Illustrator Bounding Box Won’t Go Away? Here’s the Quick Fix
How to Fix the Stuck Bounding Box Issue in Adobe Illustrator
If you’ve ever been working in Adobe Illustrator and suddenly found yourself unable to select objects independently—like they’re stuck together or constantly grouped—you’re not alone.
You ungroup… and ungroup again… and yet the bounding box still won’t go away. It’s frustrating, especially when you're mid-project and things stop behaving the way they should.
Good news? There’s a weirdly simple fix that works almost every time—even if the cause isn’t totally clear.
You can check out this video (and lots more!) over on my Instagram Page @hannah.bacon.design
The Quick Fix for a Stuck Bounding Box in Illustrator
1. Select All (Cmd/Ctrl + A)
Grab everything on your artboard—even if it seems like just one object.
2. Click Away (Deselect Everything)
Once everything is selected, click once outside the artboard to deselect.
3. Select the Object Again
Now try selecting the object you were struggling with—it should work normally, and the bounding box issue will likely be gone.
No clue why this works, but it does.
What Might Be Happening?
This Illustrator glitch may be tied to invisible groupings, ghost paths, or stray compound paths that didn’t separate properly. Even if you ungroup, Illustrator sometimes holds on to invisible relationships between objects.
But instead of over-complicating it—just use this click-away trick to reset things and get back to work.
Want More Time-Saving Tools and Freebies?
This process is just one of the techniques I share across my design templates and digital assets, made especially for designers who want professional results—without starting from scratch every time.
