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Participant
July 20, 2026
Question

Photoshop intermittently behaves as if the Shift key is being held down

  • July 20, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 21 views

Photoshop intermittently behaves as if the Shift key is being held down

For nearly five years, I have occasionally experienced an issue where Photoshop suddenly behaves as though the Shift key is being held down, even when I am not pressing it.

For example, when I use a transform shortcut, Photoshop repeats the transformation as if Shift were pressed. When I merge layers, it sometimes merges all layers as though I were holding Shift. This happens despite the Shift key not being physically pressed.

Pressing the right Shift key once temporarily restores normal behavior, but the issue eventually returns. I have been dealing with this problem for about five years.

I have also found several older posts describing the same issue. Is the Photoshop team aware of this bug? Is there any permanent solution or workaround?


*This post has been moved by a moderator. 

1 reply

c.pfaffenbichler
Community Expert
Community Expert
July 21, 2026

Just to make sure: Does this happen with different keyboards? 

Participant
July 23, 2026

it does. it happens in home PC keyboard, Office PC keyboard, my colleagues one, my friends one.