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johnl71261527
Participant
October 12, 2025
Answered

Photoshop: cant use the tool because activation failed

  • October 12, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 436 views

I have been trying to use the Remove tool in Photoshop, but this keeps popping up every time, 'cant use the tool because activation failed'. I've looked everywhere but can't find anything about it. Has anyone ever had this happen before? It even does it to me in Photoshop Beta. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Correct answer johnl71261527
I tried running as administrator and got the same error. But, I did go into Preferences, Image processing, and changed Remove Tool Processing from Faster to More Stable, restarted Photoshop, and it works again. I tried it a few times just to make sure, and it worked every time. Thanks for your quick response, I appreciate it! 

1 reply

J E L
Community Expert
J E LCommunity Expert
Community Expert
October 12, 2025

Hi @johnl71261527, folks in this thread had success getting the Remove tool to work by running Photoshop as an administrator. Can you try the same to see if it makes a difference? https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/photoshop-26-9-remove-tool-program-error-on-windows/td-p/15440607

J
johnl71261527AuthorCorrect answer
Participant
October 12, 2025
I tried running as administrator and got the same error. But, I did go into Preferences, Image processing, and changed Remove Tool Processing from Faster to More Stable, restarted Photoshop, and it works again. I tried it a few times just to make sure, and it worked every time. Thanks for your quick response, I appreciate it! 
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