Ps 2024 Inverse Selection Keyboard Shortcut Not Working

[Fotomaker01RA]

I run Ps 2024 on a Win 11 Pro desktop PC.

All my Ps keyboard shortcut key combos work except for Inverse Selection (Shift+Ctrl+I). This has been the case through several releases of Ps.

When I say it doesn't work, I mean that if I make a selection, see the marching ants, then try to use the Inverse Selection keyboard shortcut, the marching ants selection does not change from the original selection - it remains the same - and doesn't invert. If I go (small violin sounds...) all the way up to the Select Menu and click on 'Inverse Selection', my selection does invert. So the functionality of inverting can be handled in my installation (more slowly for having to cross the UI), but not quickly/conveniently with the keyboard shortcut.

I've already done the following:

- Checked - Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts to ensure no conflicting shortcuts (I didn't modify any of the shortcut defaults nor create any custom shortcuts during my ~ 12 yrs use of Ps). No conflicts appear in the lists there.

- Checked/cleaned Ps Prefs.

- Tested other Ps shortcuts that use the 'Shift' key. They all work fine.

- Checked & tried Win OS Accessibility - Keyboard - Stickiness settings in various positions. No change to Ps Inverse Selec shortcut bhvr. My stickiness setting was set to "Off". I tried it with "On" and modified how I was tapping the shortcut keys. Didn't solve the issue. So I went back to the "Off" setting.

- Asked for feedback in the KelbyOne Community.

- Googled the Web & this community forum.

I still cannot find a fix/solution for this weird, selective, non-working Shortcut behavior. I am creating Lum-Masks so I can see clearly what's happening & what the selections look like (in case that info is helpful for troubleshooting).

Does anyone else have a fix? I regularly use Inverse Selection in my post-processing, so it's a significant inconvenience that it's the only shortcut that won't work. Thx in advance!

[c.pfaffenbichler]

To check if the shortcut has been highjacked by some application/plugin/the OS try assigning it to something completely different yet with a visible effect (like Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid Color). 

Does it work for that? 

[Fotomaker01RA]

Just to be sure I understand, you're suggesting I assign the Shift+Ctrl+I to another function in Ps and then should try that sequence for that other function?

I'll try it tomorrow. It's late here now. Thx for the suggestion. If it doesn't work for the other function, what does that tell me?

At 1st I wondered if it was the "Shift" key in the mix that caused the problem but the function right above Inverse Selection (which is Reselect) also has a Shift key in the shortcut and that sequence works fine.

Yesterday, I also tried (on my American Windows keyboard) the Shift & Ctrl keys on both sides of my keyboard (just to be thorough) and tried pressing the keys in diff. orders. Nothing helped. I'll try your idea tomorrow.

I saw online that the Select Inverse shortcut is also a key combo used in Msft Outlook - I don't use that shortcut there, but I do use Outlook. However, I always close my browser & Outlook when using Ps. So not sure if there could still be cross impacts... And, that same key sequence supposedly opens developer tools in most browsers (which, again, I wouldn't be using).

[Fotomaker01RA]

Hi,  I just attempted (key word 'tried' vs achieved) to do what you suggested re: assigning that default Ps shortcut key sequence for Inverse Selection (Shift+Ctrl+I) to another application function in Ps (Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid Color) - to see if the key sequence works for that even if it won't work for Inverse Selection.

Ps prevented me from trying to add the Shift+Ctrl+I shortcut to that other application.  It's physically impossible to do it - the box where one would add/type a custom shortcut remains empty and a large "X" is generated by Ps for any of the keys I typed. It also produces the following message: "Menu commands must include Ctrl and/or an F key in their shortcuts".

Ps wouldn't let me type Shift+Ctrl+I into that other function to try to include 'Ctrl' as part of the 3-key sequence shortcut .... no typed letters appeared.

While trying different things I also: (A) Verified my Win setting is on the correct language for me & my PC system (Amer. English),  (B) Ensured I definitely don't have Caps Lock on,  (C) Printed the Summary (from Ps) of my Shortcuts to scan more easily than looking through the various display screens in Edit > Shortcuts the way I did b4 creating the original post. It sounds and feels somewhat entomological (bug-like) b/c I've now seen various posts online from people with the same issue (even if it isn't universal) & using different OS' (Win & Mac).

If I type only "Ctrl+I" - Ps (2024) after making a selection within an image in my Ps workspace, Ps inverts the content that is contained in my selection but doesn't invert the selection area. I just tried that as an experiment while I was trying everything else...

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Seems to work fine in Photoshop. 

There is an alert for what the shortcut is currently being used and will be removed. 

I still suspect that the shortcut is being highjacked from outside of Photoshop, but if that cannot be confirmed I would recommend assigning the menu command another shortcut as a work-around. 

[Fotomaker01RA]

Thx for the reply. Yeah, my implementation wouldn't let me type the "offending" shortcut for Layer fill with solid color as a test. It literally wouldn't type anything in the space to add a custom shortcut and gave me the noted error msg. I tried typing Shift capitalized and got this msg (see snip) in which my key clicks wouldn't be filled in. And, also tried w/out capitalizing and got a diff. error msg that I couldn't use "s"... Sigh. This is what happened when I tried yesterday, also.

I suspect you're right about that key sequence being hijacked by something else on my PC. 

Seems like the easiest thing for me might be to use the icon for inverse selection in the contextual taskbar after creating a selection. At least that's a bit faster to access than going to the Select menu and then down through the menu options (or, messing with a custom shortcut if my Ps is feeling impeded by other functions on my PC).

Thx again for your reply. I appreciate you taking the time to help!

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Do you have any f-key free that you could apply to the operation? 

[Fotomaker01RA]

I'll check re: your Function key idea. I must say I've been thinking f- keys (but that's a tad different than you're suggesting...  😉   ). I didn't want to create a custom shortcut b/c I record and publish Ps tutorial videos on YouTube (www.youtube.com/@FotomakerAcademy) and don't want to confuse viewers by having a custom klugey shortcut that won't be relevant to them (and that they may not need if their default Inverse Selection shortcut works).

Today I've been going through my other Ps plugins (Topaz, Boris, etc.) & Highlighter Pointers I use & Google Chrome & Outlook to see which hotkeys they have assigned to various functions. So far I haven't found a Shift+Ctrl+I hotkey duplication. Outlook email does have a Shift+Ctrl+1 (just for yucks I tried using that key combo in Ps to see if somehow the keys were registering reversed - didn't help).

This is almost as bad as when a doctor can't diagnose a condition ... not quite as life altering. But equally frustrating. Thx for being tenacious about idea options. Much appreciated.

[The278473250iph]

Hi guys.

I think this a bug that even adobe missed perhaps. The issue is when we select ctrl on a windows machine, the "auto-select" check box gets toggled. My assumption is that this is what doesnt allow for inverse selection to work from the keyboard shortcut. I dont have a solution for it either unfortunately.

Regards

[Wolfgang-Amadeus-Mozart]

I've had the same problem for a while and just discovered why it is and how to fix it. Hope it helps you too.

In short: I have an AMD graphics card and the desktop app for it, AMD Adrenaline, hijacks the CTRL+SHIFT+I shortcut. It's set to "take screenshot" by default. Setting the keybind as something different or just deleting it fixes the issue.

[LittleGreenDog]

The same thing happened here for weeks, and it was driving me nuts. I finally decided to look into the matter and found the culprit. I'm unsure how this will help others, but here's what worked for me. (Running Photoshop Beta on Windows 11.)

First, I systematically quit the apps running in the background, checking the Shift+Ctrl+I shortcut in Photoshop after each quit.

To start, I went through all of the apps running in the System Tray, but these all seemed fine.

Next, I went through each suspect item in the Task Manager, and when I quit an app called Motiv Mix, the Shift+Ctrl+I shortcut in Photoshop started working again. Motiv Mix is a recording app that's also used to change the settings in a line of Shure microphones. I couldn't find any way to change shortcuts in the app, but it doesn't need to be running to use a Shure microphone, so shutting it down did the trick.

Anyway, the app that's hijacking the Select Inverse shortcut in Photoshop on your computer could be different from mine, but I wanted to mention how I fixed this issue on my computer. Hope this helps!

PS, I almost forgot: I also had to deactivate Motiv Mix from my Startup Apps window, so you may need to do this, too.

[_jouste]

This was absolutely my issue, Motiv Mix was the exact culprit. Thanks so much.