Can't create a layer mask. The button is greyed out.

[jordonpscorpion]

Lately, the create mask button on the bottom of the layers panel will be greyed out for me and it won't create a mask, no matter what type of layer I have selected.

The only way I can create a layer mask is by Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal All.

A reboot of Photoshop also fixes it, but it will come back eventually. Is anyone else running into this issue?

I'm on an iMac with macOS Catalina and the most up to date version of PS.

Thanks for your help!

[DW-FP]

I arrived at your comment because I thought I was losing my mind trying to create vector masks. Usually I just cut the mask and then paste onto the layer I want to recieve the mask. It wasn't working and like I said, I thought I was losing it. 

You comment mentioned rebooting Photoshop which I just did and now it works as expected. 

Sorry I can't be any help to your specific issue but I believe there might be something going on with latest release and masks...

[CraigWhiteLA]

Same problem here.... was happening before the 21.1.1 release also...

[Kfcj]

 Also right there with you, Not sure what the cure is either, been fighting with it a couple days. Resetting Workspace not working either.

 I'm on an MacBookPro with macOS Catalina and the most up to date version of PS CC

[DW-FP]

I should have mentioned in my original comment that I'm using latest and greatest MacOS and Photoshop

[Simmer1]

Hi,

You may need to report a bug with this Link

Thanks,

Sim

[DW-FP]

I clicked that link which sent me to a "FEATURE REQUEST/BUG REPORT FORM"

When I chose "Photoshop" as the product I wish to report, it simply sent me to this community-driven forum. 

[JharperDesign]

omg i thought i was going crazy. So its just a bug.

[Trevor.Dennis]

Doesn't appear to be anything in the known issues list

https://helpx.adobe.com/nz/photoshop/kb/known-issues.html

But you are obviously not the only person experiencing this issue. Does this link work any better?

https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family?topic-list[settings][type]=problem

[DW-FP]

That link leads to the same forum. I now understand that it's not a "bug report" but rather a separate forum for Photoshop where people can discuss problems. I'm unclear why I'm supposed to have a "Photoshop Family" account vs. my Adobe ID in order to use that forum.

Is there not an actual bug report form to fill out for things like this? 

[Conrad_C]

Adobe makes it a little confusing, but these are the differences:

This website (community.adobe.com) is a user-to-user forum where most questions are answered by users who don't work for Adobe. It's good for general “how do I do this or that” discussions, but not really a place to report bugs directly to Adobe and get them fixed.

The other website, Photoshop Feedback (feedback.photoshop.com) is more useful for reporting actual bugs and submitting feature requests because:

• Actual Adobe technical staff often enter the discussions there (though not always), sometimes to gather more information from more users.
• It is possible to vote on each submission and see the vote count of all the issues, which helps Adobe set priorities.
• If a bug is fixed or a feature request is implemented, its discussion is marked as such.
• In the Photoshop Fixed Issues release notes for each update, just about every issue is linked back to its public discussion back on Photoshop Feedback for easy reference.

There used to be an “actual bug report form” for Photoshop at this URL, but Adobe now redirects to the Photoshop Feedback site. This is an improvement. When you used the old bug report form, you'd submit it and it would disappear into Adobe, with no public visibility or discussion, no guarantee of a followup, and no transparency as to if anything was ever done. On the Photoshop Feedback site, bugs are publicly discussed and those that get fixed are publicly documented as such.

As to why you need a separate Photoshop Family login for the Photoshop Feedback site, I think the reason is that Adobe is using a third-party service that is not connected to your Adobe ID, so you should not use your Adobe ID on it.

[thatsmauri]

From what I have observed, "Photoshop Family login" is simply your Adobe ID. I clicked on the button and because I'm already logged in on adobe.com, it automatically logged me in there, too.

[Conrad_C]

That could be. Various Adobe product teams have used different third-party websites for user feedback. Some of them have said you should sign in with your Adobe ID, some say you should use different credentials...it’s another thing that can be confusing about this.

[mehebubsekh71@gmail.com]

mehebubsekh71@gmail.com

[megcb39]

I just had the same thing I think. The mask button was greyed out like it was jammed on. So annoying. I wasn't in quick mask or similar. I checked mode and it was just an RGB 8 bit/channel as I thought. It was definitely it's own separate non linked layer. I'm on PC here at work (macbook pro at home). 

Restarting the computer fixed it. So thanks v much for mentioning that. Here's hoping this glitch doesn't come back anytime soon. 

[stevew36867685]

Also experiencing this bug, restarting, although inconvenient, fixes the problem

[Black Diamond Photo]

I was having this same problem... I'm not exactly sure what I did, but I fixed it a second ago without restarting. I went to layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All. Then I selected the mask that was created and then selected the actual layer again. I have no idea when, but at some point the layer mask button switched back to normal. Hope someone else can figure it out, I can't test again until the bug comes back 🤷‍:male_sign:

[phills20654835]

Same problem here. I also have the issue where other tools won't show their full options even though it says that they are selected. I spoke to someone at adobe and they told me to just restart photoshop... Super frustrating!

[PECourtejoie · Accepted solution]

Hello, you should update to Ps 21.1.2, it fixes this very issue: https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/fixed-issues.html#photoshop-desktop-fixed-issues

[GeedyGeek]

If you still havent updated nor updated the ps yet, you can try moving any layer into the mask, (you can just undo it after that) then the mask will be unstucked

[NilesBrook]

I have the SAME EXACT PROBLEM!!!