How do you deselect in Photoshop?

Photoshop · Selection & Mask · updated 2026-08-23

Ctrl + D — Deselect

Press Ctrl + D (Cmd + D on Mac) to drop the current selection. Ctrl + Shift + D reselects it afterwards, and Ctrl + Shift + I inverts it instead of clearing it.

Related Photoshop shortcuts: Selection & Mask

ShortcutActionNotes
Ctrl + ASelect AllSelect entire canvas.
Ctrl + DDeselectRemove current selection.
Ctrl + Shift + DReselectRestore last deselected selection.
Ctrl + Shift + IInverse SelectionInvert selection. Useful after background removal.
Alt + Ctrl + RSelect and MaskOpen workspace for refining selections.
Shift + F6Feather SelectionSoften selection edges.
Ctrl + Alt + DFeather (Dialog)Feather selection with specified radius.

From the Photoshop reference (69 entries) · all how-to answers