CKEditor instance already exists

For this to work you need to pass boolean parameter true when destroying instance:

    var editor = CKEDITOR.instances[name];
    if (editor) { editor.destroy(true); }
    CKEDITOR.replace(name);

function loadEditor(id)
{
    var instance = CKEDITOR.instances[id];
    if(instance)
    {
        CKEDITOR.remove(instance);
    }
    CKEDITOR.replace(id);
}

I had this problem too, but I solved it in a much simpler way...

I was using the class "ckeditor" in my jQuery script as the selector for which textareas I wanted use for CKEditor. The default ckeditor JS script also uses this class to identify which textareas to use for CKEditor.

This meant there is a conflict between my jQuery script and the default ckeditor script.

I simply changed the class of the textarea and my jQuery script to 'do_ckeditor'(you could use anything except "ckeditor") and it worked.

This is the simplest (and only) solution that worked for me:

if(CKEDITOR.instances[editorName])
   delete CKEDITOR.instances[editorName];
CKEDITOR.replace(editorName);

Deleting this entry in the array prevents this form safety check from destroying your application.

destroy() and remove() did not work for me.