Opening file with multiple monitors and spaces causes Photoshop to randomly change screens

[dbrown428]

I have three monitors and multiple Spaces (Mac OS 12.3.1) on each monitor. My workflow is Photoshop in one space and coding/development in another space. I have noticed that when I open a file (eg. Open with Photoshop) from Finder and Photoshop is not in a visible space, it will jump to another monitor.

It's the only application that does it — it's very annoying. I then have to find all the Photoshop windows and drag them back to my main work space.

Details

1. version: 23.3.2

2. Mac OS: 12.3.1

3. Recreation steps:

a) Multiple monitors.

b) Open Photoshop in one space, then switch to another space on the same monitor, so photoshop is not visible. Open another app (Firefox, VSCode, Mail… etc), and put it full screen. Something about the current space app being fullscreen is the key to causing the weirdness.

c) On another monitor, use finder to open a file with photoshop.

4.

Expected: Photoshop stays in the space it was opened, and properly triggers a space transition.

Actual: Photoshop jumps to another monitor.

[Francesco Della Peruta]

Hi, try to take a look here:

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/panels-revert-main-screen-mac.html

[dbrown428]

Hi Francesco,

Thanks for sharing the link. I tried the steps suggested in the article, and both didn't work. Kinda a pain to also change the way my system is setup just so Photoshop can function correctly. No other app has ever required me to do that in order to work correctly.

The bottom line for me is Photoshop does not behave in an expected way for the user in a multi-monitor/spaces environment. The short term fix is to tell users to change their OS preferences (might fix it), but the long term fix is to dig into the bug and figure out why it jumps around. I'm sure it's not a simple fix given the app is cross platform, and probably tons of legacy code.

Thanks a bunch!