Photoshop Elements 18 photomerge panorama not blending images

[Glenn G]

I am using Adobe Photoshop Elements Version: 18.0 (20201207.m.154403) x64.  I am trying to create a panorama from 5 or 6 originals using Photomerge Panorama in Guided mode.  I enable the setting "Blend images together".  This used to make a layer mask on each layer of the result to prevent seams from being visible in the final image.  Today, I cannot get that to work.  I get a merged result, but without layer masks and with visible seams.  I have tried repeating the merge, restarting Photoshop, and rebooting my machine, but the merge still does not have layer masks for a seamless result.  What am I missing? How can I fix this?

[Greg_S. · Accepted solution]

Try resetting the preferences file. Go to Edit>Preferences>General tab and click the Reset Preferences on next launch button.

[Glenn G]

That seems to have fixed it.  For anyone else who wants to try it, I should have noted the handful of settings I had customized first so I could customize them again.

[Glenn G]

Does anyone know if this bug is fixed in a newer version?  It is quite annoying to be forced to reset all of the settings every time I want to create a photomerge panorama.

[Glenn 8675309]

I seem to recall that a 25% overlap of images is recommended.