I wish I had a dollar for every time someone asked where their Object Selection tool is in their Toolbar, especially after a Photoshop update. Better still, no one asks because I tell them now. Here’s what’s happening. Sometimes people are using an older saved workspace. Because the Object Selection tool was added a couple of years ago, any workspace older than that won’t have it, because the tool didn’t exist then. So, after every update, if you decide to keep all the preferences from your previous version of Photoshop, it will load up the old workspace and, poof! the Object Selection is gone. Here’s how to bring it back and prevent this from happening in the future.
Click-and-hold the three-dot icon near the bottom of the Toolbar, and choose Customize Toolbar. Either click Restore Defaults to reset the Toolbar, or drag the Object Selection tool from the Extra Tools section on the right over to the Toolbar section on the left. Click Done. The problem is solved.
To prevent it from happening again in the future, go to Window>Workspace>New Workspace. Type in the same name as the current workspace to update it with the Object Selection tool or use a different name for a new workspace. If you type in the same name, Photoshop will ask if you want to replace the current workspace. This workspace will now include the current tools.
This tip originally published in Colin Smith’s “Photoshop Tips” column in the December, 2022 issue of Photoshop User magazine.
