Alt + Drag to duplicate not working in Photoshop

[juliana1234567]

So I normally use the key Alt and Drag an object to duplicate them on Photoshop, but ever since I upgraded to Photoshop 2020, this is not working. 
Is this a bug? How can I restore this?

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Depends on what you actually mean. 

With Layers at least I can alt-drag to duplicate both on the Canvas and in the Layers Panel, so please explain, maybe post some meaningful screenshots to illustrate. 

Please read this (in particular the section titled "Supply pertinent information for quicker answers"):

https://community.adobe.com/t5/Community-Help/Guidelines-Tips-for-the-Adobe-Forums/td-p/4788157

[omchy]

Hi had the same problem, I solved it by quitting Spotify and restarting PSD, sometimes Spotify has weird effects on the Adobe Products.

[Trevor.Dennis]

The screen capture shortcuts in Nvidia Experience also take priority over some Photoshop shortcuts.  If you have this problem, open Nvidia from the Windows taskbar, click on the settings cog icon, and turn off IN-GAME-OVERLAY

[bhux1]

The "Auto Select" tick box at the top of the tool bar is on - turn that off and everything goes back to normal!! took me 3 hours to work it out and couldn't find anything else on this forum site.

Hopefully this helps someone else.

[Yashwant23689105tp00]

yeah this is a bug, they should really fix this. 

[c.pfaffenbichler]

If it is a bug please provide clear steps to reproduce it. 

[alecAgratina]

Same issue.

Regular behaviour : in the layer panel, you can drag and drop a layer (or an effect) to change its position (the Hope it's clear. 

[jane-e]

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@alecAgratina wrote:

Same issue.

Regular behaviour : in the layer panel, you can drag and drop a layer (or an effect) to change its position (the Hope it's clear. 

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That's not the same issue at all, Alec. Reordering layers in the Layers panel and copying pixels in the document are two completely different things. Please start a new post and clarify your issue so we can better assist.

Jane

[alecAgratina]

The text edit of my previous post is also bugged 😞

So, I 've got the same issue.

Same issue.

Regular behaviour : in the layer panel, you can drag and drop a layer (or an effect) to change its position (the pointer the turns into a fist. If you hold the alt (option) key during the operation, the layer (or effect) is duplicated (a tiny " + " is displayed over the fist pointer)

Bug : holding alt(option) key is not effective (the " + " sign won't show). You can drag and drop but layer or effect is not duplicated.

[MTRPhoto]

Did anyone ever find an answer to this? If I've got what you're saying right. For me, the problem is that alt + drag will duplicate the object but it does it on the same layer and doesn't duplicate and make a new layer. Was there ever a settings change or fix for this?

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Did you make a Selection before dragging? 

[ryan@eyelumination.com]

Photoshop 2024 Windows "alt drag" does not duplicate layer or anything else. Does anyone actually have a solution? Brand new PC.

[Amir Geko]

I have the same problem right now alt is not duplicating on the latest photoshop 2024 latest version according to 05-jan-2024, any solution?

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Could you please post screenshots with the pertinent Panels (Toolbar, Layers, Options Bar, …) visible? 

[jane-e]

ryan@eyelumination.com and @Amir Geko 

Try Ctrl+J to duplicate a layer or to duplicate a selection to a new layer. (Cmd+J on macOS)

Jane

[Amir Geko]

Thanks for the suggestion but Ctrl+J dosn't solve the problem of the work flow, the idea is not using ctrl+j and be able to copy this while u work. when it's not working I do ctrl+j because I have no other option.
but anyway this problem is come and go all the time, one time it work one time it's not, I guess a bug that hopefully will be solved on next version.

[Amir Geko]

I notice something that you need to first press and hold Alt only after that you can see your mouse icon change to a double mouse pointers black and white only then you can press on the item you want to copy and drag it, I hope this will help you.

[jane-e]

I notice something that you need to first press and hold Alt

By @Amir Geko

Good point, Amir. It does make a difference in the order you do things. You also need to release the mouse before you release the Alt key.

I don't know if this is why Alt+Drag is not working for the others who posted in this thread. It could be something else.

Jane

[Jose356281407wcb]

The work around I found was to convert to smart object the layer you're trying to duplicate the effects onto. Only then I was able to drag and drop (holding option key or alt key) onto the other layer (now a smart object)