3 SECRET Photoshop Shortcuts To Bring Up TRULY HIDDEN Menus + 1 Funny Easter Egg
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Hidden menus in Photoshop are dialog boxes you can only open by holding the right key before you click, not by browsing any menu.
In this video, I’m going to show you three secret Photoshop shortcuts to bring up truly hidden menus.
I know that the title sounds like click-bait but that sort of the reason why I did it.
I’ve seen a lot of videos recently with these kinds of titles and the examples never really show anything secret or hidden.
It’s usually a shortcut that brings up a dialog box that you could have brought up by using at least one or more menus.
So, I gave myself the challenge to come up with truly hidden menus that you could only bring up with a secret keyboard shortcut.
In other words, you cannot simply stumble upon these menus, someone needs to show you the secret handshake before you can get in.
Every one of these tricks was already available in Photoshop 2019 (version 20.0), and each still works the same way in the current version.
Key Takeaways
- The old Refine Edge dialog still exists. Hold Shift before choosing Select and Mask to bring it back.
- The Lens Flare preview window will not zoom in, which is why Photoshop hides a precise placement dialog behind a single modifier key.
- The Info panel gives you the exact X and Y coordinates to type into that hidden dialog.
- Opening a large file while holding down two extra keys skips loading its layers, so a multi-gigabyte file opens in seconds instead of minutes.
- That fast open only changes what loads into memory. Saving with Save As instead of Save keeps your original layered file untouched.
- A banana icon hidden in the Customize Toolbar dialog does nothing. It is a pure joke, not a real tool.
Table of contents
What You Will Learn
- How to unlock hidden menus in Photoshop using nothing but a modifier key
- How to bring back the classic Refine Edge dialog
- How to place a Lens Flare at an exact pixel with the Precise Flare Center dialog
- How to open a huge PSD or PSB file in seconds by skipping its layers
- How to add, and remove, a hidden banana icon in the toolbar
Requirements
Before you start
- Photoshop 2019 (version 20.0 or later) or the current version
Keyboard Shortcuts for Hidden Menus in Photoshop
| Action | Windows | macOS |
|---|---|---|
| Bring back the old Refine Edge dialog | Shift | Shift |
| Fill a new layer with the foreground color | Alt Backspace | Option Delete |
| Open the Precise Flare Center dialog | Alt | Option |
| Open a file and read its composite data only | Shift Alt | Shift Option |
| Add the banana to the toolbar | Shift | Shift |
| Remove the banana from the toolbar | Ctrl | Cmd |
Bring Back Refine Edge Dialog Box
To refine a mask or selection you can use the Select and Mask Workspace.
If you prefer to use the old Refine Edge dialog box instead, you can hold Shift (Windows) or Shift (macOS). Then go to Select > Select and Mask while you have a mask or selection active to bring it back.
Precise Flare Center
When you create a Lens Flare (Filter > Render > Lens Flare), press and hold Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS). Then click the image preview box to open the Precise Flare Center dialog. From there, you can enter the exact X and Y coordinates for your flare.
You can use the Info panel to see the coordinates of a specific spot on your canvas. Hover over the canvas, and the X and Y coordinates change as you move.
Read Composite Data
To open a flattened version of a layered PSD file, go to File > Open and find the PSD file that you would like to open. Then click on it once to select it. Hold down ShiftAlt (Windows) or ShiftOption (macOS) and click Open.
Photoshop will then ask you if you want to “Read the composite data instead.” Press “OK” and a flattened version of that file will open up.
This technique is an excellent way to open a large file that usually takes a long time to open. It works well when you only want to show the file to someone, or share it in an email or on social media.
NOTE:
Always do a “Save As.” Saving the document will override the original file, and you will lose all your layers.
One More Hidden Menu in Photoshop: The Banana Toolbar Easter Egg
Photoshop also hides a purely cosmetic Easter egg inside the Customize Toolbar dialog.
Click the three-dot icon at the bottom of the toolbar, or go to Edit > Toolbar, to open it.
Hold Shift (Windows) or Shift (macOS) and click Done to add a banana icon to the toolbar. It does not do anything. It is just a joke you can play on a friend or coworker.
To remove it, open the Customize Toolbar dialog again and hold Ctrl (Windows) or Cmd (macOS) while you click Done.
Frequently Asked Questions
Make a selection or open a layer mask, then hold Shift and choose Select > Select and Mask. Holding Shift opens the legacy dialog instead of the newer Select and Mask workspace.
It is a hidden dialog inside the Lens Flare filter. Hold Alt (or Option on macOS) and click the preview to open it, then type exact X and Y coordinates instead of dragging by eye.
Open the Info panel from the Window menu, then hover over the spot on your canvas where you want the flare. The panel shows its X and Y position.
Select the file in the File > Open dialog, hold Shift and Alt (Shift and Option on macOS), then click Open. Choose to read the composite data, and Photoshop loads a flattened version without its layers.
No. It only changes what Photoshop loads into memory for that session. Your original layered file stays intact as long as you use Save As instead of overwriting it with Save.
PSB stands for Photoshop Big. Photoshop saves a file in this format automatically once it grows past 2GB, since a regular PSD cannot hold that much data.
Open the Customize Toolbar dialog from Edit > Toolbar, hold Shift, and click Done. A banana icon appears on the toolbar, though it does not do anything.
Open the Customize Toolbar dialog again, hold Ctrl (Cmd on macOS), and click Done. The banana disappears.
More Hidden Menus in Photoshop to Try
These four hidden menus in Photoshop all live behind a single modifier key, not a menu path.
Try bringing back Refine Edge, placing a pixel-perfect Lens Flare, or opening a large file by its composite data only. The banana is optional.
Watch the full video above, and comment on the video if you know another one we missed.
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