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artistic_worldview21ad
Participant
Nov 7, 2026 3:48 PM UTC
Question

Photoshop opens in the background when using Alt + double-click in Illustrator

I'm experiencing an issue when trying to edit an embedded or linked image directly from Adobe Illustrator.

When I hold down the Alt key and double-click an image in Illustrator, Photoshop opens the image successfully, but its window does not come to the foreground. Photoshop remains behind Illustrator, forcing me to manually switch applications.

Interestingly, if I use the Edit in Photoshop command, everything works as expected. Photoshop opens and comes to the foreground without any issues.

This makes me suspect there is a problem with how Illustrator handles the Alt + double-click command or how it communicates with Photoshop.

Has anyone experienced the same issue? Is there a known workaround or a fix for this behaviour?

System configuration:

  • Windows 11

  • Adobe Illustrator (latest version)

  • Adobe Photoshop (latest version)

I'd appreciate any suggestions or insights. Thanks!

    5 replies

    CarlosCanto
    Community Expert
    CarlosCantoCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    Nov 9, 2026 4:09 AM UTC

    I didn’t know about this feature, so I don’t know if it used to work and/or when it stopped working.

     

    that being said, after Alt+Double Clicking the image, do Alt+Tab to bring Photoshop to the front. 

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    Community Expert
    Eugene TysonCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    Nov 8, 2026 9:43 AM UTC

    Hi,

    Since Photoshop opens the image correctly using Alt + double-click, but doesn't come to the foreground, this looks more like an application focus issue than a problem with the image or file association.

    Windows has restrictions on applications bringing themselves to the foreground, although that doesn't necessarily mean Windows is responsible here.

    Could you try a couple of things?

    1. Open Photoshop first, then return to Illustrator and try Alt + double-click. Does Photoshop come to the foreground?

    2. Try Edit Original from Illustrator's Links panel. Does that behave differently from Alt + double-click?

    3. Does the same thing happen with both linked and embedded images?

    The fact that Edit in Photoshop works correctly suggests the two methods may be handling window activation differently.

    For now, using Edit in Photoshop is a reasonable workaround.

    If the problem is consistent, it would be useful to know the exact Illustrator and Photoshop version numbers, particularly whether this behaviour started after an update.

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      artistic_worldview21adAuthor
      Participant
      Nov 9, 2026 11:18 AM UTC

      I don't think this is a Windows issue, especially since Photoshop comes to the foreground perfectly when we trigger the command from either the Links panel or the button in the taskbar.

      I believe the problem lies in the way Illustrator is invoking the command.

      I'm using the latest version of Illustrator, which I've just updated. Hopefully, someone at Adobe will look into this issue and investigate what's causing it.

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      Community Expert
      Eugene TysonCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      Nov 9, 2026 12:39 PM UTC

      Did you try any of my suggestions? What is the result? 

      A good troublehsooting step is to start the computer in safe mode - only as a test - you can reboot into normal mode after testing. 

      During the test, does it behave normally or the same - this will narrow down if there’s something interferring with the commands.

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