Magic wand tool only works once per photo for enclosing an area

[mlw11111]

I've been using my program for some time, but I've suddenly found a problem with the magic lasso.  To simplify things, I'll use "positive mode" for times when I'm trying to enclose and area and "negative mode" for times when I'm using the alt key to delete part of a previously framed area.

I seem to get one shot at positive mode.   Once I leave it the first lassoed area, I can't start a new one.  Starngely, though, I can use negative mode to remove part of a previously coded area, and can do so repeatedly.   I've tried rebooting the machine, but it doesn't help.

[hatstead]

Please clarify. The title of your post references "Magic wand." In the body of the post you reference "Magnetic lasso." If you are  using the magnetic lasso tool, you can change settings for the tool on the option bar. Here is what I use: Feather 0, check anti alias, width 21px, contrast 10%, frequency 57.

[Peru Bob · Accepted solution]

Try this:

Restore default preferences
Preference settings control how Photoshop Elements Editor displays images, cursors, and transparencies, saves files, uses plug‑ins and scratch disks, and so on. If the application exhibits unexpected behavior, the preferences file could be damaged. You can restore all preferences to their defaults.

Note: Deleting the preferences file is an action that cannot be undone.

Do one of the following:

Press and hold Alt+Control+Shift (Mac: Option+Command+Shift) immediately after Photoshop Elements begins launching. Click Yes to delete the Adobe Photoshop Elements settings file.
Go to Edit > Preferences (Mac: Photoshop Elements > Preferences > General), click the Reset Preferences on next launch button, and then click OK. When you restart Adobe Photoshop Elements, all preferences are reset to default settings.
A new preferences file is created the next time you start Photoshop Elements Editor. For information on a specific preference option, search for the preference name in Help.

from here:

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop-elements/kb/preference-file-locations-photoshop-elements.html

[mlw11111]

Thanks.  The second solution worked, though I can't imagine why the preferences were changed in the first place