"The command is not currently available" (using actions)

Hi ​@wayne31075547w2zc,

Thank you for the details. I understand how frustrating this must be, especially when it's a workflow you've relied on for years. The fact that it works once after a fresh launch but fails on the second run with "The command 'Select' is not currently available" points to a specific state issue rather than a general corruption.
 

Here are some targeted troubleshooting steps:

• Re-record the action with explicit selection targets. Over successive versions of Photoshop, certain selection commands have become more context-dependent. If your action includes a step like "Select All," "Select Subject," or "Load Selection," try re-recording it with the following approach:

  • Before the Select step, explicitly include a "Make" layer target step (click the specific layer in the Layers panel while recording) so Photoshop knows which layer context to apply the selection to.

  • This forces the action to re-establish the document state each time, preventing the "stale state" issue on the second run.

• Insert a menu-based Select command instead of a shortcut-recorded one. When recording your action, instead of using the keyboard shortcut for your Select command, go through the menu path (Select > All, Select > Subject, etc.). Actions recorded via the menu tend to store more complete state information than those triggered by shortcuts.

A couple of questions that will help narrow this down further:

• Which specific "Select" command is in your action? Is it Select All, Select Subject, Load Selection (from a channel), Select Color Range, or something else?

• Are you running this action manually (clicking Play) or via File > Automate > Batch on multiple files?

• Share the Action file and a couple of sample files. You can upload the files to Google Drive, Dropbox, WeTransfer, or a similar service and send me the download link via DM.

Let us know how it goes.

Best,
Anshul Saini