Known Participant

Answered

What is this blue pulsating circle?

Forum|Forum|9 months ago
May 4, 2025
15 replies
4002 views

This is a screenshot of the circle I'm referring to. It was changing over time, sort of pulsating. The screenshot is of a portion of the screen showing my browser window. This blue circle stayed in front of any screen I switched to, until I switched to Photoshop. Then it disappears. That leads me to believe it's Adobe software doing it. I'm using a 16" M4 Macbook Pro. Searching the internet for explanations I see other Adobe products are implicated in this same issue.

What is the animated icon meant to represent? How can I prevent it in the future? I really don't know what I did to have triggered it. Hovering over it and clicking it did nothing. So it's a useless feature. Worse than that, it's an annoyance, since it encumberts other applications.

macOS

Correct answer luciano_6348

I am having the exact same issue. The other "fix" I've discovered is if you click into that lightbulb (What it's circling) and enable "workspace map" and then disable, the blue circle will disappear for a little bit but return shortly after. Someone please let me know if there's a fix!

Show previous replies

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fdch

Participant

Same problem on MacBook M4

When opening PS, no blue circle is visible around the lightbulb, but after a short time the blue circle pops up, even without working in Photoshop, overlaying every other window.

When minimizing PS, the blue circle also appears in the dock.

Yes it is the circle from the discover panel, no i did not opened PS for the first time.

E

Energetic_self6989

Participant

This is also happening to me on Macbook M4 Pro, the blue ring is because of some tooltip/highlighting system, it will show through overlayed even when using other programs, extremely annoying and I don't see options to turn this off.

M

mdimov

Participant

I am experiencing the same and it's really frustrating (Macbook Pro 14 inch M4 Pro). Is there really no fix for this?

lordofdarkness

Participant

It looks identical to the blue ring around the discover light bulb in the top right corner of Photoshop 2025. It's animated on my sytem, and even gets it's own place on the dock when I minimize Photoshop. Very annoying, wish I could remove it.

V

victore2045391Author

Known Participant

What is the discover light bulb?

c.pfaffenbichler

Community Expert

Can you reproduce the issue at will?

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victore2045391Author

Known Participant

No - after I got rid if it somehow, it has not come back again. Having said that, I don't often use Photoshop. Usually I do my work in Lightroom.

melissapiccone

Community Expert

Is it tied to your cusor? I use a cursor highlighter that is similar when I teach.

Melissa Piccone | Adobe Trainer | Online Courses Author | Fine Artist

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victore2045391Author

Known Participant

No. It shows in a specific spot on the screen, above any other windows.

Bojan Živković11378569

Community Expert

You are the first person to report this, so it's not an Adobe feature. I believe it's a coincidence that you do not see the circle while working in Photoshop.

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victore2045391Author

Known Participant

That does not follow. Being the first person to report it proves nothing.

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