P: Dialog boxes / error messages pop up invisibly - macOS

[leaderz]

When an error or alert occurs the dialog box is invisible. Some examples of the alerts include but are not limited to: "No pixels were selected because the layer is empty" or "Do you want to save the document before closing?" Clicking anywhere on the screen prompts an audible error noise (as though you tried to click outside of the dialog box you've been prompted to respond to). The box is not appearing on a different monitor or behind other windows, it is simply invisible and cannot be interacted with unless you press Enter or Escape on the keyboard. Upon pressing the Escape key to close the dialog box, the box becomes visible for a fraction of a second before closing—revealing its location. This has hindered my workflow, especially when trying to close a document I don't want to save changes to because then I must force Photoshop to quit. Running on Mac. Version 23.2.2

[Hussey!]

I'm having a similar but much worse problem. And it's been happening for a long time through quite a few versions of photoshop. And I've recently decided what it probably is; it's the dialog box for "could not export the clipboard".

If photoshop sends you away anyway (because you've launched a plug-in or running an action that launches a program), or you click away yourself by clicking on the plug-in app that is launching, then that dialog box goes away but still wants you to click ok. Everything is grayed out and the program is then unusable. You can't save anything or even quit. And of course the action fails and you've lost anything that hasn't been saved.

if you can't fix the root problem then you can still put in a timeout counter or make it so that box doesn't disable everything at least!

also, when you're running actions why does photoshop still insist on popping up in the foreground and covering up other windows that it shouldn't be covering up?

[shiwanl28403650]

This problem seems to disappear for a little while with some of the 23.x updates, at least didn't apear that often. But the sad news is that this miserable problem re-appear in the latest 24!!!! 😞 😞 😞

[Aimee21993243708b]

I'm constantly having running into this annoying problem. My dialog boxes will not show up so it looks like photoshop is frozen. When in reality I waiting need to select something in the dialog box and it won't appear. If I hit the esc key, the missing dialog box will flash for a second but then disappear and photoshop "unfreezes." Nothing fixes it except exiting the application and restarting it. Mid busy season again and I am ready to scream. Five times in one day I have had to do this. Adobe you really need to do better. I never had this problem until this subscription based version started. I hate paying monthly for a service that fails all the time. I have checked the forum. I have checked my computer, my settings in photoshop, done everything suggested by everyone but the problem is on your end. I am not the only one that is having this problem. Fix it.

[SpiresVideo]

Upon opening or saving a photoshop file, the explorer dialog box will not be shown on screen. The app dings at me if I click anywhere on the program, indicating that a dialog box has focus and should be dealt with; however, there is no dialog box.  I've tried doing ALT + TAB to look for othe windows open, but Windows doesn't show any other open window that could be the focus for the file explorer requests in Photoshop.

THIS IS RANDOM. Sometimes I can lauch Photoshop and never have the problem - if the first file is able to be opened and saved, then there never seems to be an issue with subsequent files within the same session of Photoshop. Each opening of Photoshop brings different results, with or without the computer being rebooted. I wish it was reproducable so that I would know when it is happening. I have lost many designs by this issue not allowing me to see the file explorer dialog box to save my Photoshop file. This has been happening to me in the 2022 version of Photoshop only and has been present through multiple version updates. It is also happened on more than one computer system (desktop & laptop), so the idea it is isolated to a specific machine seems to not be valid. Please advise.

[SpiresVideo]

I should also mention, the only action I have is to force close Photoshop using the Task Manager when this happens.

[Ricardo27028993rjg7]

THIS WORKS!!!!!!!!!!

[PECourtejoie]

@Ricardo27028993rjg7 could you put a link to the post that helped? Click on the date of the post to save its url.

[Aimee21993243708b]

@Ricardo27028993rjg7 What works?! Seriously if you have found something that works share it with us.

[robertw44482386]

Confirming that it had mostly disappeared in the last few minor releases but it's back with much greater frequency in 24.0.0.

MacOS 12.6 M1 Max - with 2 displays...which seems to be a part of the issue.

[Ricardo27028993rjg7]

Ohhh of course... I was replying to another user that said "if you hold the Option key + click on the photoshop icon in the DOCK the invisible pop-up will show up" this worked for me.

but I guess the issue will only be resolved with another future update. 😞

[Tuttecene]

if I try to save locally "save as coy" the dialog window is just broken and doesn't let me save anything.

The file type dropdown goes over the dialog window and nothing is clickable. Esc button allow to close the dialog window

screenshot attached

macbook pro m1 14 ventura 13.0.1 photoshop 2023 24.0.0 fresh install (system too)

[MaxMorriconi]

Same problem here!

[MaxMorriconi]

This is a workaround... (i have in italian) in Photoshop -> Preferences -> File management flag "Save as previous".

[robertw44482386]

This issue is exacerbated after updating to macOS 12.6.1. Wheres it was intermittent and usually after a long stretch of work, it is now almost constant.

[MaxMorriconi]

It seems that with the latest Photoshop update (24.0.1) the problem is solved.

[Lorraine Mc]

I lost a bunch of work due to this ridiculous issue yesterday!  

Like with other posters, it was annoying and only happened now and again at first, and now Photoshop is becomming unusable as it's almost constant.

Adobe - fix this!

[Derek Cross]

What is your issue Lorraine?

[jmvdigital]

No reason to lose work to this issue. See solutions above. That said, this hasn't happened to me in many weeks after recent updates. 

[robertw44482386]

This workaround is a lifesaver:

When you realize it has happened, option-click on the Photoshop icon in
your dock. Your screen will flash and then the missing dialog box will
appear, and you can dismiss as per usual.

[Aimee21993243708b]

This work around only occassionaly works. Stopped working for me the other day.

[Lorraine Mc]

Same as most of the posters on this thread, Derek. The illusive hidden dialog box....

[Lorraine Mc]

@derek

Elusive! Too much illustration work, lol!

[Lorraine Mc]

jmvdigital, I tried the solutions on here yesterday, none of them worked for me... 

[jmvdigital]

Have you updated to Photoshop 24.0.1 ? Like I said, this was happening to me ALL THE TIME, but since updating several weeks ago, it has happened at all. 

[Marco Basile Images]

Yes, this is still happening for me. Seems to happen after having several (4-5) photos open. The Save As box does not appear, whether using Save As, Save As Copy, legacy, etc...