Smart Filters Disappeared

Forum|Forum|9 months ago
June 8, 2025
2 replies
160 views

Even after converting a layer to a smart object, smart filters do not appear underneath it. They are being applied, but I can't turn them on or off or edit them. When I finally got one to show, my Photoshop crashed, and even though it was saved, the smart filter that had previously shown up is gone. There is no drop-down indicator on the layer in the panel.

How can I ensure that smart filters show up in the future, and is there a way to recover the ones that have already been applied?

Windows

c.pfaffenbichler

Community Expert

Could you please post screenshots taken at View > 100% with the pertinent Panels (Toolbar, Layers, Options Bar, …) visible?

If you convert a Smart Object with applied Smart Filters to a Smart Object then obviously those Smart Filters will not be indicated in the (top-level) containing document.

But I am not sure what your actual scenario is.

Is there any chance that you might have applied the Filters desctructively by mistake?

Trevor.Dennis

Community Expert

Hi Alistair. I hate to go right in with a reset Preferences suggestion, but seeing that you have said that there is no 'drop down indicator' tells me you know what you are doing, and that something is broken. I was evenable to convert a 32bit image layer to Smart Filters, and I can't think of anything else that might prevent them working.

You could leave it for an hour or two to see if someone else has an idea, but if nothing comes up, then its the hassel of a Preference reset. Manual reset is safest.

https://helpx.adobe.com/ie/photoshop/using/preferences.html#Manually

Please let us know if it works.

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