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Kiki Stanza
Kiki Stanza
Participating Frequently
January 13, 2021
Answered

Only the Hand tool is operating

  • January 13, 2021
  • 2 replies
  • 558 views

I was working in photoshop for a few hours when all of the sudden, no matter what tool I click on, only the hand tool shows on the artboard.  I shut down photoshop a few times and restarted to no avail. I literally cannot work in photoshop with only the hand tool operable!?  Please help 

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer AxelMatt

    Have you tried to restart the whole computer?

    Try to reset your Photoshop preferences. Preferences in Photoshop (adobe.com)

    2 replies

    Kevin Stohlmeyer
    Community Expert
    Kevin StohlmeyerCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 13, 2021

    Agree with Matt - try resetting first.

    Next check to make sure your space bar is not stuck.

    Space is the shortcut that turns all tools to the hand tool.

      S
      StudioCharlie
      Participant
      January 31, 2023

      It was the space bar becoming stuck (I have an Arteck keyboard and had to press 'Alt' + 'Spacebar' to fix it)
      I had done so many restarts and it always seem to happen after using Chrome – constantly restarting the machine is not really a fix in my opinion, we shouldn't have to resort to that as default. 

        PECourtejoie
        Community Expert
        PECourtejoieCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        January 31, 2023

        Chrome was known to steal shortcuts, such as the spacebar. Nice tip re: alt+space

        AxelMatt
        Community Expert
        AxelMattCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
        Community Expert
        January 13, 2021

        Have you tried to restart the whole computer?

        Try to reset your Photoshop preferences. Preferences in Photoshop (adobe.com)

        My System: Intel i7-8700K - 64GB RAM - NVidia Geforce RTX 3060 - Windows 11 Pro 25H2 -- LR-Classic 15 - Photoshop 27 - Nik Collection 8 - PureRAW 6 - Topaz Photo AI
          Kiki Stanza
          Kiki StanzaAuthor
          Participating Frequently
          January 13, 2021

          It seems like a simple restart did the trick.  Thanks, that never had happened in the decades of using Adobe. Being there have been a few weird bugs lately I thought maybe this was a continuation of that. 

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