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Himawari2307
Participant
May 29, 2026
Question

Free Transform Not Responding to Mouse Input, Hand Tool Stuttering

  • May 29, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 36 views

Occasionally, I can't transform an object after entering Free Transform mode. The transform box appears, but I can't rotate or manipulate it with the mouse, although entering values directly in the toolbar still works.

The Hand Tool also starts behaving strangely—it becomes glitchy and seems to get stuck around a specific location instead of panning the canvas normally.

These issues disappear after I close and reopen Photoshop. You can see the problem in the video below:

Video capture

I suspect I may have accidentally pressed an unknown shortcut or enabled some kind of mode, but I can't figure out what it is. Does anyone know how to return Photoshop to its normal state without restarting the program? Having to reopen Photoshop every time is disrupting my workflow and costing me a lot of time.

    1 reply

    Sameer K
    Community Manager
    Sameer KCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    June 1, 2026

    Hey, @Himawari2307. Welcome to the Photoshop Community. I'll need more info to help you figure this out. Please share the system information from Photoshop Help > System Info > Copy and paste into a text document > Upload and attach here.


    Does it behave as mentioned after a specific set of steps? What troubleshooting steps have you tried already? 

    Try these steps:
    Go to the location of the preference folder below and rename it to backup.

    • Windows 10/11: Users/[user name]/AppData/Roaming/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop [version]/Adobe Photoshop [version] Settings

    • You can press Press the Windows key > Enter 'Run' > Enter %APPDATA%\Adobe

    • Rename the Adobe Photoshop folder by adding a .old at the end. (Adobe Photoshop 2026 > Rename > Adobe Photoshop 2026. old), You can restore these preferences later if needed.(https://adobe.ly/4860qM9)

    • Restart the computer.

    These changes will give Photoshop a fresh start as a new install. Let me know how it goes.

    Thanks!

    Sameer K

    (Type '@' and type my name to mention me when you reply)

    H
    Himawari2307Author
    Participant
    June 2, 2026

    Hello ​@Sameer K ,

    Thank you for your help.

    The issue usually occurred while I was using various combinations of Shift, Ctrl, and Alt shortcuts, particularly when zooming and transforming objects. I'm not sure which exact combination triggered it, since I use many keyboard shortcuts while working and may have accidentally pressed an unintended key combination.

    Before your reply, I tried removing all the shortcuts that I didn't recognize or use from the Keyboard Shortcuts settings, and I noticed that the issue has been almost completely resolved. In the past, it could happen multiple times in a single evening, but now I rarely encounter it.

    I've also attached my system information for your reference. Since I rarely encounter the issue now, I'm not sure whether the method you suggested would resolve it, but I'll keep an eye on it and let you know if it occurs again.

    Thank you for your help.

      Sameer K
      Community Manager
      Sameer KCommunity Manager
      Community Manager
      June 9, 2026

      Thanks for the update and the system info. Photoshop 27.7 is available via the Creative Cloud desktop app.

      Since you have a Nvidia GPU, sometimes the shortcuts for Nvidia Overlay conflict with ALT + Shift shortcuts.

      Let me know if you find a repeatable pattern. 

       

      Thanks!
      Sameer K

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