Thanks Egor, but I've been using version 24.2.1 and I'm still experiencing the same issue.

Ok, I got it to work! From the admin's response, it wasn't clear on where to go to find this "Align To." Especially if you don't use the Align window tool and have it set in your Control Bar. So, just go to your Align window under Tools, in the bottom right corner, click "Align To" then a drop-down menu will come up with "Align to Selection, Align to Key Object, Align to Artboard." You may need to click on one and then click back to what you want, but it does work once you get there. Hope this helps some people!

I'm using v.24.2.1 and the bug is still there..

I am in 24.2.1 and it does not work.

Everybody who still has the bug in 24.2.1 — please share here videos or GIFs (you can use lightweight LICEcap to record these) of your particular case! This would help to track it and finally fix in full.

im still having this alignment issue. i've updated to v 24.2.1..ERGH!

In the last (few?) release(s), the Align function remembers that I've used Align to Key Object, and then uses that setting instead of Align to Selection or Align to Artboard the next time I select multiple objects. It never worked that way in past releases. This fundamentally changes workflows.

Teri Pettit, the Illustrator engineer who implemented Align to Key object back in Illustrator 8 (or 9?) added the functionality to click again on one object to set the Key Object, and to automatically switch temporarily to Align to Key Object. The next time a selection was made, it snapped back to Align to Selection or Artboard (whatever had been chosen previously). That was an elegant solution that's worked for the last 20 years. Changing it has made alignment workflows incredibly frustrating.

Having the Align functionality remember Align to Key Object doesn't make any sense in another way, since it now makes the topmost object the key object (not that I want this to be automatic, but it's more likely I'll want to align something with the bottommost object, not the topmost object).

Unless you get lucky and your topmost object is what you wanted the key object to be, it requires a click on the key object anyway, so it's not saving time. What it is doing is wasting a ton of time because then I have to look for the tiny little Key Object icon, and if I see it or that one of the objects is strongly highlighted, then I have to click on the alignment toolbar to change it back to Selection or Artboard, and then align.

Another irritation that occurs with this new "feature" is that when I select multiple items, the topmost object is strongly highlighted, which prevents me from seeing the anchor points of the topmost path.

I can see that there might be a few workflows where this feature is useful, saving you a click on a key object, but the vast majority of time it is the opposite. If this was a feature request, it should be a preference "sticky key object alignment" that can be disabled for most users.

Thank you for your consideration on this issue.

Cory, it’s a known bug in 24.2, please update to 24.2.1

Solution works so far. Here's hoping it continues to work after restart. Fingers crossed!

No matter how many times I set Align to Distribution, it goes back to Key Object by default as soon as I reopen the file or Illustrator or switch between documents.
Is there any permanent way to make it stop setting itself to Key Object? It's an operation I use constantly and I want it to stop switching automatically to align to Key Object.

View of selection has a bug which shows one object with darker line which can not be hidden even in Hide Mode. It is visible in Preview Mode or Artwork Mode. It is applied if selecting more than one object and is applied to the first of two or more selections. This is not helpful when previewing changes of color to an object where the view of the selected objects always have this dark outline at all times. This was a periodic problem in earlier versions of AI but now is a core problem.

I'm Having trouble editing text after the update please help me fix this the mouse clicks on the images behind the text but not the text itself. was working on the design shut down ai for 30 minutes then opened it again to finish working it updated itself and the problem started

Definitely seems like a visual bug in Illustrator 24.2.1. When you directly click an object with the Selection Tool (Black Arrow) the edges are fine. However marquee selecting or selecting multiple objects results in these thick previews/edges, which makes alignment with smart guides even more frustrating than usual. It also gives the appearance of a double line or compound path as if the stroke has been expanded, which it has not been.

Thanks Egor - that fixed it! What a weird bug. Would never have found it -this has made my day.

Known bug with auto setting of key object.
99% fixed in 24.2.1
Please update and then manually once change the align mode with bottom-right drop-down menu in the Align panel to 'Align to Artboard'. This should most probably fix.

In latest version of AI 24.2.1 on OS X - when I have two or more objects selected, one of them has a fat outline - irrespective of whether I have 'view outlines' mode selected or not. Pretty sure it's a bug. It's really annoying when I want to position multiple items optically using cursors and with outlines off. Because they aren't off.. Screenshot attached.

Gary, this will work as long as you make sure it's set to "align to selection" and not key object or artboard.

Well, you may think you have fixed the bug but the Align function no longer allows me to space out a set of tick marks along the axes of a graph. I work out, and create, the number of ticks required along the x and or y axis. I place one of the ticks at the left end of the x axis and then move another tick mark to the right end of the x axis, then use the Distribute Spacing option to distribute all of the tick marks equally spaced along the axis. Now I have to know exactly the length of the x axis, and then calculate out the spacing value needed etc - what a waste of my time. I have been using this technique since the first version of Illustrator in the mid 80s!!!

Why was this capability removed from this option?????

After upgrading it works for me. Please note that you are using version 24.2.1, this version was not directly available in Dutch, perhaps that was also the case in other languages. See help / info in Illustrator for your version. Version 24.2 (without 1) does not work properly.

Still not working despite the update and following the instructions.............. I'd be embarrassed by this Varun Sharma