Adobe Illustrator hangs on 'Initializing Documents' after Windows 10 20H2 update

Reason #1: Corrupted Illustrator Preferences (The Most Common Cause)

I've seen this one trip up hundreds of users, myself included. After a major Windows update like 20H2, Illustrator's preference files sometimes get scrambled. The app tries to read them and just locks up on the splash screen with that 'Initializing Documents' message. It's infuriating, but the fix is quick.

1. Close Illustrator completely. Check Task Manager if it's still running — kill any Adobe Illustrator processes.
2. Rename the preferences folder. Open File Explorer and paste this into the address bar:
   

   %appdata%\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator [version]\en_US\

   Replace [version] with your Illustrator version (e.g., 27 for CC 2023, 26 for 2022, or 24 for 2020). You'll see a file named Adobe Illustrator Prefs (no extension).
3. Right-click it and rename it to Adobe Illustrator Prefs.old.
4. Launch Illustrator again. It will create fresh preference files and skip the hang.

Does it work now? Great. You can delete the .old file later once everything's stable. If not, move on to Reason #2.

Reason #2: Font Conflicts (The Silent Culprit)

The 20H2 update changed how Windows handles font caching. If you've got a broken or duplicate font, Illustrator will stall while trying to load font lists during startup. This one's sneaky because it only happens on cold boots or after updates.

1. Clear the Windows font cache. Press Win + R, type services.msc, and hit Enter. Find the Windows Font Cache Service, right-click it, and select Stop.
2. Open File Explorer, go to C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Local\ and delete everything inside the FontCache folder. Yes, all of it.
3. Restart the service: right-click Windows Font Cache Service and select Start.
4. Check for broken fonts. If clearing the cache didn't work, open Control Panel > Fonts. Look for fonts with generic icons (not the actual font preview), or fonts you know are corrupted. Delete them. I've personally seen Helvetica Neue and CorelDRAW-imported fonts cause this exact hang.

Pro tip: Avoid using font managers like FontExplorer X on startup — they can conflict with Illustrator's own font scanning. Disable the manager's auto-activation, restart, and test Illustrator.

Reason #3: Graphics Driver or CEP Cache Issue

If you've tried the first two fixes and Illustrator still hangs, the 20H2 update may have botched your GPU driver or the Common Extensibility Platform (CEP) cache that Illustrator uses for panels and extensions.

1. Update your graphics driver. Go to your GPU manufacturer's site (NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel) and download the latest driver for Windows 10 20H2. Don't rely on Windows Update for this — it's often delayed. Install the driver, reboot.
2. Disable GPU acceleration temporarily. If updating didn't help, hold down Ctrl + Alt + Shift while launching Illustrator. It'll ask if you want to reset preferences — say No (we already did that). Then, in the app, go to Edit > Preferences > Performance and uncheck GPU Performance. Restart Illustrator.
3. Clear the CEP cache. Close Illustrator. Navigate to:
   

   %appdata%\Adobe\Common\CEP\

   Delete the extensions folder. This clears cached data for all extensions. Some users with heavy panel setups (like Astute Graphics or custom scripts) report this resolves the hang entirely.

Still stuck? Try booting Windows in Clean Boot mode (run msconfig, disable all non-Microsoft services). If Illustrator opens fine, something in your startup apps or services is interfering. You'll need to narrow it down — but 9 times out of 10, one of the above fixes works.

Quick-Reference Summary

Try them in order. I'd put money on the first fix doing the trick — it's the most common, the easiest, and the one that's rescued me after every major update since CS6. Good luck, and don't let that splash screen bully you.