[Mac] CorelDRAW: Resetting the Corel Font Manager Database to Resolve Hanging or High CPU Usage

Symptoms

• CorelDRAW or Corel Font Manager enters an infinite loop ("beachballing") upon launch or when opening a specific file.

• The macOS Activity Monitor shows the FontManager or DrawPE process consuming an unusually high amount of CPU (often 70% or more).

• CorelDRAW fails to display or preview installed fonts correctly.

• The application remains unresponsive, eventually requiring a Force Quit.

Cause

This issue typically occurs when the local SQL-based font database (FontDatabase.sqlitedb) becomes corrupted or enters a race condition while trying to index a malformed third-party font file. While standard preference resets (deleting .plist files) clear application settings, they do not repair the underlying SQLite database index or its associated cache files.

Resolution

Follow these steps to perform a targeted reset of the font database and system font caches:

Step 1: Rebuild the Font Database (Shift-Launch)

• Ensure CorelDRAW and Corel Font Manager are completely closed.

• Hold down the Shift key on your keyboard.

• While holding Shift, launch the Corel Font Manager from your Applications folder.

• When the "Reset" dialog box appears, check the box for Font database and click OK.

• This action deletes and regenerates the FontDatabase.sqlitedb and its associated thumbnail cache.

Step 2: Flush macOS System Font Caches

• Restart your Mac.

• Immediately press and hold the Shift key until the login window appears (Safe Mode).

• This process automatically flushes the system-level font caches that macOS and Corel share.

• Restart the Mac normally.

Step 3: Validate Local Font Integrity To prevent the database from re-corrupting, you must identify the problematic font file:

• Open the macOS Font Book application (found in Applications).

• Locate the font involved in the crash (or select all fonts for a bulk check).

• Right-click the font and select Validate Font.

• Review the results. If any font displays a Red icon (Critical/Structure Error) or a Yellow icon (Duplicate ID conflict), it must be removed or replaced.

Step 4: Manual Database Reset (Advanced) If the Shift-Launch method fails to trigger the reset dialog, the database can be cleared manually:

• Open Finder and press Command + Shift + G.

• Paste the following path: ~/Library/Application Support/Corel/Databases/V7.0.

• Delete or rename FontDatabase.sqlitedb and all files ending in .sqlitedb.cache.

• CorelDRAW will automatically recreate these files on the next launch.