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Participant
May 22, 2018
Answered

Strange cursor symbol – tools don't work anymore

  • May 22, 2018
  • 6 replies
  • 5073 views

Hello!

Something has happened with my Photoshop 5.5 and all the tools won't work anymore.

Instead I see this type of cursor (black arrow with box and horizontal lines, looking like drawers).

What does it mean?

Thank you in advance,

Stefan

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer stefan73303143

    I finally found a solution:

    Reinstalling the software from CD didn't make a difference.

    But deinstalling first from the CD (all photoshop versions on my computer) and reinstalling them again finally worked!

    Thank you everybody for contribution.

    6 replies

    stefan73303143AuthorCorrect answer
    Participant
    May 23, 2018

    I finally found a solution:

    Reinstalling the software from CD didn't make a difference.

    But deinstalling first from the CD (all photoshop versions on my computer) and reinstalling them again finally worked!

    Thank you everybody for contribution.

    Inspiring
    May 22, 2018

    That's the contextual menu cursor icon (press 'control' if you haven't got a left mouse button).

    Try unplugging your keyboard, you might have a sticky button.

    Participant
    May 22, 2018

    Thanks a lot!

    Now I know what kind of icon this is.

    Unplugging keyboard and mouse didn't make a difference, unfortunately. Also it doesn't happen in any other software, so it doesn't seem to be a sticky key. Illustrator for example works fine. Is it possible this is still an error in Photoshop, and this is just a random icon being displayed?

    I have this icon permanently in Photoshop. I can still select menus and layers, but no tools.

    Jeff Arola
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    May 22, 2018

    When you say photoshop 5.5 do you mean photoshop cs5 or 5.5?

    What operating system and version are you using?

    Trevor.Dennis
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    May 22, 2018

    Are you using a Mac?  I don't recognize it s a Photoshop cursor, and this page is saying it is either an Illustrator, or OSX cursor

    https://www.bypeople.com/mac-cursor-set-by-emiliano-gonzalez/

    Even if there might be some icons missing this is still a very complete set of Mac OSX cursors,

    vector and pixel perfect. It is composed of different types of cursors for most of the common

    purposes. You can easily modify them and integrate them into any website or app.

    Participant
    May 22, 2018

    Thanks for your help!

    Resetting tools didn't make a difference, unfortunately.

    I tried opening an old Photoshop 5.0 (that I still have on my computer but haven't used for years) – same problem.

    Does anybody know what kind of cursor that is (black arrow with 'drawers')?

    May 22, 2018

    Hi

    Try resetting tools

    If that doesn't help try resetting Photoshop preferences

    To restore preferences quickly using a keyboard shortcut: Press and hold Alt+Control+Shift (Windows) or Option+Command+Shift (Mac OS) as you start Photoshop. You are prompted to delete the current settings. The new preferences files are created the next time you start Photoshop

    Mohit Goyal
    Community Manager
    Community Manager
    May 22, 2018

    Hi stefan,

    You may try resetting the Photoshop preferences back to defaults and check if that helps. Please refer the below video tutorial for the instructions.

    How to reset photoshop to its default setting [HD] - YouTube

    Regards,

    Mohit