Skip to main content
J
juliana1234567
Participant
April 10, 2020
Question

Alt + Drag to duplicate not working in Photoshop

  • April 10, 2020
  • 7 replies
  • 10676 views

So I normally use the key Alt and Drag an object to duplicate them on Photoshop, but ever since I upgraded to Photoshop 2020, this is not working. 
Is this a bug? How can I restore this?

    7 replies

    R
    richardxs
    Participant
    April 23, 2025

    I had the same problem. I fixed it by unchecking "Show Transform Controls".

    F
    frinch28208927hgs1
    Participant
    June 7, 2024

    to do it. click "v" (move tool) first, then click the image and drag.

    J
    Jose356281407wcb
    Participant
    April 1, 2024

    The work around I found was to convert to smart object the layer you're trying to duplicate the effects onto. Only then I was able to drag and drop (holding option key or alt key) onto the other layer (now a smart object)

    alecAgratina
    alecAgratina
    Participant
    January 31, 2023

    Same issue.

    Regular behaviour : in the layer panel, you can drag and drop a layer (or an effect) to change its position (the Hope it's clear. 

    alecAgratina
    alecAgratina
    Participant
    January 31, 2023

    The text edit of my previous post is also bugged 😞

    So, I 've got the same issue.

    Same issue.

    Regular behaviour : in the layer panel, you can drag and drop a layer (or an effect) to change its position (the pointer the turns into a fist. If you hold the alt (option) key during the operation, the layer (or effect) is duplicated (a tiny " + " is displayed over the fist pointer)

    Bug : holding alt(option) key is not effective (the " + " sign won't show). You can drag and drop but layer or effect is not duplicated.

      M
      MTRPhoto
      Participant
      August 28, 2023

      Did anyone ever find an answer to this? If I've got what you're saying right. For me, the problem is that alt + drag will duplicate the object but it does it on the same layer and doesn't duplicate and make a new layer. Was there ever a settings change or fix for this?

      B
      bhux1
      Participant
      September 7, 2021

      The "Auto Select" tick box at the top of the tool bar is on - turn that off and everything goes back to normal!! took me 3 hours to work it out and couldn't find anything else on this forum site.

       

      Hopefully this helps someone else.

        Y
        Yashwant23689105tp00
        Participant
        April 10, 2022

        yeah this is a bug, they should really fix this. 

          c.pfaffenbichler
          Community Expert
          c.pfaffenbichlerCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          April 11, 2022

          If it is a bug please provide clear steps to reproduce it. 

          omchy17402115
          omchy17402115
          Participant
          April 26, 2020

          Hi had the same problem, I solved it by quitting Spotify and restarting PSD, sometimes Spotify has weird effects on the Adobe Products.

            Trevor.Dennis
            Community Expert
            Trevor.DennisCommunity Expert
            Community Expert
            September 7, 2021

            The screen capture shortcuts in Nvidia Experience also take priority over some Photoshop shortcuts.  If you have this problem, open Nvidia from the Windows taskbar, click on the settings cog icon, and turn off IN-GAME-OVERLAY

             

              c.pfaffenbichler
              Community Expert
              c.pfaffenbichlerCommunity Expert
              Community Expert
              April 10, 2020

              Depends on what you actually mean. 

              With Layers at least I can alt-drag to duplicate both on the Canvas and in the Layers Panel, so please explain, maybe post some meaningful screenshots to illustrate. 

               

              Please read this (in particular the section titled "Supply pertinent information for quicker answers"):

              https://community.adobe.com/t5/Community-Help/Guidelines-Tips-for-the-Adobe-Forums/td-p/4788157

              Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
              Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices