Indesign CS6 hand tool gets stuck and can't use selection tool

dslottdesign wrote:

 

Anyone know any other fix without restarting or deleting prefs.

Find the conflict that's causing it. This is not normal, so something else on your system is interacting.

Check your space bar one more time, it might be sticking. My MacBook Pro has a spacebar that sticks just a tiny bit every once in a while and it causes exactly the problem you are describing. The space bar is a short cut for the hand tool and while you can select other tools, it will always immediately revert to the hand tool as soon as you move your mouse back over the document.

I'm getting the same thing!! What the heck! Someone please help...I can't work!

have you tried trashing the prefs?

Since you are the second report this is either a Mountain Lion-related bug or you have the same or similar local system conflict. Thos are not things we can fix from here.

Count me as a third - same problem... Intermittent and very frustrating.  The only reliable way to reset has been to quit the app and restart. I use ID 6-8 hours/day and this occurs 3-5 times per day.

I'm working in Lion, however, not ML. MacPro (1,1) dual Xeon 3GHz, 12GB RAM, Radeon HD 5770.  I've not experienced the problem in any of the other CS6 apps, only ID.

Could the three of you please report this as a bug: Adobe - Feature Request/Bug Report Form

I'm not sure it is one, but it maight at least prompt someone at QA to take a look.

Done - thanks for your reply.

The same thing is happening to me. I'm on a MacBook Pro Retina, running bootcamp with Windows 7. While I'm on the Windows side I'm not able to select any of the tools. Keyboard shortcuts work, but I'm not able to select most tools with my mouse. I can't seem to trash my preferences, but even when I restart I'm still unable to select the tools.

eratcliff wrote:

 

The same thing is happening to me. I'm on a MacBook Pro Retina, running bootcamp with Windows 7.

This is much more likely a case of using Large Fonts in the Windows interface: InDesign tools and panels don't respond to mouse clicks (Windows 7/Vista)

I hd the same thing happen and I'm on an imac in Mountain Lion. Thank goodness you guys posted this and I was able to trash my preferences. I will be reporting this as well. The more people who do that, the quicker they will be to fix the bug. By the way, in case anyone reading this doesn't know or remember, to delete preferences on a mac you hold down shift+control+option+command while starting InDesign and you will get a prompt asking if you want to delete the preferences.

I tried the space bar trick and hit a few other keys before resetting preferences and it seemed to work. Thanks so much I was pulling my hair out!!

I am on a MacPro 2x2.4 Quad Intel Xeon, 8gb, 10.7.5 and using CC. I have this problem in all of the CC programs. My colleague is running Mountain Lion with CC and is also experiencing the same issue. This has been going on for a while. Also, besides the cursor not responding to any tool selection, the cursor will just dissapear and I have to click anywhere else but within my working document in order for the cursor to reappear. This is not acceptable Adobe. We pay a lot of money to use your programs and now with the new subscription plan we will be paying basically till we die just to make a living. Fix the bugs so that I can keep working efficiantly and in turn make enough money to eat and keep paying you.

I've got a similar problem on a MacBook Air running ML and ID CC. But in my case I can't get the Hand or Zoom tool using the Spacebar, Cmd, Opt. variations.

Same thing happens on my Mac Pro running Mavericks. This is the third time in less than a week. Going to restart now. If that does not work, will throw away preferences. Really cuts down on productivity. As I am paying a monthly fee (as we all are now) this is a bit more irritating than owning the discs. Will report the bug.

Hi,

What's trashing the prefs? I am experiencing a lot of issues and need a quick fix as I am in a super tight deadline, I have restarted the app around 10 times in the last 3 days, not fixing it. Thanks

see Replace Your Preferences

I tried removing my preferences, restarting my computer, running an update to 8.0.2, and restarting InDesign. I still can't use the page tools. My situation is using CS6 not via CC and running bootcamp with Windows 7 on a Mac. I haven't had any issues with Photoshop, but I'm completely dead in the water with InDesign. (EDIT) Peter, your comment on September 14th fixed this. Thank you.

I encountered this problem with a MacBook Pro (purchased 2013), running Win 7 on Boocamp.

This article has the solution (helpx.adobe.com/indesign/kb/indesign-tools-panels-dont-respond.html).

I chose "Solution 2" (which is to turn off Aero Themes in Win 7) and it fixed this issue.

"Solution 1" is to set the system font DPI to 100%. This was a non-starter for me given that have sight issues and can't see the font that small.

On that note, I wish Adobe products would support accessiblity better and respect system settings for font size in their UI.

Especially now that screens are getting larger, the fonts in CreativeSuite keep getting smaller and smaller proportionately.

Please Adobe? Thank you.

If it will make you feel any better, this issue is fixed in Windows 8 since

there's no aero theme to turn off.

Count me as a fourth, or more... I will also report the bug. Thanks!

Not sure if this is the same issue... I have something similar happening in Illustrator and Photoshop once in a while. I'm on Windows 7, and I sometimes get stuck on the brush tool (Photoshop) or some unknown tool with a cursor I've never seen before in Illustrator. I can select other tools, but the cursor stays on brush and only performs the brush action. Restarting Photoshop fixes it.

Today, this happened to me as well. ID-CS6 tools would always revert to the Hand Tool, even after quitting and reopening ID. Based on the earlier posts here, I literally banged on the keyboard a few seconds and sure enough, the tool selections returned to normal. I didn't trash the prefs. Strange.

(Using Mac OSX 10.6)

I have an update regarding the problem I was having. I think I have figured out what was causing it. I use a Wacom Bamboo tablet in conjunction with my mouse, and sometimes if I let the pen go limp in my left hand, the eraser end can dip and approach the tablet close enough to be registered. If this happens at the same time that I'm using the mouse with my right hand, I get stuck in weird cursor land in both Photoshop and Illustrator. Previously the only way out of it was to restart the application. But I've now noticed that if I bring the stylus eraser near the tablet while using the mouse, the cursor will revert and behave again.

Yep Me too, Adobe CC 2014 Mavericks with a Wacom.

But I tried that smashing all the keys and that seemed to work.

Same here. I work with Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash and After effects. It happens in all of them and its very annoying. Im constantly having to hit the space bar to get rid of it. I think its a MAC issue because I have problems with it outside of software. In the finder window, I'd get things to happen as if I was hitting the space bar and clicking like tabbed windows and such. Also, the undo button seems to get stuck as well, So when im in photoshop or flash, I have to undo a couple times to no avail, then I'd hit the spacebar, or click the screen on my wacom, then I can undo, like im re-initializing the window im working in, even though im already working in it. Sucks to do digital painting and have issue everytime you make a stroke and want to hit undo.

If it happens outside Adobe applications, too, you could be looking at a bad keyboard....

Well, I get these issues with Adobe CC on my macbook pro as well as my Imac at home. Same issues, different computers, different keyboards. So I'm just mind boggled and don't really want to go into a sort of A/b testing of both machine to figure it out. Just frustrating. I've had my laptop checked at the Apple store and it seems to be ok, only 5 months old, my computer at home is about 9 months old. So I think I'll just give up and get used to it.

This has been happening to me since I updated to Adobe CC 2014 about 3 weeks ago. It happens an average of about 4 times a day across the board only in the three Adobe apps I use every day: Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. I have no problems with my space bar or tools auto-switching in any other application.

Same problem, Windows 7, Illustratoc cc 2014.

I have the same problem on CC 2014, but everytime it occurs, i press the spacebar and the hand magically becomes the black arrow.

I too had this problem in Muse.   Tried the space bar, command + H, etc.  no luck.

Finally went in and did Command + Tab + Q to all open applications, with Muse being the last.
Restarted Muse...and bingo...all is well.  Some sort of conflict for sure.  Only thing I had open was email, browser and Muse.
Adobe and Apple used to be tied at the hip, what gives?

Yes, this is an intermittent problem between Adobe and Apple: InDesign CS6 getting stuck in the hand mode. This happens to me when I am working by remote desktop using Screen Sharing. The cursor turns to a hand tool and you can't change it.

I stumbled upon a quicker solution (to restarting, etc.) by depressing the Control-Command-Spacebar keys cumulatively in succession. (I just happened upon this out of frustration--it is an old PageMaker toggle sequence.) When I clicked on the screen after doing this, the hand reverted to the pointer. Sometimes you may have to click on the pointer in the tool palette first before the sequence to make it revert.

I would like to see if this trick works for others. I see on another forum posting about Adobe CC that many people are experiencing this problem there as well. An Adobe moderator has listed the posting as "correctly answered" and solved that the issue is not an Adobe issue (rather bad keyboards, etc. etc.). But it still remains a problem with many Apple users of Adobe products. (It has only happened to me with Adobe products...no other vendors...both in Mavericks or Yosemite.)

After all these years there is still no real answer from Adobe?? What the heck. I am able to everything fine except move an object. What good is the program if this stuff is still an issue?

What you are experiencing is not the norm. It's been associated with some Chrome plugins, I think, or several other Mac utilities. What is your OS?

I too am having trouble with getting stuck on the hand tool. I work on a couple different systems. One is a macbook pro regina with a thunderbolt display and also an iMac with a thunderbolt display. I use a Wacom tablet. I have called tech support every day for the last week. They reset my preferences and I'm running for a few hours then it's back.

Are you using the latest drivers for the tablet?