P: Mask overlay toggle is not persistent

[peter vrijlandt]

Lightroom 8.5.1
Mac Studio M1 Max
Macos 15.6.1

Steps:
1. Create new mask with a Brush >> the brush strokes appear as expected with a red overlay
2. Close Masking and go to Grid view.
3. Open same picture in Edit
4. Open Masking and select the brush mask >> the red mask overlay is one moment visible and then disappears. It does not come back by toggling 'Show overlay'.

Workaround:
Go to 'Compare' view and back to 'Detail' view, the red overlay mask appears again and stays visible.

I have tried resetting Preferences and reinstalling Lightroom, but this behaviour stays the same.
Hope this issue will be resolved in the next update soon. Greetings, Peter Vrijlandt

[Alec_Barinholtz90807]

Hi.  I just updated my LR app today and when I open files that I have previously edited with masks, the masks are invisible.  I tried toggling "o" to no avail. Likewise, restarting either the computer or the app hasn't fixed the issue.  If I make new edits with masks, the new mask is visible until I navigate away from the image.  When I return to the image, I can no longer see the mask. Needless trouble say, this is quite frustrating!

Please let me know what additional information you may need to help resolve the problem. I'm running the app on a Mac Studio with an Apple M2 Max chip, 64 GB of memoray.  OS is Sequoia 15.6.1

Thanks for your help!

[Alec_Barinholtz90807]

I should add that the files that are affected are Nikon NEF files and Sony ARW files.

[Alec_Barinholtz90807]

Anyone?

[Jonathan25866292fhc3]

This feature is not working. Right after a create a new mask it shows and then after that, it will not show. This seems to be a recurring bug that keeps coming back in various lighroom updates. 

[Amanda26158652oo93]

I am having the same problem, as well as crop glitching. The mask overlay would act up a bit, but this new update seems to have added glitches not fixed bugs

[Amanda26158652oo93]

I had Lightroom open on my phone, so I closed it, never usually a problem, but the desktop version is now running better. Still not as great as it was before the update, but I can get work done without having to take 10 times as long. Go ahead and close any lightroom apps that you aren't currently working in and make sure everything is synced before you start. It isn't perfect, but better than not

[Dawid32814]

When I Make a mask in Lightroom Cloud I can see the overlay, but when going back to main page I can't see it any more. Also, then I take the preset from Community, I don't see any overlays.

LR version: 8.5.1 Windows 11 Pro

To reproduce the problem, simply make a mask, change anything in the main tab or crop anything and go back to mask tab.

Expected result: Overlays are still visible

Actual result: Cant see my overlays.

[SzymonKaz]

Very easy to reproduce for me. The mask shows initially, but then moving the cursor over the mask window makes the mask overlay disappear until you reopen the photo. EXTREMELY frustrating and impossible to work with!

I recorded a video to clearly show what is happening.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMHMhBtfeL8

[SzymonKaz]

FWIW I ended up reverting to 8.5.0 and its working perfectly fine. 

[JohanElzenga]

I'm not sure I understand the problem. Can't you simply check 'Show Overlay' at the bottom of the mask panel again? You may have to expand the mask panel to better see the option.

[peter vrijlandt]

I filed this issue as a bug. Now it is placed in 'Discussions'. Also the title 'The Mask overlay bug is back in Lightroom 8.5.1' is replaced by 'Mask Overlay'. Adobe should take this kind of user feedback more seriously. It is defenitely a very annoying bug that should be fixed as soon as possible, otherwise working with masks is almost impossible.

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

@peter vrijlandt 

The word "Bug" is not allowed in the title - please see: https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-ecosystem-cloud-based-bugs/p-how-do-i-write-a-bug-report/id...

for more information. 

A bug is currently filed with the team. Thank you for your report. 

[peter vrijlandt]

@Rikk Flohr: Photography 

Thanks for your answer. I should have read the instructions. I am glad that this issue is recognised and will be fixed.

[johng44721896]

When coming back to the edit workspace's masking module, hovering the cursor over the previously created mask thumbnails do not show the mask overlay. The overlays do not show when the mask is clicked. Toggling mask overlay visibility on and off does not get the overlays to show. Changing the mask overlay from color to any other mode does not help.

A mask overlay will show when creating a new mask, but not if the image is brought back to grid and allowed to sync with Lr cloud. The overlays do not show when the image is brought back to the editing workspace's masking module.

Resetting Lr preferences on launch does not help.
Others who have this problem have uninstalled and reinstalled and the problem was not fixed.

Lr 8.5.1 on macOS 15.7, MBP M3 Pro.

I have also noticed that the problem also exists in Lr 10.5.2 on iPadOS 18.6.2, with an M4 ipad.

The problem also exists with Lr 10.5.2 on iphone running iOS 18.7.

My browser searching revealed that this seems to be a recurring problem going back several years with various versions of Lr desktop. 

I became aware of the issue with a post at Reddit, where I am an Adobe Community Expert.

[johng44721896]

Thank you for including my post with this ongoing thread. It hadn't turned up with my browser searching.

[johng44721896]

And something new today. 

I had been able to create a new mask using Lr 8.5.1 and the mask overlay would show.

I just did that a few minutes ago.

The mask overlay showed.

But the mask overlay would not go away either by clicking the show overlay button or by using an editing panel's sliders.

[My Fair London]

When using LR 8.5.1 (on Windows 11 PC) I noticed that my mask overlays won't show. On two separate occasions I worked with Adobe support to resolve the issue. My drivers were up to date, we tried the Alt + Shift restart LR option, we turned off and then on the GPU - nothing was working. The only thing that works is reverting back - Adobe support put me back in version 8.3 and the mask overlays show BUT ONLY ON NEW MASKS. The masks that I have created in 8.5.1 - still not showing. I did like working in 8.5.1 because of the new Denoise and Super Resolution features but I will do without them in order to have my masks display. When doing an online search for how to resolve this issue, I saw that others have indicated they are having this issue with 8.5.1. Even an AI search says this is being reported as an issue. So, assuming that it's a bug, I hope you can fix it soon. 

[Alec_Barinholtz90807]

Any fix for this yet?

[Claire H.]

Hi @Alec_Barinholtz90807, thanks for reaching out! The team is working on a fix, and we will update you on the post once it has been released. Thank you so much for your patience! ^CH

[johng44721896]

The problem with the mask overlay isn't just in 8.5.1. 
It's also in the Lr mobile apps for ipad and iphone.

[Prismira]

the overlay doesnt show when higlighting or when overlay is on and system feezes when editing lighting sliders dont change apperances.

[luxBorealis]

When brushing in Masks and/or when Adding to or Subtracting from an existing mask, the whole mask sometimes disappears. It doesn't alwasy happen, and I have yet to find a way to reproduce the behaviour.

'Show Overlay' is toggled on. Toggling it off then on again does not bring the mask back.

Restarting Lightroom desktop (8.5.1) does not always bring the mask back, though sometimes it does.

Restarting the computer (M4 15" MBA 16GB + 2 TB; macOS 26.0.1) does not bring it back.

Very frustrating as Masks become useless if the user can't see it to add/subtract.

[peter vrijlandt]

It is good to hear that Adobe is working to fix this bug. But it is the second time this year 2025 that we users have to wait for an update that makes working with masks possible again. The first time the bug was reported on 19 april 2025 and it lasted a month to fix it. This time it is from 14 sept 2025 until now (one and a half month) that we are said to have patience! I think that is too much to ask from your subscribers.

[Sameer K]

Hello everyone,

An update for Adobe Photography products has been released as part of the MAX cycle. This update addresses the reported issue.

If you don’t see the update in your Creative Cloud app, refresh it using [Ctrl/Cmd] + [Alt/Opt] + [R].

Please note: It may take up to 24 hours for the update to appear.

Thank you for your continued patience.