P: PS 25.12 on MacOS 15 Menu Buttons freeze after using Camera Raw/Liquify (Intel Macs)

[Patty248993045taj]

MacOS Sequoia 15

Photoshop 2024 and Photoshop (Beta)

Top menu not working after opening camera raw filter from Photoshop, making an edit and going back to Photoshop. 

Steps to reproduce
Open an image in Photoshop, make edits as usual

Select Filter > Camera Raw Filter

Make an edit, like adding a Vignette
Click OK to go back to image
Click on any item in the top menu - nothing is clickable

Must force quit application and reopen for menu items to be clickable again

[Jimyungshi]

Hello, thank you so much for responding, but I meant that when I finish using the Camera Raw Filter, the menu bar freezes, and I cannot click anything on it.

[Per Berntsen]

Try resetting the Camera Raw preferences.

Go to the Photoshop menu > Preferences > Camera Raw.

Click Camera Raw with the Command key pressed.

Click Yes in the dialog that follows.

[Angela5C96]

Hi, I couldn't find a forum article on this, maybe I missed it?
I have the following permanent problem: I am using Photoshop on a MacBook Pro 16 GB RAM, 2.6 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7 with macOS Sequuoia 15.3.1 always with the latest Photoshop version.
Almost every time I use the Camera Raw filter to process an image, the taskbar stops working. Since I don't know all the keyboard shortcuts, I have to restart Photoshop after every image editing session, which is quite annoying. Does anyone have any idea what the problem could be? Thank you very much, Angela

[BlackRanch08]

I reported this several months ago. I have several Adobe technicians on my computer for over an hour.
They HAVE NOT fixed the problem but there are a couple of work arounds.
1. Hit Command Tab which will take you to another app and the do it again and it will take you back to Photoshop and the top menu bar works again.
2. After ACR edits, click on the Library tab and let it open and then go try the top menu bar.

[Angela5C96]

Thanks for the quick reply, I will try both.
I hope the problem will be fixed at some time.
Best, Angela

[Angela5C96]

Unfortunately, this trick doesn't work for me. Thank you, Angela

[hot_4551]

I have the same problem on my MacBook Pro with an i9 9th-generation processor and 16GB of RAM, running macOS version 15.3.2, Photoshop version 26.4.1, and Camera Raw Filter 17.2. The issue gets resolved by pressing the cmd+tab keys, but I have to do so every time. Has a permanent solution not been found yet?

I have tried all the previously suggested solutions.

[Kairos5E4F]

I have a mac. with the below configuration. 

Processor : 2.6 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7

Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 630 1536 MB

Memory: 16 GB 2667 MHz DDR4

Seriel No: C02CR8RYMD6M

macOS: 15.3.2 (24D81)

I am using the latest Photoshop Version : 26.4.1 2025

The issue that I face is whenever I open .NEF files from my Nikon Z8, the Adobe menu bar gets disabled / do not respond to mouse clicks. It then becomes very difficult to access some of the features like Neural filters, Liquify / Blur etc. This is quite consistant and, at times re-starting mac/photoshop helps.  Looking for a similar instances and it's resolution 

[Ged_Traynor]

@Kairos5E4F the issue has been reported here

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-bugs/p-ps-25-12-on-macos-15-menu-buttons-freeze-a...

[michael_5121]

I can use all of the other functions but I cannot access the top bar (file, edit, image, etc).

[Ged_Traynor]

@michael_5121 the issue has been reported in this thread

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-bugs/p-ps-25-12-on-macos-15-menu-buttons-freeze-a...

[kevinb7232040]

I ran into this problem today. Maddening. It would happen when I used the Camera Raw filter. Once I used Camera Raw, my menu bar became unresponsive. This fixed it. Deleting Camera Raw Preferences.

https://community.adobe.com/t5/camera-raw-discussions/whenever-i-open-the-camera-raw-filters-the-men...

[DarleneRH]

Resetting Camera Raw preferences did not work for me.

[Kevin33990832028h]

where to find photoshop old version 2024

[Ged_Traynor]

@Kevin33990832028h you can install version 2024 from the CC app

[Gon�alo_Lobo_Pinheiro1979]

When I open the Camera Raw filter, the main Photoshop bar stops working. I cannot do nothing more, even close the program. Need to force

[Ged_Traynor]

@Gon�alo_Lobo_Pinheiro1979 sounds like you're experiencing this issue

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-bugs/p-ps-25-12-on-macos-15-menu-buttons-freeze-a...

[desgnRuub]

Photoshop 26.6.0 mac Sequoia 15.4.1 instant menu freeze and blurry menu font. Restarting Photoshop doesn't work. Really annoying, since you can't do anything besides shortcuts. Could be after using Camera Raw.

[Ged_Traynor]

@desgnRuub sounds like this issue

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-bugs/p-ps-25-12-on-macos-15-menu-buttons-freeze-a...

[hyp_8116]

the problem SEEMS SOLVED with the NEW CameraRaw 17.3

[rola_muhieddine_4771]

Hello, I'm new to the world of adobe, however i've been playing with photoshop for several years. 

for some reason my photoshop will only allow me to click on all my banner bar options ( file, edit, image, layer, type, select, filter, view, pluggins, windowns, help), ONCE and only when i've launched photoshop from being closed to open. 

Otherwise, it's frozen and i have to close down photoshop completely and re-launch it in other to access the bar. 

If I go into liquify something under the bar menu FILTER, I cant re-enter a second time if Ive clicked out. 

This is so difficult. Please guide me, i'm not commuter savy. 

[Aleke]

Hi @rola_muhieddine_4771! Welcome to the community!

I'm sorry to hear about the issues you've been encountering with Photoshop. Could you let us know which version of Photoshop you're using and what macOS version you have on your machine?

Just to cover the basics, have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling the app? If that hasn't worked, you might want to try resetting Photoshop preferences to return the app to its default state. Here's how to do that.

Thanks so much for your patience!

Alek

[Bojan Zivkovic]

Can you post Help > System Info? 

[Sameer K]

Hi All! The team has observed a fix for this issue with the release of macOS v15.5. Please update the macOS & report back if the issue exists. 

Thanks! 

Sameer K

[colinsco]

Same problem here, happening for months...