Keyboard not working properly in Photoshop CS5 (Mac OS)

[Guest]

Hi, I am having issues with my newly installed Photoshop CS5. Most of my keyboard functions are not working, as if Photoshop did not recognize that keys were eing pressed.

When creating a new document or saving a file, I cannot type anything into the document name field. Same happens when trying to create a new folder to save in.

No tool shortcuts work (M for marquee, B for brush, V for move, etc.). On-canvas brush changes ([ and ] for size, { and } for hardness) also do not work.

Most regular shortcuts do work (Cmd+Z, Cmd+S, etc.) but "advanced" shortcuts do not work (Cmd+Alt+Z, Cmd+Shift+Z, etc.).

Any idea on why this might be happening? I used Photoshop CS4 before with no problems. Other Adobe programs (Dreamweaver, Flash, Acrobat, etc.) are working normally.

Thank you.

[darrenwhitley]

I found that by uninstalling the plugin for my Logitech Nulooq controller, I was able to get my Photoshop to begin working properly with the keyboard. Because this device has programmed buttons, I believe that's why my keyboard was not functioning properly with Photoshop. If I had unplugged the device, it's likely PS would have worked fine as well. I love this tool, it's really too bad that it never went totally mainstream.

I use Photoshop CS3 on a Windows 7 32-bit machine. Note that if you are interesting in using a Nulooq on Windows 7 64-bit, you're very likely to have problems. Sadly, I don't believe there will ever be a driver for it.

[Mama Shan]

We juat started having this problem with the tool shortcuts not working on 2 of our Windows Vista Computers. One computer has Photoshop CS5 and the other has Photoshop CS3. The shortcuts for resizing the brush (the bracket keys) do not resize anymore, the adjust the opacity/flow instead. Pressing any of the keyboard letters like V or J or B do nothing. I deleted Prefs on both systems and this did not solve the problem. Re-booted and everything! Pressed down real hard a few times on the Spacebar (as sometimes this works to release the omnipresent hand tool).

The temporary solution I found to work, in both cases, was to "Run As Administrator" those respective Photoshops. On PC, you right click on the Photoshop application icon and choose that option to "Run As Administrator" and even though it's the same program, running in this fashion restored the normal functions of the tool shortcuts and use of the bracket keys to resize a brush. But launching the programs the normal way, and it's right back to the non-functioning or out of whack tool shortcuts. The biggest annoyance is the bracket keys affecting the flow rather than size of the brush diameter.

Now, let me say this, on both computers, we did recently download Comcasts, Constant Guard with Norton, and we've run all the scans and a clean up Registry task on both computers. I am wondering if the Registry cleanup process is the culprit. Any takers?

Mama Shan

[Chris Cox]

So I doubt if it is the same cause as was being discussed here in the Photoshop Macintosh forum.

And somewhere on your system you have another program/utility or setting that can still mess up keyboard shortcuts.

And, as noted in the Windows forums, the Comcast "utilities" are known to cause keyboard conflicts.

[Mama Shan]

Thanks Mr. Chris! After doing a search on this new platform, I just picked the most recently dated post having to do with keyboard shortcuts not working.

[computerwerk]

Also software like Bamboo Dock by Wacom has caused problem like this.

[briandkatz1]

I had this problem and then realized my keyboard was set to a different language.

I set it back to English (American, Canadian, either) and then it worked again.

[briandkatz1]

i was on CS4 but similar stuff. Specifically none of my command-key shortcuts worked.

[DanaHallTSS]

This is not a bug with apple drivers. Based on all the reports in your forums, people with different video card solutions are experiencing the same issue. Windows and OSX operatings systems spanning everything from 10.6.1 and up as well as WinXP and Win7. Can one one please give a technical answer instead of pointing fingers? If it were a driver issue, which I do not believe it to be, then what about the driver is causing the marquee tool border to be invisible during selection? One of my end users reported that the tool broke after running the latest set of updates via Adobe DLM. Is it possible one of your updates created this issue? What files were modified in that update? Thank you in advance for your assistance in resolving this issue.

DanaHall Desktop Support Specialist

System:

Lenovo M91p

Intel i5

Intel generated graphics

Photoshop CS5 and CS5.5

[CraveDigital]

This is going to sound a little crazy but do any of you with the keyboard problems have gmail running in a browser? I was getting plagued by this frequently in CS5 and out of the blue it happened in CS6 beta. I noticed the moment I closed Gmail my cmd-opt-space zoom tool started working again.

[emrahT]

Solved. i had the same problem cause ps cs5 gave error while quitting, i came here and saw a post. it was saying update and reboot. but no need to update, i just rebooted and solved.

JUST REBOOT.

[alexisrachel]

The reboot worked for me! but what a pain!

[StephTPax]

Had all kind of shortcut issues in Photoshop with Default Folder X installed on os X

[Marieke100]

I know it's a very old threat but the easy answer is not in it.

This is for Windows, so I am sure you can work it out for Mac.

Press CTRL+ ALT + SHIFT and open Photoshop

A popup appears asking you if you want to delete PS settings -> click yes

Photoshop and it all works again

[etherize]

Sorry, but that doesn't work for me, and a bunch of other people in other threads ... neither does a half-dozen other suggested fixes.  And yes, it's an old thread but here we are in 2014 and there is still no solution from Adobe.  I'm beginning to hate using Photoshop.

[J453]

What version of Photoshop are you running? What OS/version? Are you using a tablet? Have you tried the suggestions in this document? Keyboard shortcuts stop working in Photoshop: http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/keyboard-shortcuts-stop-photoshop-mac.html (Solution 2 is usually the answer)

[etherize]

Photoshop CC 2014 latest update, Yosemite 10.10.1 latest update, no tablet, tried all the suggestions here, on the other thread, and in your link.  Nothing works. 

[J453]

So running Photoshop all by itself, the keyboard shortcuts stop working altogether? Of just the spacebar?

Have you tried running a new admin user? Photoshop: Basic Troubleshooting steps to fix most issues

Run in safe mode? Photoshop: Basic Troubleshooting steps to fix most issues

Are you running any system extensions? They usually show up here in System Preferences:

<a href="https://d37wxxhohlp07s.cloudfront.net/s3_images/804557/extensions.jpg?1350313749"><img src="https://d37wxxhohlp07s.cloudfront.net/s3_images/804557/extensions_inline.jpg?1350313749" alt="" /></a>

[etherize]

Yes, running Photoshop all by itself, the keyboard shortcuts (switching/selecting tools, changing layer opacity, etc.) don't work 90% of the time unless I click outside the document frame before and after trying the keyboard shortcut.

I've tried all the suggestions, and thought I'd discovered the culprit -- Amazon music -- since after deleting this, they seemed to work.  But after a few minutes, the problem occurred again when I couldn't switch tools.

[etherize]

Actually, it does seem to be working a lot better after deleting Amazon music, even if not 100% ... haven't had a chance to spend a lot of time on PS the past few days.  I'll report back on how well it works after I get more time to use it.

[dbuchter]

I replied to a similar issue in the InDesign forum.

I have been occasionally having a problem with the spacebar when trying to use shortcuts for the zoom tool in Photoshop and Illustrator CS6. I read that some people thought the issues were coming from FireFox and/or Chrome. They thought it had something to do with their extensions. I use Safari normally (OSX 10.8.2), so I just shut it down - and that fixed the problem. I even started it back up and PS and AI continued to work normally. There could be a Safari extension causing the problem as well - I will investigate the next time this happens.

Hope this helps you guys!

[alearizaga]

Hola, espero que puedas entender esto que te escribo, yo tuve la misma falla y mi solución fue borrar este archivo: "com.apple.PreferenceSync.plist".

Ahí se encuentra la falla.

Saludos.

Hello, hope you can understand that I am writing this, I had the same fault and my solution was to delete this file: "com.apple.PreferenceSync.plist".

Therein lies the flaw.

Greetings.

(Google translator)

[jarretv]

Here's what works for me.

Sometimes my keyboard language gets changed from ENG US to Canadian Multi...whenever it's canadian multi all kinds of craziness happens and it doesn't seem to respond properly (IE, right control doesn't work...etc)

[Phoebe K]

I've had similar experiences, I cleared my preferences and that seemed to help.
I had it again recently after it just working, then realising I a very silly and stupid thing I somehow entered into quick mask mode. Must've pressed the shortcut accidentally, double check you are not in that mode (check bottom of your photoshop tool panel, circle inside the square) as its a silly but easy mistake and that mode will not allow you to delete.

This may help or it may just be my random experience and solution.

[andyh79190]

This worked for me, 2014 macbook pro on mavericks.

Tried everything else and it seemed only a temporary solution, only a reboot would get the keyboard working again, this worked straight away -

OS X: Unable to type while Mouse Keys is enabled - Apple Support

[plumsauced]

Hi Guys,

Try pressing alt five times - this enables and disables the "mouse keys" function which disables the keyboard.

I have to credit this to brownknee at mac forums: http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/os-...ml#post1436578

additional: https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT203157

I thought this was an issue related to photoshop, and have been searching for a fix for a long time, I just found brownknee's answer today and thought I'd share.