Inconsistent keyboard shortcut for "Type tool"

Question

Hi,

I have the following issue with Photoshop 26.5.0: say the active tool is the "Move Tool" and the active layer is a text layer, and I want to modify the content of this text layer. Usually what I do is I press "T" on my keyboard and it makes the "Type Tool" active. Then I can modify the text layer the way I want. That's fine.

But unfortunately, this doesn't work for me anymore.

What happens now when I press "T" on my keyboard is:

_ the "Type Tool" becomes active

_ but as soon as I release the "T" key the active tool switches back to the "Move Tool"

_ If I change the active tool for something else, say the "Lasso Tool" for example, the same issue happens: I press "T" which makes the "Type Tool" active until I release the "T" key, and the active tool immediately switches back to the "Lasso Tool" again.

In other words, the shortcut fails.

Is anyone having the same issue?
How can I fix this?

Thanks a lot for your help, it's much appreciated,

Conrad_C · Accepted Answer

I think I know what’s going on. By accident, the “Spring-Loaded Tool Shortcuts” option is being used.

The short answer is: When using a single-key shortcut, do a brief tap…do not spend much time holding the key down.

The long answer is that for these single-key shortcuts, there is a difference between tapping and a long press. A tap switches the key until you change the tool again later. If you spend any time holding the key down longer than a brief tap, the tool change applies only as long as you hold down the key. When you release the key, it reverts to the previous tool.

The reason they did this was to provide a way for people to temporarily switch tools for just a quick edit. For example, if you were using the Move tool but you would like to use the Rectangular Marquee selection tool for just 5 seconds to quickly select an area to move, you would press and hold the M key, and keep it held down with one hand, while you make the new selection with the mouse in the other hand. When done, you release the M key and it goes back to the Move tool and you can now move the selected pixels.

If you want to keep it simple and not have to worry about how long or short you are holding down a key, you can turn off this feature. In Photoshop Preferences, deselect Spring-Loaded Tool Shortcuts. If you kind of like the idea but wish the timing was different, you can change the Timing Sensitivity value there.

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