  • Navarro Parker
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    1. Navarro Parker,
    Jun 21, 2012 3:52 PM   in reply to Gordon McAlpin
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    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.

     
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  • Gordon McAlpin
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    2. Gordon McAlpin,
    Jun 21, 2012 7:15 PM   in reply to Navarro Parker
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    It works, then it STOPS working. If it were a conflict with any keyboard shortcut, it would never have worked in the first place.

     
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  • VisualJazz
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    3. VisualJazz,
    Jul 4, 2012 11:24 PM   in reply to Gordon McAlpin
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    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

     
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  • mememetx
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    4. mememetx,
    Jul 9, 2012 7:10 AM   in reply to Gordon McAlpin
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    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

     
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  • VisualJazz
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    5. VisualJazz,
    Jul 9, 2012 11:52 PM   in reply to mememetx
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    Not a Chrome user here.

     

    Was using firefox and tried with nothing else open at the time to replicate.

     

     
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  • Larry G. Schneider
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    6. Larry G. Schneider,
    Jul 10, 2012 9:00 AM   in reply to VisualJazz
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    There are some Firefox add-ons which will induce this problem.

     
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  • Jacob Bugge
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    7. Jacob Bugge,
    Jul 10, 2012 10:10 AM   in reply to Gordon McAlpin
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    Gordon, others,

     

    Item 7 in Other options  is a list of usual suspects.

     
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  • cmyck
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    8. cmyck,
    Aug 16, 2012 7:39 AM   in reply to Gordon McAlpin
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    I have the same Problem on 10.8. It was fine on 10.6.8.

    I use neither Chrome nor Firefox.

     
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  • Larry G. Schneider
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    9. Larry G. Schneider,
    Aug 16, 2012 9:01 AM   in reply to cmyck
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    Are you using any Growl notification software?

     
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  • cmyck
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    10. cmyck,
    Aug 16, 2012 10:13 AM   in reply to Larry G. Schneider
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    Nope. I think it's got to do with Safari.

     
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  • goodcoffeemedia
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    11. goodcoffeemedia,
    Nov 24, 2012 9:04 AM   in reply to Gordon McAlpin
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    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

     
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  • Joerg Klaus
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    12. Joerg Klaus,
    Jan 24, 2013 7:04 AM   in reply to Gordon McAlpin
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    I have found out there is a conflict between Adobe and 1Password. Quitting 1Password brings back my spacebar.

     
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  • G Snyder
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    13. G Snyder,
    Feb 9, 2013 4:38 PM   in reply to Joerg Klaus
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    Thanks for mentioning that, Joerg -- 1Password's what was causing the problem for me.

     
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  • bre-bro
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    14. bre-bro,
    Feb 22, 2013 11:19 AM   in reply to G Snyder
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    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??

     
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  • dworni
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    15. dworni,
    Mar 1, 2013 12:55 PM   in reply to bre-bro
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    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.

     
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  • Mike Diehl
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    16. Mike Diehl,
    Mar 12, 2013 9:44 AM   in reply to Gordon McAlpin
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    For what it's worth, I had this problem -- not with the spacebar turning the cursor into a hand, but with the spacebar not producing a word space. I tried everything suggested here, and even uninstalled and reinstalled the app (CS 5.5, on a Mac Pro running 10.6.8). Finally determined it was ... the document, of all things. Copied the art/elements onto a new page, and suddenly could type again. Bloody hell, as the Brits would say....

     
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  • fsoubiran
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    17. fsoubiran,
    Apr 23, 2013 5:40 AM   in reply to Mike Diehl
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    was having exactly the same problem until today. i found it where is the conflict on my computer. was using fluid with the browserapp "teuxdeux", in teuxdeux you can write, grab and move text around. all was working fine until i move a word there. in this moment the spacebar stopped working on illu and indesign. closed the app, anything is working fine again.

     

    i'm not shure, but i guess it is a conflict with ajax features what is causing the problem.

     
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