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vincent_8939
Participant
Jan 28, 2026 11:31 AM UTC
Investigating

P: Photoshop drawing random lines when using tools (Remove, Brush and other drawing tools)

Bonjour,

Quand j'utilise l'Outil Correcteur Localisé en cliquant avec ma souris sur une zone de la photo à l’écran, une multitude de lignes partent dans tous les sens. Donc cet outil ne fonctionne plus depuis plusieurs jours. Est-ce un bug ?

    Pinned Reply By Bkelley01

    I was having the same issues with multiple tools in Photoshop. Finally after a day of trying all things, we have found a solution on Reddit. I tried it and it fixed it right up. This is for PC only.

    1. Create a text document with Notepad. Name it “PSUserConfig.txt”
    2. Write “UseSystemStylus 0” in the text body (that’s a zero not an “O”)
    3. Save it in “C:\Users\*YOUR USER NAME*\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop 2026\Adobe Photoshop 2026 Settings

    (In step 3, *YOUR USER NAME* is unique to whatever your username is.)

    Restart photoshop and the tools should work again. 

    Credit to u/Professional_Use442 on Reddit for sharing this fix. Note: If you want to use the stylus again you’ll have to follow their instructions on how to re--enable the stylus mode.

    171 replies

    Ged_Traynor
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    Jun 8, 2026 10:36 AM UTC

    ​@Bangda there’s another thread here that might be related to the issue you have

     

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    Bangda
    Participant
    Jun 8, 2026 10:34 AM UTC

    My brush tool sometimes makes lines if I only want a dot. how do I fix that

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    Community Expert
    Jun 8, 2026 4:46 PM UTC

    Do you use the mouse or do you use a graphic tablet?

    Please provide a copy of your 'System Info'. This can be get from the Photoshop menu item Help > System Info. There's a copy button in the System Info dialog. Press this button and paste the info into a text file and attach it to your next forum post.

     

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    My System: Intel i7-8700K - 64GB RAM - NVidia Geforce RTX 3060 - Windows 11 Pro 26H2 -- LR-Classic 15 - Photoshop 27 - Nik Collection 9 - PureRAW 6 - Topaz Photo AI
    Bangda
    Participant
    Jun 8, 2026 10:32 AM UTC

     

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    honghong2026
    Participant
    Jun 8, 2026 5:19 AM UTC

    I've tried every possible solution, but the same issue keeps happening. Is my only option at this point to wait for a Photoshop update?

     

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    jane-e
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    Jun 8, 2026 1:04 PM UTC

    ​@honghong2026 wrote: “I've tried every possible solution”

     

    Can you tell us what you already tried?

     

    Jane

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    honghong2026
    Participant
    Jun 10, 2026 12:46 AM UTC

    ​@jane-e 

    1.Reset All Tools

    2.Create a text document with Notepad. Name it “PSUserConfig.txt”.

    Neither of these methods worked

    -

    My system is Windows 11 Pro, version 24H2. After downgrading and installing version 27.0, everything works fine, but I can no longer use the latest AI tools. I really hope this issue can be fixed as soon as possible

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    Ged_Traynor
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    Jun 5, 2026 6:57 AM UTC

    ​@SimoneHanby try resetting the tools

    If that doesn’t help, try manually resetting your Photoshop preferences

     

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    lisa_5492
    Participant
    Jun 20, 2026 4:16 PM UTC

    Tried both of these suggestions, did not work.

     

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    sbn85
    Inspiring
    Jun 26, 2026 9:19 AM UTC

    lol, every time :D and they will keep telling to reset preferences and that it helps in most cases :D Adobe, fix your product!

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    SimoneHanby
    Participant
    Jun 5, 2026 5:34 AM UTC

    Why is my selection brush tool highlighting areas I haven't selected? I go to apply the brush tool to an item I want to remove, and it automatically selects random areas of the entire image. I’ve tried googling to find the answer and no luck. I even tried chatgpt. Help please, it’s driving me crazy! Simone :-) 

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    Claire H.
    Community Manager
    Community Manager
    Jun 5, 2026 8:09 PM UTC

    Hi ​@SimoneHanby, Thanks for reaching out! Please take a look at ​@Ged_Traynor’s recommendation. You can also follow these steps to try manually resetting your Photoshop preferences: https://helpx.adobe.com/ie/photoshop/using/preferences.html#Manuall. Remember to back up your settings before doing the preference reset: https://helpx.adobe.com/ie/photoshop/using/preset-migration.html.

     

    If none of these steps work for you, let us know, and we can continue troubleshooting. I hope this helps! ^CH

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    Community Expert
    May 29, 2026 8:05 AM UTC
    My System: Intel i7-8700K - 64GB RAM - NVidia Geforce RTX 3060 - Windows 11 Pro 26H2 -- LR-Classic 15 - Photoshop 27 - Nik Collection 9 - PureRAW 6 - Topaz Photo AI
    Participant
    May 29, 2026 9:57 AM UTC

    Thanks AxelMatt! This worked perfectly! Such a pity so much time is wasted trying to work this issue out, when Adobe could be fixing this issue permanently. 

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    Participant
    May 29, 2026 3:41 AM UTC

    Every time I try to use the brush for masking, use the spot healing tool, make live selections, I get zigzagging, random strokes and selections. I cannot control the tools at all. I have troubleshooted and tested the GPU- no issues, reset tools, checked the preferences, done all of the multiple suggestions online to fix the issue and nothing works. Ive tried winding back the PS CC update to an earlier one and this didnt work either. 

    Also, the PS freezes when trying to move the canvas around, it takes about 1 min to unfreeze wasting more time! 

    I have allocated plenty of RAM, and I have been using PS CC on this desktop (windows 10) for years with no issues. This issue has only occurred in the last week and is completely frustrating! A fast resolution from Adobe would be appreciated! 

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    Bkelley01
    Bkelley01Pinned
    Participant
    May 20, 2026 8:14 PM UTC

    I was having the same issues with multiple tools in Photoshop. Finally after a day of trying all things, we have found a solution on Reddit. I tried it and it fixed it right up. This is for PC only.

    1. Create a text document with Notepad. Name it “PSUserConfig.txt”
    2. Write “UseSystemStylus 0” in the text body (that’s a zero not an “O”)
    3. Save it in “C:\Users\*YOUR USER NAME*\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop 2026\Adobe Photoshop 2026 Settings

    (In step 3, *YOUR USER NAME* is unique to whatever your username is.)

    Restart photoshop and the tools should work again. 

    Credit to u/Professional_Use442 on Reddit for sharing this fix. Note: If you want to use the stylus again you’ll have to follow their instructions on how to re--enable the stylus mode.

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    Maestros
    Participating Frequently
    May 26, 2026 1:24 AM UTC

    So far this workaround has worked for me.  

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    Claire H.
    Community Manager
    Community Manager
    May 26, 2026 7:49 PM UTC

    Hi ​@Maestros, thanks for letting us know! We are still investigating this issue and will update here if we need any more information or if we release a fix.. ^CH

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    Exodus World Service
    Participant
    May 18, 2026 4:01 PM UTC

    This is also happening to me with the Remove tool and Content-Aware, crazy lines appearing. I tried updating Photoshop but nothing seems to work.

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