keyboard shortcuts not working in Photoshop CC

[wendyfern]

I have photoshop CC through Creatuve cloud.  My keyboard shortcuts stop working, then photoshop really slows down, then crashes.  I've been through Adobe support five times now, and it works for about 1/2 hour, then acts up again.  Any suggestions/reciommendations?  Thanks - Wendy Caro

[Daniel Perales Studio]

It's crippling! can't zoom in or out with the keys.  You can use navigator to zoom in and move around. You can also set in the General Preference the ability to zoom in and out with the mouse scroll. Still need to fix the problem Adobe!

[ianspanierphoto]

THE SOLUTION:

Solution2: Install the White Window Workaround plug-in

Note: This solution is for Photoshop CC (2013) and CS6 only.

• Close Photoshop and download the following file to a location you can easily find.

  WhiteWindowWorkaround.plugin1_0_6.zip
  

• Unzip the file, WhiteWindowWorkaround.plugin, and move it to //Applications/Adobe Photoshop [Version]/Plug-ins/
• You can verify the plug-in is installed by launching Photoshop and choosing Help > System Info.Scroll to the bottom of the text in the dialog and look for the plug-in name.
  

  

[etherize]

I think I found the culprit in my case, at least.  It may have been Amazon music, which I guess was an add-on or plug-in.  Since I deleted it, everything seems to be working OK.  There was only one time that a shortcut didn't work, but so far, so good.  Hope this helps somebody else.

[jonpaul12]

I've been on photoshop since day one when there wasn't even a pen tool and have never experience the problems that I am having with CC 2014 and my new Mac Pro and wacom tablet. Adobe technical support is useless. Apple operating system Yosemite is very buggy. Wacom tablet is buggy. The problem is there is no communication between the companies. And the end user which is us gets screwed... I've been on with technical support with the three companies and each blames the other.

[bigtiff]

I have been having this problems on my new Mac Pro running Yosemite & PS6. It's completely unacceptable! We are all trying to our jobs here and are paying for/have paid for software which has serious problems. I've been working with PS for over 8 years now and never experienced anything like this. My workflow has halved which is very stressful. I still have the same amount of work to send out to clients. What is going to be done about this? If this were a car that we were renting that suddenly couldn't change gear, would we be expected to carry on paying for it with no replacement or repair??

The main shortcuts not working (or very intermittenly working) are

X- toggle between black & white masks

Zoom in & Out

Generally switching between tools

Brush sizes ([ ])

Toggling the mask on & off (\) My mask is often pixelated and does odd things.

PS6 crashes or freezes and is completely unusable.

Please can someone advise me what can be done.

[rbatey]

I have been having this same issue off and on. I read on another thread that there can be issues with Safari or other web browsers. Don't remember why exactly but I shut down Safari and problem is solved. This happened a few weeks ago and has not returned until today. I tried shutting down Safari and sure enough it fixed the problem again. So maybe that will help some of you.

[JaymzNYC]

Updated CC and zoom out worked fine for a while then it randomly  stopped again. Tried turning off safari and the whitewall plug in as other suggested and none work on CC 2014. Really annoying!

[etherize]

I have now tried closing all browsers, unplugging all card readers, freeing up every possible USB port, closing every single other application, installing the White Window thing, unplugging headphones, deleting all 3rd party plugins, trashing preferences, shutting down the machine and powering on again, doing a system wide cleanup, trying the mouse only, then the Wacom only, then uninstalling and reinstalling the Wacom drivers, updating CC, and every other recommendation made. 

Bottom line:  sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.  Every time they work, I'm lulled into a false sense of security, only to have them fail again. 

So far, they only work about 20% of the time. 

Absolutely infuriating.  Maybe I'll cancel my Adobe monthly membership and just go back to CS6, where I never had this problem.

[patrickg65062504]

I know this is an old question here but for the people having problems with shortcuts (Brush Size increase with wacom tablets such as the rotation wheel) [ or ] or any other shortcuts problems, I just fixed my problem by changing back my keyboard setting to U.S. English. After that everything came back to normal without lag.

If you are on another language the shortcuts will be messed up, I have no idea why but changing it back to english for me did the trick!

Hope that helps.

[RimVai]

I don't think this is a mac problem at all and I'll tell you why:
I have the same problem where the shortcuts (to change tools, most notably, like B for brush, V for selection, etc) just stop working. The only workaround I've found so far is to switch to another active program and switch back.

I am experiencing this on a Win 8.1 x64 PC and a Win7 x64 PC, both with the Photoshop CC 2014 v14.2.1!!! Come on, Adobe, your customer service is crap so at least make the technical fixes happen!

Let me just finish by saying that the problem is REALLY INFURIATING!

[etherize]

Any other ideas out there?  My shortcuts started working for awhile (I have no idea why), and now they're not.  I have tried everything suggested in this thread and elsewhere online -- reset preferences, white window, updates, closing applications, etc., etc., etc.  This is so frustrating!!

[1tice2001]

I'm having the same problem. Suddenly, one day, keyboard shortcuts flatly refuse to work in Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator. This is especially annoying when trying to use the pen tool, as the <profanity removed by admin> space bar no longer allows me to adjust anchor points on the fly. Come on Adobe! Get your heads out of your <profanity removed by admin>!

[Chris Cox]

Those 3 apps share almost no code.  So you're looking at a system level problem, or interference from a utility or another application on your system.

[JayRose]

Here is a protocol that should work for anyone experiencing the warning alerts and/or keystrokes not functioning properly.  You will want to refer to a master list of Photoshop's default keyboard shortcuts. The list is here from Adobe's website: Default keyboard shortcuts

Your next step is to open Photoshop, and under Edit in the menu, scroll down and select Keyboard Shortcuts.  A dialogue box will come up with a few tabs, each containing many options. (That master list linked above will come in really handy at this point.)

As you look through the Keyboard Shortcut dialogue boxes, you will notice that some of the combinations are either a) different than previous releases, or b) not there at all.  Go ahead and adjust them to your liking, just highlight the area you'd like to redefine, then hit OK.  Like this:

I just did a fresh install of Adobe CC the other day, and everything was a bit haywire RE: keystrokes not working and also giving the warning alert sound. This has essentially fixed the problem. I will add to this post if additional workarounds are needed.

Hope this helps.

[1tice2001]

Very interesting, and good to know. However, I'm relatively certain the culprit was DropBox. I simply disabled the launch on start up preference, restarted, and the problem was solved. Although who knows for sure? I'm reading where Safari seems to be the culprit, as well. I'm just counting my blessings that my shortcuts are back.

[JayRose]

Interesting solution you found… If the problems I was having return, I'm going to try your method with DropBox.

But thankfully, so far so good with the Keyboard Shortcuts preferences.  Have a great night.

[MACnTUTOR]

Try following the five solutions outlined on this web page:

Keyboard shortcuts stop working in Photoshop

[mrapelje]

Wanted to share my fix in case it works for others... Uninstalled Google Chrome, and hotkeys came back.

[FactoryEnova]

I've noticed on my Windows 7 PC that it will sometimes switch into a different language mode, completely unexpectedly but usually after I make a blunder of a keystroke. Once it's in Greek mode (or whatever language) that definitely disables the keystrokes. You could try checking this as it's made the Ctrl functions work for me after switching back to US language. However, it has not solved the issue of the standard toolbar keystrokes not functioning, which is not a problem that can be blamed on tablet software etc. as I am using a standard keyboard & mouse for all controls.

[izeah__]

my Control+u is not working ( on mac ) when i press those keys it does nothing please help!

[fattyfatfat1]

This was it 4 me: in the latest PS there is now a Customize toolbar option make sure the box is unchecked!

[mobrienLC]

Check if your Workspace is in "Graphic and Web" because apparently that's the only workspace that the Quick Mask Mode shortcut key does not work in... Trust when I say this took the better half of my day to figure out.

Window > Workspace > Anything but Graphic and Web

This has to be a glitch, or if there's a logical explanation I am all ears.

Best of luck!

[travisw19715622]

Seems odd, but I had recently installed a new Language and set it to default on my OS. I changed it back to English US and the shortcuts came back. Worked for me, good luck.

[Deepwater3d]

Oh thank goodness you posted this! Changing back to original language worked for me too.

[Maikoli]

Yes installing a language pack that I don't even use for windows
(German in this case since this was my default langugae when I installed Photoshop)
worked, just like travisw19715622​ said...

Thanks

So, for anyone having this issue on Windows: Try to reinstall the original language pack (Or the one that matches your IP)