P: Support for native full-screen mode on macOS

Report · Jul 21, 2011

I must say that full screen apps is a wonderful idea. I can start in such a way some of the apple apps (safari, imail, numbers) - I like switching between them. It will be desirable to enable this option for Ligtroom & Photoshop (both CS and Elements) to behave in similar way under new Mission Control stuff...

Report · Mar 22, 2022

We've had this very discussion for over 10 years unfortunately. Despite how complicated it may be (or not, who knows), Adobe's only delaying the modernization of their most popular app and making it harder and harder to carry over their features to the new framework.

Beyond that though, it's been insulting to be a part of this request for over a decade now, getting falsely led by staff that the feature is Under Review and in talks within the Photoshop team. They surface every 6 months to a year if you're lucky, just to post random [cursing removed by moderator] on why they aren't doing it this year and how they may "consider" it again until the next time they surface with the same response. Being hung to dry over a pivotal workflow that Apple introduced in 2011 while some of Adobe's apps support it just makes me more irritated when I use them conjoined. Lightroom works beautifully in my full screen workflow and proves it is has a big part in the macOS world. Meanwhile, I have grandpa Photoshop either eating up my main desktop, or a different desktop while causing endless annoyances. Toolbars flickering in Photoshop's full screen mode, the window showing up 20% off in the top left corner void every time I return to it, the pop up dialog windows literally messing up my entire ability to use the same dialog box on any of my other apps unless I restart my entire computer, it's horrible. Photoshop doesn't work like this magical end-all solution in the current full screen options, and the sooner Adobe can acknowledge that and start even informing us that the option for macOS native full screen is being worked on, the faster it will feel like an app actually from this decade. Even throaway trash apps from that have no functional benefits taking up a full screen have the option. I just want Adobe to stop PR'ing this[cursing removed by moderator], dropping in to stick some band-aid on the complaints and then slinking into their hole and cover their ears. Tell us straight up: "we're not going to ever do this" so I can stop sitting here like an idiot for 10 years on a dead promise, or let us know what you're thinking on a roadmap.

Report · Mar 31, 2022

It's unbelievable that every time you want to run full-screen PS you have to go

System Preferences > Dock > Enable Automatically hide and show the Dock

then after finishing work

System Preferences > Dock > Disable Automatically hide and show the Dock

Report · Apr 28, 2022

That doesn't even solve the base glaring issues of their pretend full screen mode. It just stretches the window to the edges and hides the corners, but it's still a windowed app with all the restrictions and rules of a windowed only app.

For one, you can't use macOS split view in any way with Photoshop. As an app forced with windowed only rules, it also refreshes the viewer window in intervals and will constantly bug out once you open a new image or go off and do something else in another space for a while. Example screenshot:

This [cursing removed by moderator] happens all the time, conveniently tucking the top toolbar into a void you can't click to return the window to the correct spot. If you can pull off an action that makes Photoshop change something in its view window, you can also temporarily return the window back, but a lot of the time, the window tucks away even more and you have nothing to click on.

If you try to combat it by using their fake full screen mode, the above issue doesn't happen as often, but you gain a new issue where the floating toolbars have to reload every single time, flickering on and off and moving the canvas off of where you had left it.

I honestly don't care at this point about the fact that it would take a rebuild of Photoshop to implement this. Apple's out here making crazy fast silicon and drawing more and more creatives towards Mac, and the most well known professional image editing software that costs a mini fortune to retain monthly has been lying for 10+ years in an outdated system, purely out of a sense of superiority and refusal to adapt from the developers.

It's like someone who never cleans their email inbox and sits inefficiently drowning under 10000 emails. Instead of sacrificing the inevitably necessary time to clear out their inbox in favour of better organization moving forward, they just keep saying "well it'd take a lot of effort to do that and my janky band-aid does the job so why bother". Even worse, they occasionally post on their Facebook asking people "should I fix this? Like if you think I should and comment why", then when hundreds of people vote in favour and comment very valid reasons, they either snobbily decline, pretend to look into it, or even just quietly disappear.

For crying out loud Adobe, it's 2022, you're charging users an absurdly inflated monthly cost that forces users to pay into annual plans or other slimy tactics to use your software. The absolute least you can do is pretend to actually work on this. 10+ years of employees being snarky on here, or stating "our team's looking into this" and disappearing, it's ridiculous. Photoshop laughably continues to feel like it was developed in 2008, just absolutely sad.

Report · Jun 09, 2022

Mine did the same thing described above. Infuriating that I have to jump through hoops and use work arounds to fix a silly software issue that randomly decided to break one day (especially considering how much I pay adobe through multiple plans, but I digress), but I tried a combination of things suggested above and it fixed the issue about as much as it will allow me.

I downloaded the pulgin suggested here by OP johnp37117120:

"I did some further research, came across this page:

Known issues - Running Photoshop CC on macOS 10.13 High Sierra

Installing the plug in took care of the problem."

Which minorly fixed the problem in allowing my screen to expand more than it did, but my toolbar dock still showed atop the photoshop interface.

Then, I used the keyboard shortcut suggested by shivams25064292, command+option+D, to hide the dock without having to do it by clicking, and just use the shortcut again when I want my dock back (I don't keep mine on auto-hide all other times and like having it on my desktop, but have to now do this when using photoshop).

It still shows my upper toolbar w/my background color (as shown in my screenshot below), which it didn't do before it glitched, and I dispise that, but it's the closest I can get it to the original full screen.

So frustrating that there isn't an official fix for this, but it is what it is.

Hope this helps.

Report · Jun 10, 2022

10 years later and... still the same annoying issue with Ps and Ai when coming back to the desktop (the only way to have them in full-screen mode!)

Sometimes the only way to find the resize button is to re-scale the window by dragging it horizontally!!!

Report · Jun 10, 2022

I need to buy 3 macbooks: one for PS, one for Illustrator and one for other works so I can keep the Dock visible and go through other pages and apps with no issue!

Report · Jun 20, 2022

Update: my Illustrator has now done the same thing. I ended up skipping the plugin download to my AI to see if doing comand + option + D to hide the dock would let me expand the screen, and it did. It's still frustrating this way though, because if I forget to hide the dock before I open Illustrator, it won't open extended to the bottom of the screen. So, I'll probably download the plugin to AI as well. Also frustrating in that my top toolbar/menu is still showing here too.

I half wonder if deleting my systems and re-downloading would fix it, but I know that doing so would be a whole process, including the time needed to set everything back up.

Would LOVE a fix for this nonsense eventually. Lookin' at you, Adobe.

Report · Jun 22, 2022

Until I updated to the lates version of Photoshop yesterday, I was able to maximise by pressing the green button the exact same way as all my other apps. I now can't do it. I can work around it by adding the extra screen and dragging it in but I don't understand why this feature would be taken away after having it working perfectly fine?

Report · Jul 11, 2022

Add my vote...

Report · Jul 17, 2022

Add your votes, but seriously, at this point just expect this to be a dead request. The Adobe devs have stopped replying in here, and for all we know, they could be outright ignoring it to retain their "Photoshop's own full screen mode is superior" stance.

My advice is to slowly get used to using Photoshop at around 90 width with Apple's upcoming Stage Manager feature. At the very least, I found it fixes the issue of Photoshop hogging a desktop space so you can tuck away some other apps to drag and drop between without clutter.

However, Photoshop is so busted that they still haven't even addressed the simple issue of the app snapping to wherever [cursing removed by moderator] it wants when you leave the space and come back in a bit. This either shoves the window about 25% off screen every time on stable macOS, and on the new betas, it shoves the window far enough into the left corner that Stage Manager's featutes can't work properly. Either the sidebar sees the overflow and tucks itself away, or Photoshop goes somewhere so far off that Stage Manager just tucks it back into the off-focus mode by itself. This is the only software I have that has any of these ancient issues, and I highly suspect it's because Adobe keeps insisting on shoving new features into this framework that is way too old to keep up with macOS updates. It will understandably take work, but Adobe needs to shove off other redundantly pointless features and rebuild the app for modern day. Ditch the CS5-6 framework from ages ago, you're not letting people buy a single license anymore, so give us an app that can actually receive updates for the new age.

I don't know why I'm even typing these things anymore. I've tried for 11 years on the full screen button, and I've probably tried for half a decade on the window jumping around issue as well. Adobe just doesn't care. They sucked the money already, and these suggestion forums are a formality at best to find easy features to fulfill enough of their corporate growth to keep focus on other[cursing removed by moderator] like charging huge fees for packages nobody wants, an iPad version that is easily still underbaked and woefully overpriced, etc.

I know Adobe wants to hear this from everyone here, but I'm just going to give up on this. Why keep holding hope and paying for a hopeless chance at this, it's clear they have 0 interest in considering this. I'd be more than happy for someone from Adobe to chime in and prove me wrong here, but I think over a decade is enough proof that they don't care.

Report · Jul 31, 2022

Never mind, Figma is here to fix them.

Report · Aug 04, 2022

There are some differences between windows and mac when in Photoshop's Full Screen mode, the main difference being that on a mac in Photoshop's Full Screen mode one cannot access the Menu Bar or Dock, which is why having photoshop be able to use the macOS Native Full Screen Mode is very important.

In fact as far as i know, photoshop 7, cs and cs2 were the last photoshop applications on the mac os x side that one could access the menu bar and dock without leaving Full Screen mode. Sadly starting with photoshop cs3 adobe removed the ability to access the menu bar or dock in Full Screen mode.

In photoshop 7.cs and cs2 while in Full Screen mode one just had to press Shift+F to see the menu bar and dock and press Shift+F again to hide the menu bar and dock

cs2 Full Screen

cs2 after pressing Shift+F to show the menu bar and dock but still in Full Screen

Report · Oct 05, 2022

2022, still the same problem with Illustrator and After Effects. Didn't try Premiere Pro but I don't even want to, I bet it's the same. I'm moving to Motion and Final Cut Pro.

Report · Oct 20, 2022

Man Adobe, you're hilarious. One year into Windows 11 and you release an update to incorporate their native OS window docking feature. 11 years after macOS Lion's full-screen implementation and you refuse to do anything about it or listen to the hundreds of votes asking for even an option between it and Photoshop's full screen.

By the way, "This works in Lightroom" (a completely different app) and "our users would lose multiple displays and document windows" (which is no longer even true at this point) are not correct answers. They are massive middle fingers that masquerade as an option that has no problems. Well, hundreds of votes and 10+ pages of comments over 11 years of people complaining about the current full screen and begging for even an option with macOS full screen says otherwise. Even with 24.0, I open the app and immediately the same problems I've listed over the years are still there. Full screen mode on Mac SUCKS. It is riddled with problems, and these problems are compounded when it has to play by its own separate rules when literally every other app I come across uses macOS's full screen feature. Photoshop springs around wherever it wants, disappearing into a corner, toolbars disappearing in full screen, etc. Apple figured this out 11 years ago, Adobe still hasn't.

I don't care at this point if you have to forego any other new features to the Mac version of Photoshop and simply rewrite the app to follow the Lightroom structure to allow native full screen. It needs to be done. Photoshop 2023 and Photoshop's full screen is still very unpleasant to use. Listen to all the votes and just acknowledge it needs to be done. Give us a roadmap at the least instead of going dark after years of a "you're wrong, we're always right" attitude. I still can't believe how dated a software literally titled Photoshop 2023 feels because I have to jump through every hoop to even pretend like I can attempt replicating a useful layout. An option to use both would satisfy everyone.

Report · Nov 03, 2022

but why still not fullscreen like this???

Report · Dec 04, 2022

Final post at this point. I just want to inform everyone that something does exist that has this feature, runs a lot smoother on a much newer framework, has a one time fee of $139.99 CAD for the entire suite of apps (both iPad/Mac, one time fee), or $56.99 CAD for the Photoshop equivalent alone on both iPad and Mac. Serif continues to make meaning updates alongside Apple and actually feels like an app for the people.

I know this will get pulled down by Adobe and I don't care. I'm done with Adobe and its snobbery, asking long term members to pay a massive $28-72 a month for its apps, only to continue ignoring its users and refusing to even meet halfway on an almost 12 year old system function. I've tried to work around this one limitation for over a decade and Photoshop just continues to suck at retaining a functional window view without springing around as it wishes.

I sincerely hope more people will jump ship for the smarter choice, because unless Adobe smartens up and rethinks its "I'm right, you're wrong" culture and its audacity to charge $336-864+tax annually with really shady lock-in on cancellations, they're just a bully as a megacorp, using their dominance to enforce absurd prices due to a lack of alternatives. Well, Affinity IS that alternative. Speak with your wallets, it's clear they won't listen otherwise. Goodbye Adobe.

Report · Dec 27, 2022

My god, this was originally posted over a decade ago. That the Adobe ecosystem doesn't work like native Mac window management is infuriating.

Report · Jan 05, 2023

I found a way to go fullscreen on Photoshop on MacBook Pro:
Go to Settings -> Desktop & Dock -> And check the "Automatically hide and show the Dock" button.

After that I opened Photoshop and just dragged the bottom part of the program down. It worked and now it's on full screen and the Dock bar opens on top of the Photoshop window when I need it.

Hope it works for you too.

Report · Mar 21, 2023

I just came back to photoshop after some time (roughly 3 years). I've mostly been using Affinity Photo.

The main reason for me to use Photshop now is the existence of the SuperPNG plugin and the fact that it's easier to directly edit individual channels. (I mostly make textures for real-time graphic).

Anyway... I was shocked that Photoshop still doens't have a native full-screen mode. This means that whenever I do anything else (like opening a terminal) It might overlay my Photoshop window because Photoshop doens't porperly register itself a s a full-screen app. The current implementation when pressing "F" just feels very hacky.

Please, please, add a native full-screen mode. This API has existed for 10+ years 🙂

Report · Apr 01, 2023

Now they're just making fun of us Mac users.

Report · Apr 04, 2023

Very similar issues in Illustrator. Maximize puts it in window mode (3/4 the monitor size) and window mode over maximizes. Also, tools lose focus randomly and become unresponsive. You have to minimize and then maximize illustrator to regain control. Happens multiple times daily. Adobe doesn't know how to code their apps to handle window management. These issues are scattered throughout their suite.

Report · Apr 05, 2023

@ericc19576445

Perhaps try a thorough reset of Photoshop preferences?

(read this entire post before acting please)

Resetting restores Photoshop's internal preferences, which are saved when Photoshop closes.

If they become corrupt then various issues can occur.

Here’s some info on how to do that:

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

Manually removing preferences files is the most complete method for restoring Photoshop to its default state:

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

Note re macOS: The user Library folder is hidden by default.

To access files in the hidden user Library folder, see here for how to access hidden user library files.

https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/global/access-hidden-user-library-files.html

Unexpected behavior may indicate damaged preferences. Restoring preferences to their default settings is a good idea when trying to troubleshoot unexpected behaviors in Photoshop. check out the video

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

Learn how to access and modify Photoshop preferences and customize per your frequent workflows

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

And here’s an earlier forum discussion as an aid to understanding

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/quick-tips-how-to-reset-photoshop-pre...

You may want to backup your settings and custom presets, brushes & actions before restoring Photoshop's preferences.

Here is general info about that: https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/preferences.html#BackupPhotoshoppreferences

Before you reset your preferences

in case of future issues, I suggest you make a copy as Adobe may need one to check problematic references.

Quit Photoshop.
Go to Photoshop's Preferences folder

Preferences file locations: https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/preference-file-names-locations-photoshop.html\

[on MacOS see: Users/[user name]/Library/Preferences/Adobe Photoshop [version] Settings

Note for those on macOS: - be aware that the user Library folder is hidden by default on macOS.

https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/global/access-hidden-user-library-files.html

In the Finder, open the “Go” menu whilst holding down the Option (Alt) key.

Library will now appear in the list - below the current user's “home” directory. ]

Now you can drag the entire Adobe Photoshop [Version] Settings folder to the desktop or somewhere safe as a back-up of your settings.

Note for those on macOS:

Preference preservation is affected by macOS permissions,

you’ll need to allow Photoshop ‘Full Disk Access’ in your Mac OS Preferences/Security and Privacy

It may even be time to reinstall Photoshop.

It’s recommended that you use the Adobe CC cleaner tool to remove all traces first.

(See above about preserving preferences though! It’s worth preserving them unless they are corrupted.)

https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html

Uninstall Photoshop BUT make sure to choose the option “Yes, remove app preference”.

Once that process finishes, start the installation process and look into the “Advanced Options”. Uncheck “Import previous settings and preferences” and choose to “Remove old versions”.

I hope this helps

neil barstow, colourmanagement net :: adobe forum volunteer

google me "neil barstow colourmanagement" for lots of free articles on colour management

Report · May 01, 2023

12 years later and this feature still hasn't been added, which is a big shame seeing as fullscreen mode is such a bare bones essential features of any program. The main use of Macs in today's world is for creative work, which cannot be done to its full extent with the neglect of a feature that enables much easier working.

Report · May 02, 2023

@Jorge27483571wkuu When I open Photoshop on my Mac (macOS Catlaina) and click the green + button at top left of the window, it fills the screen, is that not what you want?

Did you see the explanation of the line of thinking from J453 at Adobe here in this thread?

I hope this helps
neil barstow, colourmanagement net - adobe forum volunteer - co-author: 'getting colour right'
google me "neil barstow colourmanagement" for lots of free articles on colour management

Report · May 02, 2023

@NB, colourmanagement wrote:

When I open Photoshop on my Mac (macOS Catlaina) and click the green + button at top left of the window, it fills the screen, is that not what you want?

Neil, instead they want macOS native full screen mode, aka Spaces, not Photoshop's full screen mode. @J453 has explained why Adobe has not made the change.

Jane

P: Support for native full-screen mode on macOS

2 Correct answers