Eyedropper doesn't work on groups
When I select a group and I try to use the eyedropper tool, this seems to not work.
In the fill box in the toolbar it appears as the colour already changed, but the group still looks with the original colour.
If I ungroup the group, or if I unite the group with the pathfinder (plus cmd+8), then the eyedropper works regularly, but this is not the ideal way to work. I already contacted the support online, but the issue hasn't been sorted out properly.
I use MacOS High Sierra — Version 10.13.6

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Kiky Em commented
adobe do better (oct 18, 2023)
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Anonymous commented
Same issue, eyedropper tool doesn't work on groups.
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Popescu Paul commented
The workaround I found (prepare for a ridiculous one, but what you gonna do):
- select the group you want to change color of,
-Cut,
(- get outside any group it may reside in if the case)
-Paste in Place,
-Ungroup,
- change color, with Picker on otherwise,
- Group back,
- Cut,
(- get inside the larger group it was in)
- Paste in Place. -
Branta bernicla commented
The solution given by Egor to untick top checkmarks for eyedropper settings actually worked, big big thanks! The bug was completely ruining my workflow.
(Edited by admin) -
Joey Newton commented
This bug now no longer has the work around of holding the shift key while using the eyedropper tool. There has to be a fix for this.
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Kevin Wise commented
Egor, you are a hero, thank you!
This problem popped up out of nowhere for me and i didn't realize why but after reading your solution I remember checking the appearance box in the eyedropper options and turning it off has fixed it. -
Hailey Sumner commented
As many others have come here to say, the eyedropper tool does not work with grouped objects. This bug has been documented for FIVE YEARS and no resolution has been proposed. It is CRIMINAL that Adobe is sitting on their hands on this one. Five whole years and not a peep from them! How dare they charge as much as they do if they refuse to address issues like this? Absolutely unacceptable. I am here to DEMAND that this bug be resolved. FIVE YEARS?!? Not ok.
The bug I am experiencing affects grouped object. When I try to change their appearance with the eyedropper tool, the color changes in the properties panel, but it does not change the actual color of the object.
MacBook Air (M1, 2020)
MacOS Monterey 12.4
Illustrator 26.5 -
Lili mh commented
Found thhis video that explained to hold SHIFT KEY , and PROBLEM SOLVED
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Daniela GM commented
Same problem here. Doesn't have any sense.
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troyjack commented
This is still an issue. Please fix.
v26.3.1
Mac OS 12.4 -
Chris Nguyen commented
Still a problem and none of the solutions work. Adobe has gone downhill. I'm frustrated with both AI and PS. Been using these programs for a decade now.
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Mike Scherrer commented
Same thing here, I'm sure this will "become" the "intended" operation of the tool as Adobe figures out they're developers no longer have the requisite expertise to reign in this codebase and fix the problems they keep adding. 50$ a month for this is absolutely unheard of, I will be looking for alternative software as I no longer have any confidence in Adobe to provide a stable product that is reliable in a professional use case.
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Martin commented
I can second this bug on version 26.0.1
A group can be coloured all the way before using the eyedropper. Once the eyedropper tool was used on a group, you can't change the colour manually using switches anymore. The eyedropper tool itself messes with the group's integrity. This did not happen in previous versions.
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Yes, I confirm that.
For some reason it started happening some time ago for source objects that have a fill below a stroke (a default order of appearance items). Picked appearance goes below Contents. It works fine for objects with the manually changed order of fill and stroke.
Merging this with a more recent report.
Thanks for your time, Tomas. -
Tomas Rueda commented
I always keep it all checked, as I said before, it's not working fine since the last update. I noticed it's not working when the object is a group, if I used directly in a compound path it works fine.
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Tomas, can you share your settings for the tool?
Do you have both Appearance options ticked there?
Try to toggle these and see if it helps.
Please comment back on the result. -
Tomas Rueda commented
I've been using eyedropper tool for quite sometime now and it's always been great to copy colors, strokes, effects and others, but since the last update it's not working any more, the appearance shows the changes, but the object stays the same, what's going on? (in the image you can see the appearance says it's red, but the object remains black), I have reduced to basic appearance and tried other things but it doesn't work as always did.
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penza commented
I had the same problem and I found myself a fix! First you select your group and then Object>Expand>Ok and then you just select your group/now object and change the color in the eyedropper tool or in the fill area on your left.
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My pleasure, Angeline. This tool is both easy and hard to embrace without some experimenting with Appearance panel. Official help lacks info on this behaviour.
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The SOLUTION might be to open the Eyedropper Tool options and untick top checkmarks in both columns. Otherwise your picked style goes under the 'Contents' (check the Appearance stack if you are experiencing this), and is obstructed by it.
'Unticked Appearance mode' is a default one and it seems that Ai sometimes changes these options without a user knowing. I already saw several reports about this.
Please comment if this solves it for you.