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When I run Photoshop CS4 on Windows 7, other running programs don't receive the ESC key (I noticed in PuTTY and Total Commander's Lister). When I close Photoshop, they start receiving the ESC key again.

  • I tried multiple keyboard layouts, no change.
  • Photoshop is an out-of-box install, no settings changed
  • I exported the list of keybindings from Photoshop (ctrl-alt-shift-k) and ESC isn't used in any combination

Why is this? Is there any way to disable or bypass this so that I could use other programs normally?

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6 Answers 6

Reset to default
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Photoshop CS4 and ATI Catalyst Control Center both hook the Escape key. To fix it, use Windows Task Manager to terminate ccc.exe and restart Photoshop.

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    Thanks, it does work. This describes both the problem and solution accurately and works without the need to run an external program, therefore I chose it as the accepted answer.
    – user46935
    Feb 20, 2011 at 9:51
  • (when in fact neither of them should mess with the Esc key...)
    – RomanSt
    Feb 27, 2011 at 21:21
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    I think you can leave CCC running, but DISABLE hotkey support in the CCC menus
    – horatio
    Jul 28, 2011 at 14:53
  • Thanks! This solved the problem for me too. Disabling hotkey support in CCC did not work; I just stopped CCC from starting automatically.
    – adurdin
    Feb 25, 2012 at 10:38
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    I just ran into the same problem, but with Intel's HD Graphics driver rather than CCC. (My machine uses both NVidia discrete GPU and onboard Intel SandyBridge GPU. Had no probs with NVidia only, but enabling Intel GPU as well made me see this problem when Photoshop was running.) -- To fix it I right-clicked Intel's tray icon, then chose Graphics Options, Hotkeys, Disable; then restarted Photoshop. Many thanks to all for pointing me towards the solution; hope this extra info helps someone else.
    – Leo Davidson
    May 18, 2012 at 13:01
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Intel chipset users should right-click on Intel Graphics tray icon and disable hotkeys.

Other way to do this (if Intel Graphics tray icon missing):

Control panel → Display → Change display settings → Advanced settings → tab "Intel® Graphics and Media control panel" → button "Graphics Propertries" → Options and Support → Hot Key functionality → uncheck "Enable"

From here http://forums.adobe.com/message/1636488#1636488

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  • Thank you! I noticed this bug in games and thought Steam was the culprit.
    – Matt
    Apr 16, 2015 at 3:16
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It's a issue with the Photoshop and it happens on other programs too. (It's probably related to some Photoshops plugins) You should be able to use SHIFT+ESC to bypass it.

This issue is fixed in CS5.

You could also try one of these programs from here http://forums.adobe.com/message/1636461#1636461 if you are not happy with the SHIFT-method or upgrading to CS5.

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  • Thanks. I tried PsEscFix.zip but it doesn't work with my Photoshop CS4 64-bit. I wouldn't want it hanging around all the time, anyway. The shift-ESC workaround is good enough for me until I get CS5 or later.
    – user46935
    Nov 16, 2010 at 19:52
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    Shift+Esc might work in some cases, but usually does not. I mean it might close the odd menu, but programs that expect ESC won't respond to Shift+Esc.
    – RomanSt
    Sep 11, 2011 at 15:11
  • The issue still occurred for me in CS5 64-bit, when CCC was also running.
    – adurdin
    Feb 25, 2012 at 10:38
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The problem wasn't related to any other software in my case.

This is what helped me (Win 7 Professional x64, had no such problem with Win 7 Professional x86).

Run CS3 - esc did not work. Run CS3 in compatiblity mode with WinXP SP3 - that solved it, but no drag&drop into photoshop (due to different user rights maybe).

I turned off the compatibility mode and the ESC still works as it should :)

EDIT: not TRUE that it wasn't related to any other software. When I was testing it I already had Catalyst Control Center (CCC.exe) shut down from another round of testing. So CCC IS somehow involved in this problem. Simply turning off Keyboard shortcuts in CCC DID NOT work I had to shut it down (in my case via the TaskManager, but I guess normal quit would work the same, ie. not leaving some other part of CCC.exe running).

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Photoshop CS3 (32-bits) on Windows 7, SP1

Photoshop itself can use Esc. For example, in open file dialog the Esc key will cancel/close the dialog.

But any other application such as notepad can not use Esc key.

At the same time, Ctrl+Shift+Esc still opens the task manager.

As a vim user, Esc is most frequently the key used to get back to normal mode. Inside vim CTRL+\ CTRL+N is a workaround to bypass the malfunctioned Esc.

If you close the Photoshop application, the Esc hook will be released and works again.

I use hotkey explorer utility to find out which application hooks what key.

How to Fix Photoshop Breaking the Escape Key in Windows

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I have Intel HD Graphics. Hotkeys in it was already disabled, but problem still was not solved.

I killed the igfxHK.exe process and restarted PS - problem solved.

To keep igfxHK from running, go to C:\Windows\System32 and rename igfxHK.exe to igfxHK_.exe.

Edit:

These steps do not solve the problem completely. It seems after a while the error is resumed. I was unable to install because of what. I thought that because of the disguised computer to sleep and recovery, but it is not. It looks like it just happens over time. To remove this problem for a while, just turn on and turn off the processing of global hotkeys in some other application, such as AIMP. Then you need to restart the PS. Now it's helped me.

It looks as if it leads to the restoration processing somewhere. Which then somehow it breaks down.

Windows 7, x64, Photoshop CS 3.

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    What is igfxHK.exe, why do you think it was running on the OP's system 5 yrs ago, and why would disabling it solve the problem?
    – fixer1234
    Nov 12, 2015 at 5:30
  • @fixer1234 igfxHK - IntelGraphicsHotKey, but problem not solved completly. I put computer to sleep and wake up after that. Restarted PS and problem goes now. May be something else conflict with ESC hanlder PS.
    – Enyby
    Nov 12, 2015 at 13:56

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