If you experience an issue with Adobe Illustrator (including with any Astute Graphics plugin), you may be asked to reset your Adobe Illustrator preferences. This can be done by following the guidelines below.
Please note that this process will reset all your panels, etc. in Illustrator, but Astute Manager Pro enables you to quickly back up all of your preferences beforehand at just the click of a button. You can then reapply these (again at the click of a button) after doing the reset.
Why would I want to reset my Illustrator Preferences?
It's good practice, very easy to do and solves a lot of issues with Illustrator and Astute Graphics' plugins.
What do I need to do after resetting my Illustrator Preferences?
Astute Manager Pro makes it easier than ever to return to your original preferences, restoring everything in just seconds! Simply follow the advice further on in this guide to restore your preferences at the click of a button.
Can I restore previous preferences?
Yes, read on for advice on how to do so.
How will resetting Illustrator's Preferences affect my plugins?
It will not impact your license or (if trialling plugins) your trial period in any way.
How do I reset my preferences?
Follow Adobe's official guidelines here. Alternatively, read on…
There are two levels of resetting your preferences, the first and more commonly known is to:
Windows users: Press and hold Alt+Control+Shift as you start Illustrator
macOS users: Option+Command+Shift as you start Illustrator
Your current settings are deleted.
The second method is to:
Quit Illustrator
Manually locate your Adobe Illustrator Prefs file
Delete it
How do I back up and restore up my Illustrator Preferences?
The best time to make this backup is after Illustrator has been running smoothly - when everything’s stable, and you can quit the app normally. Illustrator only saves your settings preferences when it quits successfully, so if it crashes, those preferences are lost and replaced with the defaults.
To back up your Adobe Illustrator Preferences
Quit Illustrator.
In Astute Manager Pro, go to the Asset Manager and select Illustrator.
Next, go to Illustrator preferences and click on the orange button.
Simple. Your preferences are now backed up to the Astute Manager Pro cloud
Watch this video for a quick guide to backing up your preferences.
To restore your preferences
Quit Illustrator
In Astute Manager Pro, go to the Asset Manager and select Illustrator
Next, go to Illustrator preferences and click on the orange Download and install button
On re-opening Illustrator you will see that your original preferences are restored.
Watch this video for a quick visual guide to restoring your preferences.
Locating your Illustrator Preferences file
The file is named Adobe Illustrator Prefs
Adobe document the location of this file here. But here is a quick guide on how to find the folder which contains the Adobe Illustrator Prefs file…
macOS users:
In the Finder menu bar, follow Go > Library (this may be hidden, so hold down the Option key to reveal)
Open the Preferences > Adobe Illustrator [version*] Settings > [local language] > … folder
Windows users:
Users > [username] > AppData > Roaming > Adobe > Adobe Illustrator [version*] Settings > [local language / 32/64] > …
*Depending on your Illustrator version this folder will be named as follows:
Adobe Illustrator CS6 Settings = CS6
Adobe Illustrator 17 Settings = CC (initial CC release in 2013)
Adobe Illustrator 18 Settings = CC2014
Adobe Illustrator 19 Settings = CC2015
Adobe Illustrator 20 Settings = CC2015.3
Adobe Illustrator 21 Settings = CC2017
Adobe Illustrator 22 Settings = CC2018
Adobe Illustrator 23 Settings = Illustrator 2019
Adobe Illustrator 24 Settings = 2020
Adobe Illustrator 25 Settings = 2021
Adobe Illustrator 26 Settings = 2022
Adobe Illustrator 27 Settings = 2023
Adobe Illustrator 28 Settings = 2024
Adobe Illustrator 29 Settings = 2025
For the full Illustrator version/naming list, please refer to the Illustrator Wikipedia page.