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christianr74705669
Participant
Jul 15, 2020 3:55 PM UTC
Answered

Select and Mask tools not working in Photoshop CC 2020 21.2.0 on macOS

I'm trying to use the Select and Mask tool to use the Refine Edge tool. However, when I try to use any of the selection tools in the Select and Mask workspace, nothing appears to be selected. This happens regardless of the View Mode. Attached is a screenshot where I selected part of the image before entering Select and Mask.

 

I'm using Photoshop CC 2020 21.2.0 on macOS Catalina. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong?

 

Thanks!

christianr74705669
christianr74705669Correct answer
Participant
Jul 17, 2020 1:15 PM UTC

(I think) I fixed it by going into Preferences and resetting all preferences. After I did that I was able to start selecting in the Select and Mask task space again.

29 replies

Participant
Feb 8, 2025 10:59 AM UTC

The New updates for select and mask are awful totally unresponsive

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Participant
Aug 25, 2024 5:57 PM UTC
Screenshot_(1).png
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Participant
Apr 13, 2023 2:51 PM UTC

I am experiencing the same issue with 24.3.0 on Windows. I don't remember if this feature ever worked for me, I started using PS more seriously in the last year or so. I click "Select and Mask..." in the properties tab, then I try to use (any) select tool, but nothing is ever selected.

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Participant
Apr 13, 2023 2:51 PM UTC

Also, resetting preferences did not work for me.

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FREYES
Participant
Jun 8, 2021 9:01 PM UTC

The lastest update 22.4.2 has resolved the issue for me. Hope you guys have the same results.

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Participant
Jun 8, 2021 9:34 PM UTC

Yes - the update made it work for me as well!

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Inspiring
May 29, 2021 4:46 PM UTC

select and mask is broken (again) on windows too.

i am sick to death working with adobe software.... really.

how you are supposed to work when they sell you tools that breaky every few days.....

 

i remember 15 years ago PS was on of the most stable apps i used... long gone are these days.

 

 

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Participant
May 30, 2021 1:55 PM UTC

Thought I was losing my mind, but looks like PS has a long history of this tool only-kinda-sorta working.  C'mon, Adobe...

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Participant
Jul 29, 2021 7:45 PM UTC

Adobe Sucks. They'll probably notice this statement even though my own bug report has been ignored for months
https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem/photoshop-22-1-0-select-and-mask-bug-win-10-x64/m-p/11737381#M502001
It's still broken despite numerous updates. It used to work. They still collect monthly fees even though my product doesn't work correctly. 


This should piss off everyone: "Adobe achieved record annual revenue of $12.87 billion in fiscal year 2020, representing 15 percent year-over-year growth"
When do we get a product and support commensurate with record profits? 

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christianr74705669
christianr74705669AuthorCorrect answer
Participant
Jul 17, 2020 1:15 PM UTC

(I think) I fixed it by going into Preferences and resetting all preferences. After I did that I was able to start selecting in the Select and Mask task space again.

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Participant
Jun 4, 2021 6:11 PM UTC

I have been having the same issue for several months now! I reset all preferences and it's still not working. It's such a useful feature... smoothing out the selections manually is super time consuming and frustrating. If anyone has any suggestions, please drop them here! 😞 

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Participant
Jul 15, 2020 4:27 PM UTC

not sure if this will help but try it. hold shift on your keyboard and then from the top "select" then click "select and mask"

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christianr74705669
Participant
Jul 15, 2020 4:49 PM UTC

Appreciate the suggestion! I did manage to get a popup window to appear but it doesn't look like it's actually selecting anything either 😞

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