How to disable brush blend mode shortcuts

Forum|Forum|1 month ago
March 12, 2026
2 replies
104 views

I would like to disable the keyboard shortcuts for switching between brush blending mode. The current keyboard shortcuts are shift + - or shift + =. I have no use for switching my brush blending mode and I accidentally hit this shortcut frequently when switching brush flow to 100% and then I’m left wondering why my brush doesn’t work until I realize I’m on Divide or Dissolve blending mode.

I can’t find anywhere to change these keyboard shortcuts. Please help!

jane-e

Community Expert

@burbalade

I don’t know if this list will help you know what to watch for — or not.

Most blending mode shortcuts start with Shift + Option + [letter]. The exception is cycling through blending modes.

If you are ending up on Dissolve, you might be hitting “Shift +” (plus) accidentally.

Keys for using Blending Modes

Result	Windows	Mac OS
Cycle through blending modes	Shift + + (plus) or - (minus)	Shift + + (plus) or - (minus)
Normal	Shift + Alt + N	Shift + Option + N
Dissolve	Shift + Alt + I	Shift + Option + I
Behind	Shift + Alt + Q	Shift + Option + Q
Clear	Shift + Alt + R	Shift + Option + R
Darken	Shift + Alt + K	Shift + Option + K
Multiply	Shift + Alt + M	Shift + Option + M
Color Burn	Shift + Alt + B	Shift + Option + B
Linear Burn	Shift + Alt + A	Shift + Option + A
Lighten	Shift + Alt + G	Shift + Option + G
Screen	Shift + Alt + S	Shift + Option + S
Color Dodge	Shift + Alt + D	Shift + Option + D
Linear Dodge	Shift + Alt + W	Shift + Option + W
Overlay	Shift + Alt + O	Shift + Option + O
Soft Light	Shift + Alt + F	Shift + Option + F
Hard Light	Shift + Alt + H	Shift + Option + H
Vivid Light	Shift + Alt + V	Shift + Option + V
Linear Light	Shift + Alt + J	Shift + Option + J
Pin Light	Shift + Alt + Z	Shift + Option + Z
Hard Mix	Shift + Alt + L	Shift + Option + L
Difference	Shift + Alt + E	Shift + Option + E
Exclusion	Shift + Alt + X	Shift + Option + X
Hue	Shift + Alt + U	Shift + Option + U
Saturation	Shift + Alt + T	Shift + Option + T
Color	Shift + Alt + C	Shift + Option + C
Luminosity	Shift + Alt + Y	Shift + Option + Y

Jane Edwards

Spas K.

Community Expert

It’s one of the hardcoded shortcuts which cannot be changed in Photoshop natively.

The only solution would be to override it with other software that binds the said shortcut to a different action, so when you press it the blending mode change doesn’t happen, but something harmless runs instead.

Software options vary by system, but on Windows there’s AutoHotkey.

For example - you need to write a script that will activate when you press Shift and + or Shift and _, which will do a sequence of both commands, selecting the next blend mode, and immediately returning to the previous one, thus not making any actual change to it.

The script for this looks like:

+$+:: {
    Send '+{+}'
    Send '+{-}'
}

+$_:: {
    Send '+{-}'
    Send '+{+}'
}
return

I’ve tested it and it works.

A potential issue is that when you’re typing and you want to actually type + or _, it will do the predefined action. In the example, it will type _+ or +_, which is not a bad tradeoff :)