ESC, Delete/ Backspace no longer working with the Polygonal Lasso

[GoodBullyLLC]

When creating a selection with the polygonal lasso I used to be able to use the ESC key to exit out of the selection. Also, using the delete or backspace key used to allow me to go pack to a previous point in my selection. Neither of these functions are working for me anymore on Windows 10 Pro 64bit and Photoshop 23.4.2

[goldkey2000]

Also, I recently built a new PC and specifically didn't import my Photoshop preferences just to see if these problems went away. Clearly not.

[christians71793745]

Yes, I can confirm, this bug is still present in the current Photoshop versions. It gets even worse with this sticky behavior of the mouse. It's not only when using the space bar. It appears very often.

Furthermore Photoshop now crashes very often when using the "Select and Mask" tools.

These "updates" kill all my workflows more and more... Thanks for nothing.

[Sivv.Ai]

I also experiencing this problem. I found a temporary fix which is by holding shift key (keyboard) on the first click when using the polygonal lasso tool.

So, everytime you want to use the tool, decide a start point on the image, then hold the shift key, click the start point with the polygonal lasso tool, release the shift key. Using this method, the Esc/Backspace key always function normally.

[karrahflores]

Been having this same problem with lasso knocking out my keyboard entirely...not just in photoshop. Have to restart the computer each time. Working on latest version of PS...windows 11 system. 

I've tried this work around twice now with positive results. Thanks!

[ceesrad]

I just switched to another employer and got a brand new PC, new Windows 11, new Adobe CC and new Photoshop CC.

From the scratch the bug still occurs. And several other bugs I know since some time.

Honestly, this is not acceptable for me anymore. I cannot rely on Photoshop and Adobe anymore.

@Sivv.Ai: Thank you. I will try that. Most of the time I have activated the "add selection" function anyway and that's why I don't press the Shift key very often here. Sometimes I need the "subtract selection" function (Alt key). So I hope holding down the Alt key works too. We'll see...

Thanks again.

[JoseGIHP]

I have also been dealing with this issue for a while. Esc doesn't work, nor does backspace.

[Bullcrunch]

It's two years since the original post, but I have this problem today with Photoshop. It is especially bad when I am zoomed in, and the document decides to scroll all over, making crazy points so that I can never find the starting point to close the loop. The problem is so inescapable that I end up using control-alt-delete to kill the Photoshop process.

Adobe Photoshop Version: 25.9.1 20240610.r.626 e3aae35  x64

Number of Launches: 7

Operating System: Windows 11 64-bit

Version: 11 or greater 10.0.22631.3737

System architecture: Intel CPU Family:6, Model:7, Stepping:1 with MMX, SSE Integer, SSE FP, SSE2, SSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX, AVX2, AVX-VNNI, HybridCPU(8:16), HyperThreading

Physical processor count: 24

Logical processor count: 32

Processor speed: 2419 MHz

Built-in memory: 32457 MB

Free memory: 20805 MB

Memory available to Photoshop: 24941 MB

Memory used by Photoshop: 70 %

[Jenna36314330deuq]

same its one of the most basic things on photoshop as well, you'd think they'd care

[Sivv.Ai]

I've found another potential source of the problem, which is most likely the actual culprit for me: the language/keyboard setting in Windows. My system has two options: US and UK. When the keyboard is set to UK, many Photoshop shortcuts don't work, such as Foreground and Background color fill (ALT/CTRL + Backspace) and shortcuts for ESC, Del, and Backspace when using the Lasso Tool. So I switched it back to US and voila! Everything is working now.

Note: The shortcut to switch language/keyboard on Windows is "Win Key + Space."

[Sivv.Ai]

rev: The shortcut to switch language/keyboard on Windows is "Left Alt Key + Space."

[ceesrad]

Firstly: The problem has nothing to do with the language setting. When the problem occurs, NO keyboard input works anymore. Even ESC which is the same in all the languages. When you close the selection and start over again, sometimes the keyboard commands work again. It has nothing to do with switching the language.

Secondly: Wrong, the shortcut to switch language/keyboard on Windows is "Shift + Alt". And again, it has nothing to do with this problem here which Adobe ignores since several years.

[Sivv.Ai]

Yeah, about the shortcut, it seems I was high or something. And the comment can't be edited.

Well, it turned out to be the keyboard language for me. Not only the "Esc" key, but I believe the "Backspace" and "Delete" keys are in the same position across all languages. However, when the problem occurred, neither of them worked too.

Since I switched the keyboard language to US, I haven't had any issues. Zero. Nada. Nul. Nothing. I don't know the logic behind it, but it works for me.

[TommyG08]

New Win10 machine, fresh install of PS. I am now experiencing this issue where I was not before with CC 2022. Esc will not cancel out of selection mode with polygonal lasso.

[KazVorpal]

Two years later, and (removed) corporate bureaucracy still hasn't addressed this.

(Please follow the community guidelines to be kind and respectful or risk being banned from the forums.)

[ceesrad]

Yes, here the problem is still present as well. It neither got better nor worse in the last years. I switched employers, got new workstations. And the problem is still present in the exact same (random) behavior.

[KazVorpal]

Alt-tab to switch away and back seems to work like escape, when it happens.

[Jason31476358ezzc]

thanks this actually helped me, thank you-!!

Alt-tab to switch away and back seems to work like escape, when it happens.

By @KazVorpal

[ceesrad]

(normally without this bug) Escape kills your selection. Is that what you wanna have in such a situation? Alt-Tab is no solution for me.
If possible, I would recommend a double-click at an uncritical place to close the current selection. And then expand the selection in another step.
If I remember the bug early enough, I immediately "test" the keys right after I started a new selection. If they don't work I abort the selection and try again. And again, and again.... Thanks Adobe.

[TommyG08]

Yes, this is precisely the issue reported in this thread. Esc is **not** killing the selection, or else doing it unreliably.

[Tiago37388759owuh]

I still having this problem.
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While using the polygonal lasso tools, I try to remove the last point I added, but nothing works.
ESC, DELETE or BACKSPACE don´t do nothing. Basically I have to close the lasso to restart the job or to exit tool.

[Jake23268068gd1d]

Having the same issue.

[mal25]

I have the same issue!

[ceesrad]

Today I updated (at work) to Photoshop 2025 and the problem is still there. I have the feeling that it's getting worse. ~70-80% of the cases the lasso tool didn't work properly today.

[CGdesigner72]

I tried resetting all of my settings and then setting up Photoshop again to fix this issue, but it didn't work. What I did instead was to enable the Flick Panning feature to fix the issue.

Personally, I use Flick Panning with it turned off, and when it's turned off, the Lasso tool has issues. 

If I re-enable Flick Panning and then re-launch Photoshop, the Lasso tool works fine after that, at least to some extent. I'll have to test this further to see if it's a perfect fix, but so far it's working for me. 

________

In the end, it failed. It doesn't seem to have anything to do with the Flick Panning feature. The most effective method so far seems to be to try resetting the settings at least 3 times and then letting Photoshop run, which seems to minimize the problem.
That doesn't eliminate the problem, but it does minimize the frequency of occurrence.

[VideoJQL]

Photoshop 26.0.0 - the same bug! Hey, developers, it's ridiculous, many years and the bug is still here, fix it already!

And more to it - problems with eyedropper tool. When painting with brush you could have pressed Alt and pick the new color to paint, but now it picks a new color as a background color, not foreground as it used to be before! Why!?