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In Illustrator CC, is there a way to remove / retract bezier handles from a point?

See below picture, the two handles between the corner points are useless and I'd much rather just have a straight line. enter image description here

The one method I know to achieve this is using the pen tool and alt clicking on the corner, but that retracts both sides of the bezier, so I'd have to redraw the other side where I do want the handle.

Is there a way to just retract a specific anchor point's bezier handle?

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3 Answers 3

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1. Select the Convert Anchor Point Tool (SHIFT + C)

2. Click on the end of the handle you want to remove.


enter image description here

If you want to remove both handles (i.e. convert to a corner point) just click the anchor point itself.

You can also convert the anchor point to a corner point by alt + clicking on the anchor point with the Pen Tool selected or using the Convert Selected Anchor Points To Corner button in the Control panel.

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  • FYI it is now called the "Anchor Point Tool". They removed "convert" from the name of the tool.
    – RcoderNY
    Oct 27, 2022 at 4:31
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There's a great plugin from Astute Graphics called VectorScribe in which you can retract the handles to any specific number, including zero.

PathScribe panel

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  • Good to know. Also costs 70 bucks.
    – kontur
    Apr 8, 2016 at 12:10
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    Yea, might be overkill if that's all you want from it, but it has lots and lots of tools that I get a lot of use out of.
    – spiral
    Apr 10, 2016 at 9:06
  • I own the tool and appreciate the tip. Dec 5, 2018 at 12:06
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So I think there might be a simpler way to quickly remove all handles and convert to the point. If you goto:

Object > Path > Simplify...

Simplify... dialog box with 'straight lines' unchecked

If you then check 'Straight Lines', it converts all points to corners, creating straight lines!

Simplify... dialog box with 'straight lines' checked. Converts all points to corners!

Hope this helps!!

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