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Participating Frequently
September 1, 2021

P: Dialog boxes / error messages pop up invisibly - macOS

  • September 1, 2021
  • 147 replies
  • 31351 views

When an error or alert occurs the dialog box is invisible. Some examples of the alerts include but are not limited to: "No pixels were selected because the layer is empty" or "Do you want to save the document before closing?" Clicking anywhere on the screen prompts an audible error noise (as though you tried to click outside of the dialog box you've been prompted to respond to). The box is not appearing on a different monitor or behind other windows, it is simply invisible and cannot be interacted with unless you press Enter or Escape on the keyboard. Upon pressing the Escape key to close the dialog box, the box becomes visible for a fraction of a second before closing—revealing its location. This has hindered my workflow, especially when trying to close a document I don't want to save changes to because then I must force Photoshop to quit. Running on Mac. Version 23.2.2

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147 replies

Inspiring
May 29, 2023

It only happened to me after I upgraded to Ventura, at which point I had so many memory issues I had to go back to Monterey.

 

Since going back to Monterey, no issues.

nathanh33920683
Participant
May 28, 2023

Running Photoshop v24.5

nathanh33920683
Participant
May 28, 2023

Running 2021 16" M1 Macbook Pro, 64GB RAM, Ventura 13.4
Still having this same problem intermittenly. Will attempt to apply an effect, edit an existing effect, etc and the app acts as though the dialogue pop-up is active, but there is nothing visible. ESC key cancels the dialogue and brings me back into the main interface. Sometimes restarting works, sometimes not.

robertw44482386
Inspiring
April 25, 2023

Thanks for replying, yes I could post a video but there is nothing new to report, it is exactly as described by dozens of us over the past year in this long thread. It would seem you are treating this as an unknown new thing but it is over a year since it has been brought to the attention of this forum.

The video posted on 30 Apr, 2022 by mariussteffen.de is as perfect as any video I could upload. Moreover the option-clicking the dock icon, suggested in later pages of this thread restores the dialog box temporarily. So I don't think there is anything to gain by me uploading.

CShubert
Community Manager
Community Manager
April 25, 2023

@robertw44482386 sorry to hear this.  Would it be possible for you to share a video of your screen and what you are seeing, the team needs some steps to reproduce this before they can solve it.

 

It may help if we could see your Photoshop System Info. Launch Photoshop, and select Help >System Info...and copy/paste the text in a reply.  

 

robertw44482386
Inspiring
April 25, 2023

Here to report that with 24.4.1 this problem has become much more prevalent again. 

Studio M1 Max 64GB RAM dual displays
Monterey 12.6.4

In recent versions it was an "afternoon" issue occasionally. It is now a "morning" issue reliably. Restarting the app cures it but with several open windows and an invisible dialog box for many of them required to close them, this is getting to be a big time waste again. Annoying. Restarting the app works every time but bosses looking over shoulders get sick of hearing this explanation.

Can't update to Ventura until IT oks it. Understandably they are skeptical.

MarkDS
Inspiring
May 15, 2023

Photoshop 24.4.1. in Mac OS Monterey 12.6 in Mac Studio Ultra M1 2022 computer.

I send a large file from Lightroom to Photoshop using "Edit In..." in the Lightroom Photo menu. I create layers in Photoshop. That with the rendering results in a file that exceeds the TIFF default I use for saving files edited in Photoshop that are TIFF-compatible. BUT, before straying to Save, one cannot see in Photoshop when the sie of the document exceeds the TIFF limit. I try to Save in the usual way, so that it will reappear in Lightroom with the PS edits in place. If the file size is too large for TIFF, one is supposed to get a notification of the need to use PSB. HOWEVER - here's the bug - this notification does not appear on my display, so the application is stuck because I can't action anything. I need to push ESC multiple times to get rid of what is supposed to be a notification; Then the program clears allowing me to access all the menus again. Then I guess that the problem was too big a file for TIFF, so I do a "SAVE AS" and select the PSB format. The bug is that the notification is not showing so it prevents me from moving on to do this SAVE AS unless I press ESC enough times to unfreeze everything. This is not normal behaviour.

Participating Frequently
March 26, 2023

What a shame, the PS is one of the most popular software and still is bleeding with UX bugs!!!

courageous_youth15A7
Known Participant
March 19, 2023

Ventura 13.2.1 here, hasn't happened with 24.2 nor with current beta.

Adobe Employee
March 8, 2023

For Photoshop version 23.2.2 or later, running on Macintosh (Intel or ARM) under the current macOS Ventura 13.2.1, is this problem of invisible/behind dialog boxes, invisible/behind save dialog, invisible/behind open dialog, or invisible/behind popup messages still happening?

 

From the replies in the discussion — for the Macintosh related replies — one common factor appears to be macOS Monterey 12.x and macOS Big Sur 11.x.

 

I am interested in whether anyone is still experiencing this problem under macOS Ventura 13.x.  And if so, whether Spaces or Mission Control is somehow involved.

 

Also, thank you to the community for finding the Option+Click on the running Photoshop icon in the Dock to pull forward invisible/behind dialogs interim workaround.

Senior Computer Scientist - Digital Imaging - Photoshop

Participating Frequently
February 15, 2023

@hyperiz dude!! DUDE!!! GOD BLESS YOU!!! ALL THE GOOD KARMA an all that!!!!! I've been repeatedly saying this and thinking of u since u posted this, just didn't get to write in here. IT FRIGGIN WORKS!!!! Every time. You just saved me 2 hours of work just now (and countless other hours before today). And you probably saved my computer from an angry punch...or at least my mouse. And my neighbours can now sleep peacefully without me waking them up in the middle of the night swearing at my computer. Cheers to you!!