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jasonw273309
jasonw273309
Participant
February 22, 2022
Question

Cursor becomes Hand tool / unable to do anything to image

  • February 22, 2022
  • 4 replies
  • 7138 views

Hi all,

 

I opened Photoshop today and it did a quick update - I seem unable to do anything now - for example when I open an image, whichever tool I select (pen, heal brush, text etc) when I bring the cursor over the canvas it becomes the hand tool/icon and I cannot do anything to the image.

 

Is this just a problem for me or have others experienced it? I have noticed things are a lot more glitchy since installing Monterey on my iMac...

 

Many thanks,

Jason

4 replies

M
Michelle_Cao9044
Participant
October 19, 2025

Just had the same problem on my mac. worked earlier 3hours ago, tried again and wasn't working even if i restarted. Updated to the latest version and it still doesn't work. 

melissapiccone
Community Expert
melissapicconeCommunity Expert
Community Expert
October 20, 2025

Tap your space bar a few times to make sure it's not stuck. Rule out the keyboard and then reset your preferences. 

Melissa Piccone | Adobe Trainer | Online Courses Author | Fine Artist
L
lorner89778067
Participant
October 19, 2023

i have the same problem

 

melissapiccone
Community Expert
melissapicconeCommunity Expert
Community Expert
February 22, 2022

I have this happen to me sometimes - it's very annoying. I usually have to click around, change tools, etc. to kick it back into gear. Try resetting your preferences and see if that fixes it. 

Melissa Piccone | Adobe Trainer | Online Courses Author | Fine Artist
    jasonw273309
    jasonw273309Author
    Participant
    February 24, 2022

    Thanks for this - good shout! Just tried again now and looked like it installed another update, and seems to be working...

     

    Kind regards,

    Jason

    Ranjisha Sengupta
    Ranjisha Sengupta
    Legend
    February 22, 2022

    Hi Jason,

    We're sorry to hear about the trouble experienced. We're here to help.

    Which version of Photoshop are you using? Do you have any antivirus installed on your system?

    Check this article for detailed steps on how we can troubleshoot this issue: https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/hand-tool-stuck.html

    Let us know if this works.

     

    Thanks.

    Ranjisha

      M
      MarkMiranda13
      Participant
      February 23, 2022

      We shouldn't have to disable anti-virus software, disable browser extensions, and disable or uninstall apps or drivers to use Photoshop. That's kind of ridiculous. 

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