P: Ability to disable Alt menu capability

[Xeon64]

Is there a way to disable this. I know it is a Windows feature for navigating without a mouse but who really uses PS without a mouse.  If I start to do a key command and press alt then realize I want to do something else I have to hit Escape. If I don't hit escape menus start to drop down when I try to use my tools. I can not stand this navigation feature and it has been bugging me for years. If I remember correctly the Mac version of photoshop does not have this.

[Guest]

Nope.

[Noel Carboni]

Yes there is, but not by Photoshop configuration.  It comes in the form of a workaround app that was developed by Unsigned Code Labs on this forum.  See this thread:

http://forums.adobe.com/thread/670988?tstart=30

-Noel

[Xeon64]

This is getting me one step closer. The forum you recommended is about a bug in CS5 with scrolling on the the mouse. I would like to completely disable the alt menu functionality in Photoshop. I do not use it and find it very annoy when I am doing on serious cloning work.

Is there away I can use this AutoHotKey program to disable the alt menu in PS? It seems like it can but I am not familiar with the program.

[Noel Carboni]

I'd say you should reply with that question in that thread and ask.  From the sound of things it may do what you want, or maybe Unsigned Code Labs will be willing to fix it up for you or help you fix it up.

-Noel

[millionart]

download APssistant (r20)

http://code.google.com/p/apssistant/downloads/list

enable "Disable Alt Menu"

[Xeon64]

OMG! This works perfect. Thanks. No more annoying alt menu! I can clone in peace again!

[Phantom_300]

It worked for me too!!

Great tip!! Thanks a lot!!

[Noel Carboni]

Not having tried it yet myself, does this workaround affect just Photoshop or does it kill functionality for other apps?

-Noel

[Xeon64]

Just photoshop from what I have noticed so far.

[millionart]

Google code is deprecated, new downloads please go to github:

Releases · millionart/Apssistant · GitHub

[DarrylJB]

So here it is 2021, 11 years later. And they seem to have put this feature back in. This time with Adobe Animate. A constant Ding Ding. I am constantly zooming in and out with the hot keys, holding Alt key. Upon which when I release the key, the menu is now selected. Then if I hit any key after that, DING DING...DING DING....its beyond annoying. Especially in a work flow where I am literally hitting this key every 30 sec or more. 

Is there a work around for it now? I can't image that app working now 11 years later. or maybe it does. 

[nikolap007]

If you go on the GitHub profile that previous replies linked, and search for APssistant, you can find newer versions.
Works like a charm on my Photoshop CC 2019.

[baliv]

Thank you so much for the tool, for those wondering, although the repo is all in chinese the software has an english translation. Just dl the release you need. Works with CC 21 for now.

[Elgin5CAA]

Hi, idk if you've already fixed it but I had the same problem for months (Adobe Animate 2021) and this video helped. (14) Disable ALT Key Opening Menu Bar | Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop CC 2018 - YouTube

[Earth Oliver]

yes, the win10 Adobe UX is a bad and terrible joke. Anyone who's spent time using the apps in OSX and then tries using win10 is going to be in for a really bad experience. Photoshop is still a steaming pile of poo all these years later and there's no hope on the horizon. I've been documenting and bugging all the differences between platforms, but Adobe really does not care how horrible Ps is on win10. I'm nearly 100% certain that all their designers only use macs...

[Marek Domke]

I'm complaining about this issue for almost 10 years now. It is like mapping the controls for gas and brake onto a single pedal and Adobe feels ok with it, since it's supposed to be a feature, not a bug.

Illustrator feels even worse because i am pressing the alt button every second and not just for zooming.

[Janece21848282c2on]

In Adobe Audition and Adobe Primiere Pro I have an issue with the ALT button activating the menu bar. While working on a project I can easily use hot keys like space and V or R or C to toggle the playback and switch between tools. However, if I touch the alt key for ANY reason such as an Alt+scroll wheel to zoom or scroll on the time, or if I accidentally press Alt instead of Ctrl then the next button I press will open a part of the menu at the top. For example Alt then V will open the view tab. It completely distrupts my workflow!! In doing a bit of research I discovered that this feature is called "Menu Acceleration" and has been a built in feature of the Windows OS for years. I thought it was a "sticky" button problem but that wasn't the solution either.  This is not just a Windows 10 problem and there is no way to turn it off in Windows without altering the coding. There needs to be a way to disable this in Adobe if Windows continues to refuse to allow it to be disabled. PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING ... just let me use the alt button in peace. 

[madhoek]

+1 for the option to disable the ALT menu.
It's very annoying to have the menu pop up while using the clone stamp or brush tool.
Please let us choose to deactivate it.

[PECourtejoie]

I wonder if the Microsoft forums might be a better venue for this request.

[Earth Oliver]

@PECourtejoie No other apps in Windows suffer from this problem, so it's 100% an Adobe issue.

[madhoek]

Ironically the ALT menu seems to be deactivated in Lightroom.

[PECourtejoie]

Interesting, I get a highlight in Outlook's menus when I hit the ALT key...

[davescm]

@Earth Oliver  said  'No other apps in Windows suffer from this problem, so it's 100% an Adobe issue.'

Most other apps I use on Windows use the Microsoft function using Alt key to quickly access their menus

Dave

[Marek Domke]

Activating the menu with the Alt key is certainly natural Windows behavior and I read somewhere that this is part of an ADA policy initiated by Microsoft. Accessibility ok ... but for graphics software? hmm ...
This is of course a Photoshop forum, but I said that I have the same (even bigger) problems with Illustrator's Alt key behavior and I remember that in the earlier days of Illustrator 8, there was an option to activate a certain menu if you pressed the Alt key and a second key at the same time (not consecutively). The Alt key alone did nothing and nothing stole focus when that key was pressed. This worked perfectly! You could easily activate the effects menu in full screen without the need to leafe the menuless mode.

[robertp90358595]

Why is this beyond the pale to fix? They left it in place so that we can use it, just in the most damned annoying way possible. Every couple of minutes the alt key gets the context stuck in some random panel somewhere and now every keystroke is throwing windows beeps until I do this little ritual of minimizing and restoring the window... Seems to be a common solution to a lot of PS bugs, maybe they should figure out why that is, and then fix the damned problem.