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Participant
November 6, 2025
Question

Why can't I not remobe backgrounds in photoshop 2026

  • November 6, 2025
  • 4 replies
  • 962 views

I just updated my Adobe Photoshop to Adobe Photoshop 2026 on my HP Envy x360 2 in 1 labtop 14. I realized quickly I can't remove backgrounds or select a subject. For when I select subject the text comes up saying: " Couldn't find a a subject to select, there might not be prominent objects in the image", even though clearly there is a subject. For the when I want to use remove background it says: "Couldn't find background when there is clearly a background.

4 replies

Oğuzhan29190470f7ce
Participant
February 26, 2026

I'm using the new update on both Windows and iMac. When I try to automatically remove backgrounds in Windows, it gives a "background not found" error. There's no such problem on the iMac. I reset Photoshop in Windows, but the same issue persists.

Sameer K
Community Manager
Community Manager
February 26, 2026

Hey, ​@Oğuzhan29190470f7ce. Welcome to the Photoshop Community. I'll need more info to help you figure this out. Please share screenshots & the system info from Photoshop Help > System info > Copy & paste into a text document > upload & attach here.

 

Does this happen with any image? Does it happen when you use Select Subject via Actions?

For now, try changing the Select Subject mode from Edit/Photoshop > Preferences > Image Processing > Select Subject to Cloud & Selection process to Stable. 

 

Let me know how it goes. Thanks!
Sameer K

(Type '@' and type my name to mention me when you reply)

Oğuzhan29190470f7ce
Participant
February 26, 2026

@Sameer K THANK YOU, I USED THE CLOUD OPTION AS YOU DESCRIBED AND IT'S FIXED.🙏🏻

Participant
November 12, 2025

Same issue with me.  Even removing the smart object and just having it as a layer....it still won't select either the subject or the background...and then sometimes when you remove the background it generates a new one...I'm getting frustrated and I keep trying to research this but can't find a definitive answer.  I've tried seting image processing to Cloud and to Device....nothing is working correctly.

Claire H.
Community Manager
Community Manager
November 19, 2025

Hi @Fearless_Light1855, welcome to the Adobe Photoshop Community Forums! Are you still experiencing this issue? If so, have you tried manually resetting your Photoshop preferences as suggested by chance? https://adobe.ly/4r4Coet

Remember to back up your settings before doing the preference reset!

https://adobe.ly/4p0EYAs

If you're still experiencing the issue, we can continue to troubleshoot. Let me know how things are going. ^CH

Participant
November 8, 2025

Estou tendo o mesmo problema.

Stephen Marsh
Community Expert
Community Expert
November 6, 2025

I haven't tested, however, I can see that you're working on a smart object layer.

 

Try double-clicking to edit the smart object, then remove the background from within the edited image and close/save to return to the parent layered document.

 

P.S. Although you could rasterize the smart object layer at it's placed size and then remove background, my preference would be to do so on the original pixels.

Participant
November 6, 2025

Sadly Stephen, it didn't work, Double clicked and everything. I tried on the previous version of photoshop and it worked so maybe it's a bug or something on my end

 

Stephen Marsh
Community Expert
Community Expert
November 6, 2025
quote

Sadly Stephen, it didn't work, Double clicked and everything. I tried on the previous version of photoshop and it worked

 


By @Fearless_Light1855


I'm confused. So editing the smart object file worked, when editing the smart object layer didn't?