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Wazza999
Inspiring
May 24, 2023
Question

Keyboard presses aren't releasing.

  • May 24, 2023
  • 12 replies
  • 694 views

Photoshop version: 24.5.0

OS: Windows 10 Home Single Language build 19045.2965

 

It happens to me specifically with the Hand tool as well as when I hold 2 keys simultaneously to change my brush size & softness. I get the red overlay (to indicate the size and softness of the brush) but when I release the keys on my keyboard, the red overlay remains. Same with the hand tool. When I release the space bar, the hand tool remains and I have to press escape to return to normal.

 

I've restarted my pc as well as tried various keyboards to eliminate the possibility of a hardware error, but the issue persists.

This topic has been closed for replies.

12 replies

Participant
June 21, 2023

And the latest update applied today has brought this issue back with a vengeance. Hand tool and pen tool stick so much it halts my workflow.
Is anyone else experiencign the same?

Participant
May 26, 2023

I also tried resetting the preferences after backing them up and noticed that the Adobe suggested methods (keyboard shortcut and resetting on quit) didn't work on my computer. The "stuck keys" problems all persisted.
Then I just manually deleted the preferences folder and at least for now it seems to have worked. I havent noticed the errors during the last hour and managed to restore my personal preferences from the backup I made.
Hopefully it stays that way but most importantly: an update addressing the particular problem will come soon. 

Wazza999
Wazza999Author
Inspiring
May 26, 2023

So I followed everyone's advice, reset my preferences and as stated, this did solve the problem. However it was interesting to note the following - I backed up my preferences before resetting so that I could easily restore once done. After the initial reset (once Photoshop had reverted back to stock preferences) the problem still persisted. Only after I had restored my old preferences did the issue cease. Does this mean that a standard installation of Photoshop comes with this problem by default? I thought it was my preferences that were the problem here. But it apprears as though that they were actually the fix.

Known Participant
May 25, 2023

Was having the same issue, in particular with the hand and zoom tool. Every few click and drags it acts like the both the key and mouse (or tablet click) are still pressed when they are not - leading to wild unintended movement as the cursor moves. Happens on both mouse and wacom tablet.

 

Following the guidance here I reset preferences which seems to fix it. Note that I was able to backup my preferences first, clear them and then restore them and put all my settings back the way I had them while still not suffering this bug anymore. I suggest trying this so you don't have to put all your panels and things back the way they were.

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/preferences.html#backup-photoshop-preferences

 

I just copied the contents of the Settings folder into a temporary folder, reset the prefs - closed photoshop - opened photoshop - closed it again, then copied the contents of the temporary folder into the original Settings folder, overwriting the new (reset) settings files.

Denyerpro
Known Participant
May 25, 2023

Could be a language issue as I'm prone to those, but forcing a user to reset a complex application's preferences, which affect muscle memory, workflow, and all that other good stuff, shouldn't honestly be considered acceptable practice, and I completely empathise with users who are frustrated by it cropping up time and time again.

I use a tool called Directory Opus, it's terrifyingly complex in its settings and customisation options, vastly more so than Photoshop. In 20 years I've never once had to reset it after an upgrade caused some issue.  That's why I refer to this as a silly workaround, it simply shouldn't be necessary - Adobe know what they're changing and should have a robust migration path. As an aside if the user preferences are merely a reflection of the selected tickboxes a user has interacted with within the application, it shouldn't be accumulating data (My file was 9.9mb!) in the way it seems to.  Perhaps internally it's become like the Windows Registry, who could say other than the Adobe Devs?

Either way, a reset worked here. the fact it was required remains a bone of contention 🙂

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D Fosse
Community Expert
Community Expert
May 25, 2023

Yep, me too. Sticky spacebar-drag, resolved with a preference reset.

 

Now, my normal procedure is to start each new major version with fresh preferences, just to avoid corruption buildup. I never migrate. But this is the first time I've had to do it with a dot release.

 

That said, @Denyerpro , resetting preferences is not a "silly workaround". Preferences are prone to corruption because they are rewritten on every application exit - in contrast to read-only program files. Errors accumulate. The most common problem is irregular shutdowns, power losses and so on, anything that can disrupt the normal shutdown procedure.

 

However, in this case it looks like it was a case of old preferences not having the exact same meaning in the new version. That this happened to so many people can't be coincidence.

Denyerpro
Known Participant
May 25, 2023

Resetting preferences is a silly workaround that shouldn't exist - However it's worth noting that this DOES appear to resolve the issue, which should help Adobe narrow down what's causing it.... Ever the optimist.

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Wazza999
Wazza999Author
Inspiring
May 25, 2023

Yes! I feel like we have the same issue but with different tools.

Halo Photography Ltd
Known Participant
May 25, 2023

I have the same issue. Extremely frustrating and time wasting

Participant
May 25, 2023

Seconding - also working on Windows 10. Hand tool stays locked on after releasing space bar. Pen tool - after releasing left mouse key it stays on and the program behaves as if I'm trying to modify the latest point. I have to click once again for the pen tool start functioning. Some errating behaviour with the marquee tool as well. 

The issue has been presenting itself in the past - always after an update. It disappeared for a while and now returned with this particular release. Yesterday I even rolled back, but then again, I would also like the now officially added remove tool. Rollback eliminated all the described problems.

And no, the dirty mouse or keyboard are not the issues. I've seen this nonsense suggested in the past.

I would also like to not spend time playing around with resetting the presets. It is a serious program bug and needs to be addressed as quickly as possible because it directly interferes with the workflow.