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wgullo
wgullo
Inspiring
September 23, 2023
Question

polygonal lasso cursor changes to an arrow... why?

  • September 23, 2023
  • 7 replies
  • 2267 views

Sometimes when using the Polygonal Lasso tool to make an extended selection across the artboard, the cursor changes to a thick arrow making precise selections challenging. I've used PS for many years, and have never experienced this until this latest version (or maybe 2022, I don't remember).

 

I use PS on an almost daily basis and would love to disable the feature if there is a setting for it.

 

Photoshop 2023, version 24.7.0.

iMac 24 inch, M1

Ventura 13.4

16GB ram

    7 replies

    Stargazer on ARM
    Stargazer on ARM
    Known Participant
    April 23, 2025

    Hey there everyone, I have the same problem!

     

    An old thread and still a nuisance, but I think I know the cause at this point (running on a MacBook Sequioa 15.1.4 by the way).

     

    No snake skin oil solutions so far though, sorry:

    It happens when I accidently move the lasso cursor outside of the Photshop window when pinpionting an area for a lasso selection. The cursor first turns into a thick arrow and when I move it back inside the PS window it turns and locks into this thick double arrow.

     

    It is more than just annoying when you are trying to select or separate fine pixels; the lasso cursor just turns into this blunt clumsy tool more or less useless for the task at hand, leaving you with no other obvious option than a time consuming deselection by hitting esc and start all over again.

     

    I would prefer an easy solution, like a keyboard shortcut and/or a mouse click combination to reset the cursor without loosing my pinpoints, rather than complex and time consuming ad hoc workarounds.

     

    Sincerely yours and best regards,

    Stargazer

    wgullo
    wgulloAuthor
    Inspiring
    April 23, 2025

    Yup. Why this is still an issue, or unexplained functionality is a strange. 

    philm51371808
    philm51371808
    Participant
    October 9, 2024

    Any update on this? I am loosing my F@#king mind.

     

    Thanks!

     

    wgullo
    wgulloAuthor
    Inspiring
    October 10, 2024

    sorry to learn that you, too, are having frustration with this useless feature. no update that I am aware of. 😞 

    J
    jasander77
    Known Participant
    August 16, 2024

    Just want to say I've been dealing with the same issue for well over a year. Do not know what version it began, but am currently up-to-date. I use PS every day and encounter the bug every time I use the lasso tool ... which is generally several times a day. I generally have to zoom in to get more precise selections and as I pan around an image making selections the cursor will change to a short and stubby right-facing arrow in most cases. Other times it will change to an arrow similar to the Path Selection tool either first or after it's already changed to the first arrow. Reverts back to normal cursor after lasso selection completed. 

     

    I generally do not have other Adobe applications running except for Lightroom. 

    D
    defaultd8ju78nqg80t
    Participant
    July 16, 2024

    Not sure if this will still be helpful to anyone but I've experienced this issue a number of times before. A quick, temporary fix for me seems to be when I close down Adobe Acrobat running in the background. No idea why but it fixes the Polygonal Lasso tool turing into an arrow. 

      wgullo
      wgulloAuthor
      Inspiring
      August 18, 2024

      Thank you for the suggestion, but I don't have Acrobat, not do I typically have other apps open while using PS. This oddity is unhelpful. Adobe are you listening? 

      Stephen P5E69
      Stephen P5E69
      Participant
      May 3, 2024

      I'm having the same issue, the arrow does not allow for precision as you cannot see where the endpoint is. Did you ever resolve the issue? 

       

      I am not using:  macOS Sonoma 14.4.1. 

      wgullo
      wgulloAuthor
      Inspiring
      May 4, 2024

      yup... I experienced the same issue again the other day, so it continues. I wish there were a way to toggle this not-so-smart feature off. Adobe tech... are you out there?????

      philm51371808
      philm51371808
      Participant
      February 23, 2024

      I have the same issue.

      Macbook Pro

      Sonoma

      2.3 GHz 8 core Intel

       

        c.pfaffenbichler
        Community Expert
        c.pfaffenbichlerCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        September 24, 2023

        Can you provide a screen recording illustrating the issue? 

        wgullo
        wgulloAuthor
        Inspiring
        September 24, 2023

        This morning I've been using the Polygonal Lasso to make a selection in several images to purposively get this odd cursor to appear... but thus, far no luck. The next time it happen, I will post a screen capture. Thanks.

         

          Trevor.Dennis
          Community Expert
          Trevor.DennisCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          September 24, 2023

          I'm trying to think of what might cause that, and I am coming up with nothing.  I have even tried using the tool and experimenting with modifier keys and spring loaded shortcuts.  It's 'Big' arrow bit that makes it so hard work out.  I am wondering if it is another app working in the background, and stealing focus from Photoshop?  Can you think of anything else that might have been open when the issue ocurred?

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