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MelindaV
Participating Frequently
October 3, 2016
Question

Brush Cursor Disappeared

  • October 3, 2016
  • 10 replies
  • 49336 views

Since I updated to OS Sierra, for some odd reason the brush cursor in Photoshop has stopped showing up. It functions (I can paint with it), but I can't see it. At all. I see the results of using it, but not the thing itself. No, my caps lock is NOT on. I've tried toggling it on and off just to play with it, but no matter what I do the cursor doesn't show. No matter what preference I select, it doesn't show. It flickers briefly if I zoom in and out, but it doesn't stick around. I'm using an iMac, all standard stuff it came with, Apple keyboard, no tablet...no reason for this that I can see. I haven't changed anything other than the OS update which I'll admit can be a huge deal. I can't figure out what broke and, more importantly, how do I fix it? It's impossible to do good work without being able to see the cursor.  Help!

 

 

https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/brush-cursor-disappears?rfm=1&topic_submit=true

 

    10 replies

    J
    Jublie
    Participant
    December 17, 2024

    I too have had the dreaded cursor disappearence act. So so frustrating. After trying all sorts of resets and preference messing i came across this simple hack.
    Change colour mode to CMYK and ta da. The cursor is back!

    What a stupid glitch

     

    Anshul_Saini
    Community Manager
    Anshul_SainiCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    December 17, 2024

    Hi @Jublie,

     

    Thank you for sharing your experience and workaround—it’s great that switching to CMYK brought the cursor back! I understand how frustrating this must have been, and we’d love to dig deeper into what might have caused this.

     

    Could you help us with a few additional details?

    • Which operating system and version are you using?

    • What version of Photoshop are you currently running?

    • Are you using any third-party plugins or custom tools?

    • Does the issue consistently occur in specific files or color modes, or is it random?

     

    Also, since this thread is a bit older, we recommend creating a new thread if you experience this issue again. It helps us focus on your case and investigate further to find a permanent fix.

     

    We’re here to help!

     

    Best,

    Anshul Saini

    J
    Jublie
    Participant
    December 17, 2024

    • Which operating system and version are you using?
    Sequoia Version 15.2 Beta (24C5089c)

    • What version of Photoshop are you currently running?
    2025

    • Are you using any third-party plugins or custom tools?
    No

    • Does the issue consistently occur in specific files or color modes, or is it random?
    Random, i would say it occurs once a fortnight.

    J
    jolh
    Participant
    May 11, 2020

    I'm having the same problem. For no apparent reason the brush cursor vanishes. No, this is not a capslock problem. There is no crosshair, no indication of the cursor at all. If I shake the mouse the Apple cursor appears and grows and then vanishes again.  I can paint with it even though it's invisible.  If I hit caps lock I can see the crosshair. But if I turn off capslock it disappears again.  Once in a while it appears randomly. But if my cursor leaves the canvas or I click, it vanishes again.  Really does nseem like a bug.

    T
    tomv48346208
    Participant
    December 17, 2020

    I had this maddening problem too. With paint brush, the eraser, healing tool, clone stamp, etc., the cursor shape would not be visible. I clicked Caps Lock on and off, the cursor shape sometimes shows, but as soon as I move the mouse – the cursor shape disappears. I went through the Photoshop preferences, as well as the system's Accesibility Preferences, all to no avail.

    I've been using Photoshop since version 2.0 and have used it nearly every day since. I have seen a thing or two. There is almost always a solution. I'm using a maxed out 2019 MacBook Pro connected to two external monitors. I use a wired keyboard and mouse, placed in front of a 32" monitor. All is hooked together using OWC docks.

    As I went to do a hard shut down and restart to see if, for some reason, this helps.... I noticed that Caps Lock was activated on my MacBook Pro's keyboard. Flipping Caps Lock on and off on my wired keyboard was never going to matter as long as the computer's built-in keyboard had Caps Lock activated. Doh! Why didn't I notice this earlier?

    For me, it solved the problem. I hope others find this is the solution. If not... the answer is out there somewhere. Maybe.

     

    C
    Chad Leeper
    Participating Frequently
    February 4, 2020

    Shutdown and reboot fixed it for me.

    julians22495659
    julians22495659
    Participant
    January 31, 2020

    I have a fix which I received from Ruchi at Adobe.

    I am using Photoshop 2020 on a Wacom mobile studi pro 16 for reference. 

     

    1. Open notepad

    2. Type the following

     

    # Use WinTab

    UseSystemStylus 0

     

    3. Save as PSUserConfig.txt

     

    4. The file needs to be placed into the correct folder. I could NOT save it directly to the correct folder while I had notepad open because the folder did not show up. In my case, I needed to press

     

    Windows key + r (simultaneously) 

    Type "appdata" (the reason for this was the "appdata" folder did not show up for me. If you experience a similar problem then you should be able to do step 1 above and type (missing folder name) with successful results).

     

    The folders you need to click in order (also known as "the path") are as follows. 

     

    1. From file explorer click on the left hand side, the disk with the operating system (almost always the C: Drive)

    2. Click "Users"

    3. Click "user name" (the profile name you created when setting up your device. Shows when you login to your device"

    4. Click "appdata"

    5. Click "roaming"

    6. Click "Adobe Photoshop 2020" (its 2020 in my case but may be a different version depending on which one you own)

    7. Click "Adobe Photoshop 2020 settings" (again, will mention your version in the file name)

    8. Save the file here if you are saving directly from notepad or manualy click on the notepad folder and drag it into the folder. Be sure not to accidently highlight one of the folders at the top or it will place it into that folder. Drag it to the bottom of the list to be sure.

     

    Finally, launch Adobe and hopefully you never need to deal with this problem again. If this doesn't work, I truly feel for you because nothing is more frustrating, but you can contact Adobe directly through a chat at the link here. Just copy paste this post and tell them it didn't work and they will have further solutions. 

      A
      AlbireoR
      Participant
      February 28, 2020

      Sadly this did not work for me.  My brush never stops painting but is still invisible.  I had to remove it to get it to stop painting. 

      I've tried this method, hard resets, going back to previous versions, messing with my power cable and resetting settings and none of it is working so far.  Will continue to try things and if something works I'll edit this post.

      edit:  Turns out when my Windows updated it turned off "Show Cursor" within the Windows Ink settings.  It shows up fine now.  😄

      younl38116201
      younl38116201
      Participant
      January 10, 2020

      Just solved the problem by switching document mode to RGB ! Can't explain why, but the problem is only on CMYK files. Anyone else ?

      L
      lewrob
      Participant
      January 25, 2019

      Has this been solved? I'm having the exact same problem.

      C
      cacnyc1
      Participating Frequently
      January 25, 2019

      In accessibility->display preferences I turned off "shake mouse pointer to locate" and restarted and the brush shape does not disappear mid stroke. It may start off by disappearing on click, but if I reclick I can complete a brush stroke without interruption. BTW there was another OS update a couple of days ago that is worth trying. Also, I sometimes have issues with key and mouse combinations when chrome browser is running— not that I think it is related here, but it is worth trying without chrome running.

        J
        JP1701
        Participant
        April 23, 2020

        THIS IS THE ANSWER! Thank you so, so, so much!

        M
        mattperko
        Participant
        August 17, 2018

        Is there any resolution to this? I'm fully up-to-date with Photoshop and my OS and this is driving me nuts.

        lawrence michael clemmer
        lawrence michael clemmer
        Participant
        September 20, 2018

        Same computer, same problem, pretty much same everything. Pressed the Option button while using brush and two large circles appeared around the crosshairs. Seems to work.

        M
        MelindaVAuthor
        Participating Frequently
        October 4, 2016

        Update: So this morning, I launched InDesign and my screen flickered and went dark. Uh oh. Bad bad! So I shut the computer down, thinking it had crashed. Then I checked all the cables. Everything secure except the power cord which had pulled slightly out. Not enough to not provide power, but just a little. I shoved it back in. Restarted.

        And now, upon launching Photoshop again...my brush is back. ALL the brushes are back.

        I have no idea why. Surely a slight lack of power wouldn't do that? I have no idea. I did have it reset the prefs before, but it didn't appear to make a difference until this hard shut down. So...yeah. I have no idea why, but problem solved. Leaving this here just in case someone else has this issue...um, check your power cable LOL

        H
        hwormser
        Participating Frequently
        September 8, 2017

        For what it's worth, I had the exact same problem, except that I can't identify anything in particular that precipitated it. So you're NOT crazy.

        I didn't make any system updates or do anything that I can think of that made the cursor disappear. (I'm using Photoshop CC 2017 on MacBook, OS 10.12.6.) The brush tip cursor would show if I hit the Shift key, but as soon as I moved it, the cursor would go back to crosshairs. Restarting my computer seems to have solved it. So perhaps your power cable issue was a red herring and the restart is what set things right again.

        Trevor.Dennis
        Community Expert
        Trevor.DennisCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        October 3, 2016

        Are all other cursors showing OK? 

        What about the spring-loaded cursors/  With the brush selected, press and hold any of:  v, m, h, l etc, and release.  Do you see the appropriate cursor while they are held down, and then the cursor disappears again when you release thew key?

        How about other tools that use brush presets like healing brush, clone tool, eraser etc.?  Do see no cursor when using them?

        Back in the early days of GPU aided features like right click and drag brush cursor size and opacity,  (CS4 and CS5 if memory serves) a lot of people had issues with cursor display, like only seeing half of the cursor.  With that in mind, try disabling GPU assistance in Preferences.

        If no one comes up with a fix, I hate to say it, but a Preference reset has to be tried just in case.  I hate resetting Preferences :-(

          Trevor.Dennis
          Community Expert
          Trevor.DennisCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          October 3, 2016

          Are you seeing work paths OK?  I believe that one of the reasons the Development Team has not so far been able to make work paths more visible for the ultra high res screen people, is to do with how OSX handles blend modes, or something like that.  There just might be a link, but I suspect we'd have seen a LOT of posts like yours if that was thew case.

          Have you tried different colour backgrounds?  (That just means black and white.)

          Bettina Di Virgilio
          Bettina Di Virgilio
          Participating Frequently
          October 3, 2016

          Get to Edit/Preferences/Cursors and check if the Painting Cursors is in Norma Brush Tip.

            M
            MelindaVAuthor
            Participating Frequently
            October 3, 2016

            I've checked the prefs. I've selected each one just to see if it would help. Nope. Makes no difference which pref I have selected. If I don't have "show crosshairs" I see absolutely nothing at all. If I do, at least the crosshairs show up. Not super helpful though.

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