Photoshop stuck on hand tool

[Hussein Eddeb]

Hi,

My photoshop stuck on hand tool and I can't use any other tool

Thanks

[Just Shoot Me]

Restart your computer and test.

Reset the PS Preferences. Preferences in Photoshop

[Akash Sharma]

Hi HusseinEddeb,

Sorry that Photoshop is not working as expected as the Hand tool is getting stuck. Which version of Photoshop are you using?

Could you please reset the Hand tool and let us know if that helps the cause? Check out the steps below:

• Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the Tool Preset Picker in the Tool options bar and choose Reset Tool to reset the active tool, or choose Reset All Tools to reset all tools to their factory default settings.

Reset Tool option in Photoshop CC 18.0 and earlier:

Reset Tool in Photoshop CC 19.0 and later:

Thanks,

Akash

[Thomas22835455t0tj]

After almost three years of this comment, it was so helpful for me. I had the same problem. I never had it before. My photoshop app got stuck in the Hand Tool and i wasn't able to select other. I tried what you said, selected the Hand Tool and went to it's preferences and selected the "reset tool" option and evrything is working just fine now. I appreciate your comment. 

[Muqqarib_Hassan]

Hi, 1st try to Restart your photoshop.

or try to reset photoshop preferences.

Go to Edit>Preferences>General>Reset preferences on Quit.

[Just Shoot Me]

It would also be helpful if you explained exactly what you are seeing and what tool you are trying to select that makes you think PS is stuck on the Hand Tool.

Try selecting the Crop tool or the Text tool.

[tom gore]

I'm finding this is constantly happening and resetting does nothing whatsoever. Quitting Photoshop and rebooting usually works for a brief while but then all tools become the hand. I’m using the latest Mac OS & latest Photoshop on a Mac Studio computer.

[user7215432]

Same problem here! Let me know if you find a solution, please.

[defaultkl6zbmiukexf]

Yes, exact same situation here. Updated Photoshop, restarted it, no change. Hand tool for everything. Resetting tools does nothing.

[Komal24598436ngje]

Same! 😞

[jane-e]

---

@tom gore wrote:

I’m using the latest Mac OS & latest Photoshop on a Mac Studio computer.

---

Can you check Apple menu > System Preferences > Accessibility > Full Keyboard Access? One user reported that enabling this changed the behavior of the Spacebar in all applications. In Photoshop the Spacebar is the shortcut for the Hand tool.

Jane

[defaultkl6zbmiukexf]

For me, full keyboard access was not activated. I opened Illustrator and had the same problem, all tools were the hand tool. But I opened After Effects and the tools are working normally and the hand tool engages only when I press the space bar.

The problem started suddenly while I was working in Photoshop. I hadn't done anything notable to activate the problem that I can remember.

I am on a brand new Mac Studio with Monterey and a fresh Photoshop update. I've disconnected peripherals and disabled shortcut and input apps.

When I click on a tool, the options for that tool light up. For example when I click brushes, the palette of brushes activates. But I've got nothing but hand tool. Pressing ctrl gives me the magnifying glass menu, option gives me a zoom out magnifying glass, command gives me a zoom in magnifying glass. I checked peripherals for a stuck button or key.

I haven't rebooted the computer because I'm working on other things, but I've restarted Photoshop several times.

[mcckp]

Same exact issue for me. Happened suddenly without warning. Nothing fixes it. 

Working on a deadline here. Any help would be appreciated. 

[defaultkl6zbmiukexf]

The update to Monterey 12.4 required a reboot. Afterwards I opened Photoshop just to see and it seems (for now) the issue is resolved. I don't know if it was the update or the reboot.

[user7215432]

I tried that, but the problem persists. Nothing fixes it. The Hand tool (drag) is stuck in both Illustrator and Photoshop on a MacBook Air M1 (macOS Monterey, Version 12.4)

[defaultkl6zbmiukexf]

Nevermind, it's back.

A restart solved it earlier today, but now again, for seemingly no reason, I'm locked into the hand tool. I don't want to restart my computer over and over, I'm trying to work. It's pretty frustrating.

[user7215432]

Same for me. If I restart my Mac, it goes away. But then comes back. I suspect it's interfering with another app, but still have not found out which one it is. Here's a list of all the apps on my Mac (let me know if we have some in common):

- AdGuard for Safari
- Adobe Creative Cloud
- Adobe Illustrator 2022
- Adobe Photoshop 2022
- Affinity Designer
- Affinity Photo
- Amphetamine
- AnyDesk
- AppCleaner
- Applications
- Bitwarden
- Brave Browser
- CAD快速看图
- CAI
- Calendar.webloc
- Camo Studio
- CheatSheet
- CleanShot X
- Cloudflare WARP
- CommandQ
- DeepL
- Ears
- Firefox
- Google Chrome
- Google Docs
- Google Drive
- Google Earth Pro
- Google Sheets
- Google Slides
- Grammarly Desktop
- Hemingway Editor
- Hidden Bar
- iA Writer
- IINA
- LanguageTool
- LensOCR
- Luminar AI
- MacUpdater
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Word
- MonitorControl
- Mos
- NordVPN
- Notion
- OnyX
- PDF Squeezer
- Pictogram
- Pixelmator Pro
- Plex Media Server
- Raycast
- Safari
- Silicon
- Silicon Info
- SoundSource
- Spotify
- Stremio
- Super Vectorizer Pro
- Surfshark
- TeamViewer
- Telegram
- The Unarchiver
- Transmission
- Twitter
- URL Extractor 4
- Utilities
- Vector Magic
- Vimac
- Xnapper
- zoom.us

[user7215432]

@defaultkl6zbmiukexf

did you manage to solve it? Do you have any apps in common with the list below that I provided?

[defaultkl6zbmiukexf]

@user7215432 

Not too much overlap with what I'm using. I basically don't leave other apps running while I'm in Photoshop for fear of getting locked up. It did lock up when I was running PS, Spotify, Chrome, and BetterTouchTool. I'd really like someone from Adobe to hunt down the issue, I'm losing productivity on restarting and treading lightly on apps that I use.

[tom gore]

This issue is becoming the daily standard. I reboot many times a day, have nothing running except Photoshop but still the hand tool persists and I cannot work. Latest Mac OS 12.4, latest build of Photoshop 23.4.1 on a Mac Studio computer. My work flow has ground to a halt, I’ve tried every suggestion but the issue persists.

[user7215432]

Same here. I've moved to Affinity Designer and Affinity Photo for most tasks, and now only open PS and AI for a certain tool.