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Nick2049
Inspiring
March 16, 2023
Question

Photoshop (Windows) locks focus on blending mode/dropdown menus

  • March 16, 2023
  • 7 replies
  • 2180 views

On a Mac, if you select a blending mode in your layers pallete you can carry on working as normal and keyboard shortcuts function as expected.

 

In Windows, if you change the blending mode (or anything that uses a dropdown window), focus is then locked dropdown, essentially disabling your keyboard shortcuts until you either hit escape or click away. Please can this be fixed?

 

I was hoping this would be resolved by now but it's still a huge annoyance for those who have had the misfortune of switching to Windows from MacOS. I know it's just one additional click/keypress but it adds up over time and ultimately just slows you down/drives me insane.

    7 replies

    J
    Justin29486286yko8
    Participant
    May 21, 2025

    This bug has been an annoyance for a very long time and continues to be to this date. I don't know how many hours this workflow inefficiency has cost me over the years, but it's not inconsequential. Resolving this one issue would make Photoshop so much more responsive for intermediate and advanced users and would likely be far more valuable to a broad range of workflows than even many of the new AI and selection tools in development.

      Noel Orridge
      Community Manager
      Noel OrridgeCommunity Manager
      Community Manager
      May 21, 2025

      Hi @Justin29486286yko8,

       

      Thanks for sharing the details. Kindly allow me some time to check this with the team. 

       

      Feel free to reach out if you have more questions or need any assistance. We'd be happy to help!

      Noel
        Chrisswiss20936654
        Chrisswiss20936654
        Participant
        April 2, 2024
        Hi Everyone

        First, thanks Bojan for the information.
        It helps a bit that some "pro" people know about this.

        So, sorry ..or not sorry for Adobe :P, that i bring this post up again.
        But I am frustrated with this issue and have decided to do something about it.
         
        Maybe someone at Adobe has a heart for us Win11 users and has a serious focus on this issue.
         
        Second, I decided to try to find a solution with AutoHotKey. 

         

        I`m not a fan of these AutoHotKey-key-scrips, but unfortunately I think there is no other way until something happens from the Adobe/Microsoft side.
         
        So, is there someone here with experience or a solution to solve this with AutoHotKey?
        I searched for 4 hours and the only script that I found is this "alt key" issue that I mentioned.
         
        I`m a total newbee for scripts, so I think the "power of community" is a good way for a specific interface problem like this.
         
        Thanks for any help! 

         


        Cheers from Switzerland
        Chris
          Bojan Živković11378569
          Community Expert
          Bojan Živković11378569Community Expert
          Community Expert
          November 27, 2023

          According to Deke McClelland, an author and expert in Adobe products, this bug has been affecting Windows users for at least a decade. 

            CShubert
            Community Manager
            CShubertCommunity Manager
            Community Manager
            March 16, 2023

            Thank you for the update @Nick2049 

            This appears to work as designed on WinOS. 

             

             

             

              N
              Nick2049Author
              Inspiring
              March 16, 2023

              So you're saying its a limitation of the OS and it can't be resolved, basically?

              Thanks

              N
              Nick2049Author
              Inspiring
              March 16, 2023

              Here's an example:

              I simply created a new layer, changed the blending mode to lighten, and now you can see focus is locked on the blending mode dropdown (blue outline) and thus prevents you from using any keyboard shortcuts. You have to first click away, or hit escape to release focus from that dropdown. You do not have to do this in PS on a Mac.

                N
                Nick2049Author
                Inspiring
                March 16, 2023

                Hi @CShubert 

                I don't need to reset my preferences because this is a new install of the latest PS release, on a clean install of Windows 11. This issue has existed for years and was also present in Windows 10. I tried it on a third workstation (also Win 10) just to be sure and I can confirm it was the same.

                 

                If you just try what I have described on any windows machine you will see what I mean. It's not specific to mine.

                 

                thanks 

                  CShubert
                  Community Manager
                  CShubertCommunity Manager
                  Community Manager
                  March 16, 2023

                  Hi @Nick2049 

                   

                  Let's make sure we're in a default state and there are no stale settings somewhere: 

                  Restore your preferences using this manual method:  

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

                  Does it work correctly? 

                  If that doesn't solve it, you can quit Photoshop and put the Settings folder back. 

                   

                   

                  It may help if we could see your Photoshop System Info. Launch Photoshop, and select Help >System Info...and copy/paste the text in a reply.  

                   

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