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kasparss95237364
Participating Frequently
February 23, 2026
Question

The brush tool & masking have completely stopped working

  • February 23, 2026
  • 3 replies
  • 213 views

I’m done with this. With every single update, Lightroom becomes more of a mess. Now, out of nowhere, the brush tool and masking have completely stopped working. I can't get any work done.

I have already tried all the standard "fixes":

Toggling GPU acceleration on/off - no effect.

Restarting macOS and Lightroom multiple times - no effect.

Resetting preferences and clearing cache - still nothing.

And don't even try to blame my hardware. I am running this on a Mac Studio M1 Max and a MacBook Pro 16 M1 Pro. The exact same issue occurs on both machines after working for a while. This isn't a hardware limitation; this is your buggy, unoptimized code.

I posted about this exact problem months ago in this forum, and nothing has been fixed. You keep charging a monthly subscription fee, yet you fail to provide a stable environment for basic functions like masking. This is my last year with Adobe. I am officially looking for alternatives that actually work and don't waste my time and nerves.

Fix your software.

Lightroom Classic version: 15.2 [ 202602111402-ec4112e8 ]
License: Creative Cloud
Language setting: lv-LV
Operating system: Mac OS 26
Version: 26.3.0 [25D125]
Application architecture: arm64
Logical processor count: 10
Processor speed: NA
SqLite Version: 3.36.0
Adobe GSDK Version: 1.4.0.171

Built-in memory: 32 768,0 MB
Dedicated GPU memory used by Lightroom: 357,1MB / 25 559,0MB (1%)
Real memory available to Lightroom: 32 768,0 MB
Real memory used by Lightroom: 1 893,7 MB (5,7%)
Virtual memory used by Lightroom: 436 658,8 MB
Memory cache size: 3 237,3MB
Internal Camera Raw version: 18.2 [ 2482 ]
Maximum thread count used by Camera Raw: 5
Camera Raw SIMD optimization: SSE2
Camera Raw virtual memory: 142MB / 16383MB (0%)
Camera Raw real memory: 144MB / 32768MB (0%)

Cache1: 
NT- RAM:0,0MB, VRAM:0,0MB, Combined:0,0MB

Cache2: 
m:3 237,3MB, n:0,0MB

U-main: 141,0MB

Standard Preview Size: 5120 pixels
Displays: 1) 5120x2880, 2) 2560x1440, 3) 2560x1440

Graphics Processor Info: 
Metal: Apple M1 Max
Init State: GPU for Export supported by default
User Preference: Auto
Enable HDR in Library: OFF
GPU for Preview Generation: Auto (S5_24)

Application folder: /Applications/Adobe Lightroom Classic
Library Path: /Volumes/4TB-LEXAR/2026/2026.lrcat
Settings Folder: /Users/kasparssilins/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom

Installed Plugins: 
1) AdobeStock
2) Aperty
3) Logi Plugin

 

    3 replies

    Colijn van Noort
    Colijn van Noort
    Participant
    February 27, 2026

    It looks like 15.2 introduced an issue with the GPU. When I disabled GPU support under preferences the lag was completely gone… And yes, my video drivers are up-to-date...

    SarahP022426
    SarahP022426
    Participant
    February 24, 2026

    I’m experiencing this for the first time, as well. When I couldn’t get the brush tool to work, I tried the AI Select People; it allowed me to select facial skin and create a mask, and then LR crashed. Tried the same thing again, and again it crashed.

    JohanElzenga
    Community Expert
    JohanElzengaCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    February 23, 2026

    Uninstall your 2 third party plugins to see if one of them causes this. The ‘Masking activated’ message you see in your video is definitely caused by a plugin; it is not a standard Lightroom message. The other issues may be caused by a non-compatible plugin too. My guess is that ‘Logi’ plugin. I’m 99% sure this is the one that creates that message, so that is my first suspect. I have an M1 Max running Tahoe 26.3 as well, and I have no issues at all.

    -- Johan W. Elzenga
      K
      kasparss95237364Author
      Participating Frequently
      February 23, 2026

      That was the first thing I tried when the issue started - it changed absolutely nothing. I uninstalled every single third-party plugin and the problem persisted. I only reinstalled Logi Options+ later because I need it for my controller, but I experienced this exact same glitch twice while running a completely clean setup with zero plugins installed. This isn't a plugin compatibility issue; it's a Lightroom bug that isn't being addressed.

      JohanElzenga
      Community Expert
      JohanElzengaCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      February 23, 2026

      Does that controller have drivers that might be buggy? Like I said, I have the same computer as you and no issues, so why don’t I see that bug if there was a bug?

      -- Johan W. Elzenga
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