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TheChexican
Participant
May 15, 2012
Answered

Spacebar Shortcut: Hand Tool Showing But Not Working

  • May 15, 2012
  • 34 replies
  • 123383 views

Runing the CS6 trial on a Windows 7 Laptop (x64). I was in Photoshop (64), and noticed that when I held down the spacebar to pan the open image, the hand icon would show but the tool will not work. No matter how many times I click and drag, the image stays still. If I select the MANUALLY select the hand tool it works, but the spacebar shortcut key is non-functional. This issue persists across both the 32 & 64 bit versions of Photoshop.

Ideas? Help?

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer TheChexican

    Thanks for the assist, Dennis & Co.

    Now, it's embarassing confession time. I did more testing, and discovered the problem persisted across different Adobe Applications. So I started looking for causes of the problem with my system, and noticed that TouchFreeze, a utility to disable the laptop trackpad when typing to prevent the cursor from being jumped around the screen by the palm of your hand, was running (I only turn it on when I'm planning on doing prolonged typing). Lo and behold, as soon as I quit it, the spacebar hand tool shortcut started working again. I use a wireless USB & Mouse, so I'm not sure why the conflict occured. Guess on some small level, the two couldn't get along.

    I got worried when I saw lots of similar forum posts like paulburd's, dating back to earlier versions of CS. Hope he and other users manage to find other easy fixes - I feel like I got lucky.

    34 replies

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    S
    stefansowder
    Participant
    December 31, 2015

    I have a spankin new Dell Precision 7510, and Adobe CC (PS and AE) was the first thing I installed.  I immediately noticed the Hand tool wasn't working in either; initially it wouldn't move at all - it showed the hand when pressing the spacebar, but the hand wouldn't respond to the trackpad or nub.  Then I disabled Dell's TouchGuard, which is intended to prevent accidentally mousing while typing.  Now the hand will move while pressing the spacebar, but it still has no effect.  BTW switching to the Hand Tool via menu or H works fine.

    Wondering if anyone else has any ideas.  I've looked for other options mentioned in the thread, but this is Windows 10 Pro 64, so the flicks and "pen and touch" options mentioned are nowhere to be found.

    I did try the other items mentioned including restart, close other apps, etc.  But I'm open to suggestions.  Thanks!

    A
    anthonyg49008984
    Participant
    May 20, 2015

    I came here looking for answers. Someone mentioned they used a new mouse and all was fine. But my current mouse IS fine. So I looked at the usb ports, I was using 1 of 2 regular ports. I plugged the mouse into the 3.0 usb port and MAGICK! All is well. Hopefully that helps someone.

    chrischeong
    chrischeong
    Participant
    March 8, 2015

    I am having the same problem in Illustrator CS6 that the SPACEBAR is not working, when the spacebar is press the hand sign show but is not panning. I found that the advice from is working.

     

    30.  Re: Spacebar Shortcut: Hand Tool Showing But Not Working

      MikeV1234    Community Member

           MikeV1234     Apr 27, 2014 3:45 PM  (in response to TheChexican)   

     

      

    Windows 8

    Go to  Metro UI> Settings > PC and Devices > Trackpad > Touchpad - 

    • Deactivate the Touchpad Delay.

    Now my illustrator SPACEBAR is working like normal again. Thank Mike.

      M
      MatejKriz
      Inspiring
      May 4, 2017

      Works on my Windows 10: Disable Touchpad delay.

        armsdan
        armsdan
        Participating Frequently
        February 12, 2015

        Just want to say that I just had this issue, Mac Pro Retina running Yosemite. Temporary hand tool with spacebar would not work. I had to quit safari to fix the issue. I was able to relaunch safari and it is still working. Not sure why it does it but now it's working.

        mikew44535416
        mikew44535416
        Participant
        January 29, 2015

        I'm using OS 10.6.8 and Illustrator CS6 and have had the same problem with the spacebar. I discovered it was confilcting with Fetch 4. Upgrading to Fetch 5 seems to have fixed the problem - but we will see.

        P
        Pixilated Acrobat
        Participant
        January 29, 2015

        I discovered it was conflicting with the AV software WebRoot. I deactivated it and it works fine.

        Ambious
        Ambious
        Participant
        January 26, 2015

        For me the solution (in Windows) was to go to Control Panel, "Pen and Touch" -> "Flicks" and enable "Flicks".

        With flicks enabled, everything works smoothly in Adobe Reader.

        With it disabled, it stops working all of a sudden and the hand tool shows but doesn't respond to touches.

        I have no idea how the two are related - but it works for me.

        sam17864
        sam17864
        Participant
        January 16, 2016

        Hello Ambious,


        Flicks will not solve the problem of the HAND TOOL NOT WORKING if the zoom level is screen fit or less. This problem is about OVERSCROLLING. Try to uncheck the Overscroll option in References > Tools, and you will see that you no longer able to pan the canvas if you zoom out to fit the screen or less ... So, to be able to overscroll once again, make sure Overscroll is checked in References > Tools .... Flicks on the other hand is about smooth continuous panning when you use the hand tool to fast pan the canvas. Try it, use the hand tool and then click and fast drag and let go, you will see the panning continues for a while and then stop. Flicks will not work if the graphic card does not support OpenGL. In simple words: Flicks is something, and Overscroll is something else.

        idomagc
        idomagc
        Participant
        December 17, 2014

        Same problem as everyone else...

        Has nothing to do with Firefox, I uninstalled to to make sure.

        Has nothing to do with Chrome, I uninstalled it.

        Not a Wacom driver, I uninstalled it.

        Running a fairly basic windows 8.1 install.

        Tried running with no other program running.

        ALT key engages the select tool.

        I am on a Toshiba.

        Hand tool works fine just not with the spacebar.

        P
        Pixilated Acrobat
        Participant
        January 13, 2015

        I had the same problem, then found out Webfoot Security was causing the issue.

        P
        Pixilated Acrobat
        Participant
        January 13, 2015

        I had the same problem, then found out Webroot Security was causing the issue.

        R
        Ranjoharbri
        Participating Frequently
        June 20, 2014

        I had the same problem with the Spacebar not scrolling. Just installed CC2014.
        I can confirm that quitting Safari and Photoshop and re opening fixed this bug.

        V
        veryimportantfish
        Participant
        May 13, 2014

        I discovered that the pan feature that is enabled when depressing the spacebar doesn't really work in certain screen modes. If you press the f key and go to full screen mode you may find that you pan feature will work again.

        L
        lucienp8924865
        Inspiring
        January 20, 2017

        I just spent  a couple of hours trying to move my image while using the Lasso tool. I read your response, click the F key a couple of times. Problem solved. I love you!

        A
        Anonymous
        May 7, 2014

        Hello ,

        I have installed adobe illustrator CS5 and when i open it..tool bar isnt working.. when i click at rectangle/pen tool the sub options on it dont appear though black sign comes.. am confused wat to do?? i have windows 8 as OS.. please help soonest.....thankyou

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