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Photoshop causes cursor problems in other apps

Community Beginner ,
Dec 12, 2024 Dec 12, 2024

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Issue: Under specific conditions, Photoshop causes the cursor in other apps to switch to the default arrow cursor or to flicker between the correct cursor and the arrow cursor.

Photoshop version: 26.1.0 20241113.r.121 158e617 arm64

OS: macOS 14.7.2

I apologize in advance. This one is complicated, and was difficult to track down.
It occurs on all my systems, including a completely clean installation of macOS and Photoshop, and has been present in many versions of Photoshop, over quite a few years.

 

Steps to reproduce:
(See below for Definitions.)
1. Close Photoshop if it is already running.
2. Start Photoshop.
3. Drag a document from the Finder into the Photoshop window.
4. Document opens in Photoshop.
5. If the currently selected tool is a Brush-Based Tool and the brush-shaped cursor is visible, the Cursor Problem will occur in other apps.
6. If the currently selected tool is a Non-Brush Tool, switch to a Brush-Based Tool. As long as the brush-shaped cursor has appeared once (over an editable layer), the Cursor Problem will occur.
7. Close the document in Photoshop.
8. Cursors in other apps will be normal.
9. Open a document in Photoshop by any means, such as the Open dialog box, double-clicking in Finder, dragging onto the Photoshop icon, or dragging into the Photoshop window.
10. Go to Step 5 and repeat. The only way to break out of the sequence is to close Photoshop.

 

Note that Step 3 above can be performed with or without a document open in Photoshop. If a document is already open, the dragged file will appear as a new layer in the open document. If this happens, you may need to switch to an editable layer in order to get the brush-shaped cursor to appear. Then the Cursor Problem will occur.

 

Expected result:
Cursors in other apps should not be affected by Photoshop.

Actual result:
The Cursor Problem (see below)   🙂

 

Definitions (not at all official)
Brush-Based Tool: A tool whose cursor has the same shape as the selected brush when over an editable layer. Includes Brush, Pencil, Clone Stamp, Dodge, Eraser, etc.
Non-Brush Tool: A tool whose cursor does not have a brush shape. Includes Move, Marquee, Lasso, Crop, Frame, Eyedropper, Patch, Paint Bucket, Pen, Type, Rectangle, Zoom, etc.
Cursor Problem: Any custom cursor in an app other than Photoshop will revert to the default arrow cursor, or will alternate between the correct cursor and the arrow cursor. In some apps, such as Capture One, it is difficult to predict what your tool will do, because the brush shape is not visible in advance.
I have observed this in Acrobat, Preview, Capture One, and Affinity Photo. Others have seen it in a variety of other apps. (There are quite a few reports of this issue online.)

 

See attached screen captures. Thanks! This one has been around for a long time. Hopefully we can finally get it fixed.

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correct answers 1 Pinned Reply

Adobe Employee , Dec 16, 2024 Dec 16, 2024

Thanks for adding all the details. I've shared the video and the post with the team for review and comment. Additionally, check if the issue exists with the latest version of Photoshop Beta.

Thanks! 

Sameer K

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Adobe Employee ,
Dec 16, 2024 Dec 16, 2024

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Thanks for adding all the details. I've shared the video and the post with the team for review and comment. Additionally, check if the issue exists with the latest version of Photoshop Beta.

Thanks! 

Sameer K

Status Investigating

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Adobe Employee ,
Feb 05, 2025 Feb 05, 2025

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Fantastic steps to repro and video!  Thank you!  We were able to repro and fix this issue.  Expect it in the next release. 

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 25, 2025 Feb 25, 2025

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LATEST

It's a brand new Wacom One tablet and flickers constantly....I've tried some of the suggested solutions but they were back in 2021. Any ideas? Thank you! 

 

Currenly updating to MacOS Sequoia 15.3.1 to see if I can solve this. Photoshop is up to date. Thanks!

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