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Anonymous
November 22, 2021

P: "Disable Reduce User Experience Friction" Not Working in Photoshop CC

  • November 22, 2021
  • 3 replies
  • 269 views

Photoshop CC Version: 23.0.1

Operating System: Windows 10

 

I am a new user to Photoshop CC, but I have been using Photoshop CS6 and older versions over the course of 15 years.  A quality of life change that I noticed in CC is that whenever I use the type tool, it no longer allows me to move the text by dragging anywhere outside the editable area when the type tool is active.  There appears to be an invisible "bounding box" that only allows me to move the text within a specific region before the cursor reverts back to my OS cursor and immediately commits the text rather than letting me drag it around.  Additionally, when I click to place text and the line is blank, I have no option whatsoever to move the text unless one character is added.  This is incredibly frustrating to work with as the type tool has never behaved this way prior to CC and I don't understand why this functionality was changed.

 

Upon further research, I noticed optional extensions that can be enabled from the following help documentation: https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/enable-optional-extensions-photoshop-cc.html

 

While one of these has helped me return Photoshop to the legacy behavior I expect, it seems the "ReduceUXFriction 0" setting is not working as intended.  With it set, I am still able to click the canvas to commit active text in the way I described above.  Also, I still get the dialog box to convert the background layer to a normal layer when I attempt to move it.  So I'm not sure if this setting is working properly.

 

As an extra measure, I also tried the "OnCanvasClickToCommit 0" setting, but no difference was made in the text tool behavior.

 

I am aware that holding the "alt" key allows me to move the text from any point, but this defeats the purpose of having a setting in the first place that allows for the legacy behavior to be applied.  I have attached short videos that demonstrate the expected behavior versus the actual behavior.  If there is something I am misunderstanding, please let me know.  I might just be missing a tiny setting and giving myself extra headache for no reason.

 

Thank you!

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    3 replies

    c.pfaffenbichler
    Community Expert
    c.pfaffenbichlerCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 26, 2026

    Is holding down the Alt key simply the new expected behavior for modern versions of Photoshop?

    I assume so. 

     

    Moreover, I did try the  "OnCanvasClickToCommit 0" and it still made no difference to the Type Tool (though it does correctly affect transform actions, so I know the setting is applying properly).

    Where exactly were you clicking in relation to the Type Layer’s area? 

     

    How is the issue hampering your work? 

    Do you create extremely text-heavy designs? 

    Sonic Gal
    Sonic Gal
    Participating Frequently
    June 21, 2026

    Hello,

    A few years back, a topic was made regarding an issue I have also been experiencing for quite some time:

    I would have commented on the original topic, however it was closed and engineering was allegedly looking into the problem. But as of today, the issues described still persist in Photoshop 2026 (Windows 11).  As the original poster mentioned, when you place text and the line is blank, you cannot freely move it around as you would if existing text was there.  Also as the poster described, there is an invisible “bounding box” where I see the cursor change to the Move Tool cursor when I’m within close proximity of the text, but moving too far out changes it to the default OS cursor (at which clicking anywhere commits the text). I can also confirm that holding down the Alt key does alleviate the text movement issue altogether, but I am unsure if this is intended behavior or a programming oversight/bug.

     

    The “ReduceUXFriction 0” does not exist anymore on the page that was linked in the original post. Moreover, I did try the  "OnCanvasClickToCommit 0" and it still made no difference to the Type Tool (though it does correctly affect transform actions, so I know the setting is applying properly).

     

    Is holding down the Alt key simply the new expected behavior for modern versions of Photoshop?  I come from the PS 7 era and many of these basic functions were consistent between versions (CS, CS2, and so on).  It just seems strange that something like this would have been purposely changed, but I appreciate any help or information provided!

      J
      J453
      Legend
      November 24, 2021

      Thanks. Engineering is looking into this.

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